“SAVED ALL THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN WE COULD”
W. G. E. Meyers, of Stratford, Ont., a lad of sixteen years, who was on his way to join the British navy as a cadet, told this story:
“I went below to get a life-belt and met a woman who was frenzied with fear. I tried to calm her and helped her into a boat. Then I saw a boat which was nearly swamped. I got into it with other men and baled it out. Then a crowd of men clambered into it and nearly swamped it.
“We had got only two hundred yards away when the Lusitania sank, bow first. Many persons sank with her, drawn down by the suction. Their shrieks were appalling. We had to pull hard to get away, and, as it was, we were almost dragged down. We saved all the women and children we could, but a great many of them went down.”
H. Smethhurst, a steerage passenger, put his wife into a life-boat, and in spite of her urging refused to accompany her, saying the women and children must go first. After the boat with his wife in it had pulled away Smethhurst put on a life-belt, slipped down a rope into the water and floated until he was picked up.
CHAPTER III
SOUL-STIRRING STORIES OF SURVIVORS OF THE LUSITANIA
[COULD NOT LAUNCH BOATS] — [SAYS SHIP SANK IN FIFTEEN MINUTES] — [SCREAMS INTENSIFY HORROR] — [ON HUNT FOR THE LIFE-BELTS] — [INJURED BOY SHOWS PLUCK] — [MANY CHILDREN DROWNED] — [WOMEN RUSHED FOR THE BOATS] — [PATERSON, N. J., GIRLS AMONG RESCUED] — [THREATENED SEAMEN WITH REVOLVER] — [RESCUED UNCONSCIOUS FROM THE WATER] — [LIFE-BOAT SMASHED] — [REASSURED BY SHIP’S OFFICER].
Among the stories of the Lusitania horror told by the survivors were a few that stand out from the rest for their clearness and vividness. One of the most interesting of these, notable for the prominence of the man who relates it as well as for its conciseness, was the description given by Samuel M. Knox, president of the New York Shipbuilding Company. Mr. Knox said:
“Shortly after two, while we were finishing luncheon in a calm sea, a heavy concussion was felt on the starboard side, throwing the vessel to port. She immediately swung back and proceeded to take on a list to starboard, which rapidly increased.
“The passengers rapidly, but in good form, left the dining room, proceeding mostly to the A or boat deck. There were preparations being made to launch the boats. Order among the passengers was well maintained, there being nothing approaching a panic. Many of the passengers had gone to their staterooms and provided themselves with life-belts.
“The vessel reached an angle of about twenty-four degrees and at this point there seemed to be a cessation in the listing, the vessel maintaining this position for four or five minutes, when something apparently gave way, and the list started anew and increased rapidly until the end.
“The greater number of passengers were congregated on the high side of the ship, and when it became apparent that she was going to sink I made my way to the lower side, where there appeared to be several boats only partly filled and no passengers on that deck. At this juncture I found the outside of the boat deck practically even with the water and the ship was even farther down by the head.