THE CARPATHIA SIGHTED.
“I don’t know how long we were in the boat. It seemed to be several hours before we sighted the Carpathia. One of the women saw the steamer with her lights standing out in the darkness. We then started toward her. All this time I was fearing for my family, not knowing how they fared after leaving the Titanic in the lifeboat.
“We reached the side of the Carpathia before dawn and were taken aboard and given food and warmed. I do not know what became of Mr. Ismay, for I saw my wife and children and hurried toward them. I can tell you I was happy at that moment.
“On board the Carpathia we were taken care of excellently and treated fine by the officers and passengers. As we were among the first taken aboard we were given a little room. My wife and little girl slept in the bunk, while I slept on the floor. It was a terrible experience and one I never want to go through again.
“It was my intention, if I could not get into one of the boats, to leap from the hurricane deck and swim to one of the boats.
“During the trip across I did not see any lifeboat drills, but this may have been due to the fact that the members of the crew were new to the boat and the fact that the officers thought her perfectly safe. I believe that many more could have been saved if there had been more boats.
“The men seemed to think that there was no immediate danger, and I myself did not know whether to get into the boat with Mr. Ismay or not until he said, ‘Come on, you might as well get aboard.’
“I desire to correct what has been said about him. He was perfectly cool and collected and aided a great deal in keeping the women from the steerage quiet. I will probably be called before the Senatorial investigating committee, and I can only say that Mr. Ismay only left the boat after he saw there were no more women on the deck.
“He called and so did I and we found none. I heard no shooting while I was on the Titanic, but do not know what happened after I left on the last boat.”
“Billy” Carter, his ten-year-old son, told of his experience after he was awakened by his mother and dressed.
“Mamma woke me just after it happened,” he said “and papa hurried to our rooms. While mamma and sister were dressing I got dressed as quickly as I could. She told me to be a brave boy, and we all went to the upper deck.
“All the women were on one side and the men on the other. The officers held revolvers in their hands. We were placed in one of the boats and rowed around for an awful long time until everybody began to worry and think we would not be picked up. Mamma helped to row our boat, and in the morning we sighted the big ship Carpathia and were taken on board. I felt cold, but we soon got warm and got something to eat. Then a short time later papa came on board.”
CHAPTER XV.
BOY’S DESPERATE FIGHT FOR LIFE.
Plunged Into Icy Sea—Did Not See Berg—Parted From Parents—Saw Many Jump Overboard—Leaped Into Ocean—Eight Year Old Boy’s Narrative—Was “Very Quiet After He Was In Boat”—Another Lad Tells How He Saw His Uncle Die.
John B. Thayer, the seventeen-year-old son of Mrs. John B. Thayer, gave a thrilling account of the sinking of the Titanic in which his father lost his life.
Mrs. Thayer was saved in one of the lifeboats, while her son was rescued after a most exciting experience on an upturned boat, upon which he clambered after struggling on the icy water for some time.
According to Thayer’s account there was an explosion as the Titanic sank, this explosion forcing him a considerable distance and probably saving him from being drawn in by the suction as the steamer went down. His statement follows:
“Father was in bed and mother and myself were about to get into bed. There was no great shock. I was on my feet at the time, and I do not think it was enough to throw anyone down.
“I put on an overcoat and rushed up on ‘A’ deck on the port side. I saw nothing there. I then went forward to the bow to see if I could see any signs of ice. The only ice I saw was on the well deck.
“I could not see very far ahead, having just come out of a brilliantly lighted room. I then went down to our room and my father and mother came on deck with me, to the starboard side of ‘A’ deck. We could not see anything there. Father thought he saw small pieces of ice floating around, but I could not see any myself. There was no big berg.
“We walked around to the port side and the ship had then a fair list to port. We stayed there looking over the side for about five minutes. The list seemed very slowly to be increasing. We then went down to our rooms on ‘C’ deck, all of us dressed quickly, putting on all our clothes.
“We all put on life preservers, including the maid, and over these we put our overcoats. Then we hurried up on deck and walked around, looking out at different places until the women were all ordered to collect on the port side. Father and I said good-bye to mother at the top of the stairs on ‘A’ deck on the port side and we went to the starboard side.
“As at this time we had no idea the boat would sink, we walked around ‘A’ deck and then went to ‘B’ deck. Then we thought we would go back to see if mother had gotten off safely, and went to the port side of ‘A’ deck. We met the chief of the main dining saloon and he told us that mother had not yet taken a boat and he took us to her.