THE LAST PASSENGERS ON TOP DECK.
“There were none, and we must have waited at least three minutes or more before he ordered an officer into the boat and two or three more of the crew who were alone on deck and under perfect control. We were evidently the last passengers on the top deck, as we could see no others.
“Most fortunately for us, when we left the ship everything was handled in perfect discipline, Mr. Ismay launching our lifeboat in a most splendid fashion, with absolute coolness, making sure that all passengers were on board and that our crew was complete. What happened later we know little about.
“As far as I am concerned I saw no signs of a panic and not one person in our boat lost his head, nor do I know of a single person being left behind on the top deck.”
George A. Harder, of No. 117 Eighth avenue, Brooklyn, who with his bride was saved from the Titanic, told at his home a graphic story of his experience.
“When the crash came my wife and I were in our stateroom, about to retire,” said Harder. “Suddenly there came what seemed like a low, long groan at the ship’s bottom. It did not sound like a collision.
“Taking my wife by the arm, I rushed to the deck. Passengers were already swarming there, asking what had happened.
“I heard an officer order a carpenter below to ascertain the damage. He never returned. That the officers already knew the ship was likely to founder was evident from the fact that one lifeboat containing among others Karl M. Behr, the Brooklyn tennis player, had been launched. Persons on our side of the boat—the starboard side—were climbing into a second boat.
“It was a bitter cold night. The stars were bright and their rays were reflected in the surrounding sea, which was as smooth as glass. Farther and farther we drifted away in the lifeboat, leaving behind us the doomed ship.