“The conduct of Colonel Jacob Astor was deserving of the highest praise,” Colonel Gracie declared. “The millionaire New Yorker,” he said, “devoted all his energies to saving his young bride, nee Miss Force, of New York, who was in delicate health.
“Colonel Astor helped us in our efforts to get her in the boat,” said Colonel Gracie. “I lifted her into the boat, and as she took her place Colonel Astor requested permission of the officer to go with her for her own protection.
“‘No, sir,’ replied the officer, ‘not a man shall go on a boat until the women are all off.’ Colonel Astor then inquired the number of the boat, which was being lowered away, and turned to the work of clearing the other boats and in reassuring the frightened and nervous women.
“By this time the ship began to list frightfully to port. This became so dangerous that the second officer ordered every one to rush to starboard. This we did, and we found the crew trying to get a boat off in that quarter. Here I saw that last of John B. Thayer and George B. Widener, of Philadelphia.”
SPEED KEPT UP DESPITE WARNINGS.
Colonel Gracie said that, despite the warnings of icebergs, no slowing down of speed was ordered by the commander of the Titanic. There were other warnings, too, he said. “In the 24 hours’ run ending the 14th,” he said, “the ship’s run was 546 miles, and we were told that the next 24 hours would see even a better record posted.
“No diminution of speed was indicated in the run and the engines kept up their steady running. When Sunday evening came we all noticed the increased cold, which gave plain warning that the ship was in close proximity to icebergs or icefields. The officers, I am credibly informed, had been advised by wireless from other ships of the presence of icebergs and dangerous floes in that vicinity. The sea was as smooth as glass, and the weather clear so that it seems that there was no occasion for fear.”
“When the vessel struck,” he continued, “the passengers were so little alarmed that they joked over the matter. The few that appeared on deck early had taken their time to dress properly and there was not the slightest indication of panic. Some of the fragments of ice had fallen on the deck and these were picked up and passed around by some of the facetious ones, who offered them as mementos of the occasion.
“On the port side a glance over the side failed to show any evidence of damage and the vessel seemed to be on an even keel. James Clinch Smith and I, however, soon found the vessel was listing heavily. A few minutes later the officers ordered men and women to don life preservers.”
E. Z. Taylor, of Philadelphia, one of the survivors, jumped into the sea just three minutes before the boat sank. He told a graphic story as he came from the Carpathia.