“Give the command for all passengers to be on deck with life-belts on.”
Through the length and breadth of the boat, upstairs and downstairs, on all decks, the cry rang out: “All passengers on deck with life-preservers.”
A SUDDEN TREMOR OF FEAR
For the first time, there was a feeling of panic. Husbands sought for wives and children. Families gathered together. Many who were asleep hastily caught up their clothing and rushed on deck. A moment before the men had been joking about the life-belts, according to the story told by Mrs. Vera Dick, of Calgary, Canada. “Try this one,” one man said to her, “they are the very latest thing this season. Everybody’s wearing them now.”
Another man suggested to a woman friend, who had a fox terrier in her arms, that she should put a life-saver on the dog. “It won’t fit,” the woman replied, laughing. “Make him carry it in his mouth,” said the friend.
CONFUSION AMONG THE IMMIGRANTS
Below, on the steerage deck, there was intense confusion. About the time the officers on the first deck gave the order that all men should stand to one side and all women should go below to deck B, taking the children with them, a similar order was given to the steerage passengers. The women were ordered to the front, the men to the rear. Half a dozen healthy, husky immigrants pushed their way forward and tried to crowd into the first boat.
“Stand back,” shouted the officers who were manning the boat. “The women come first.”
Shouting curses in various foreign languages, the immigrant men continued their pushing and tugging to climb into the boats. Shots rang out. One big fellow fell over the railing into the water. Another dropped to the deck, moaning. His jaw had been shot away. This was the story told by the bystanders afterwards on the pier. One husky Italian told the writer on the pier that the way in which the men were shot down was horrible. His sympathy was with the men who were shot.
“They were only trying to save their lives,” he said.