“We saw Colonel Astor place Mrs. Astor in a boat and assure her that he would follow later,” said Mrs. Hippach.
“He turned to us with a smile and said, ‘Ladies, you are next.’ The officer in charge of the boat protested that the craft was full, and the seamen started to lower it.
“Colonel Astor exclaimed, ‘Hold that boat,’ in the voice of a man accustomed to be obeyed, and they did as he ordered. The boat had been lowered past the upper deck and the colonel took us to the deck below and put us in the boat, one after the other, through a port-hole.”
THE NATURE OF THE INJURY SUSTAINED BY THE TITANIC
HEART-BREAKING SCENES
There were some terrible scenes. Fathers were parting from their children and giving them an encouraging pat on the shoulders; men were kissing their wives and telling them that they would be with them shortly. One man said there was absolutely no danger, that the boat was the finest ever built, with water-tight compartments, and that it could not sink. That seemed to be the general impression.
A few of the men, however, were panic-stricken even when the first of the fifty-six foot life-boats was being filled. Fully ten men threw themselves into the boats already crowded with women and children. These men were dragged back and hurled sprawling across the deck. Six of them, screaming with fear, struggled to their feet and made a second attempt to rush to the boats.
About ten shots sounded in quick succession. The six cowardly men were stopped in their tracks, staggered and collapsed one after another. At least two of them vainly attempted to creep toward the boats again. The others lay quite still. This scene of bloodshed served its purpose. In that particular section of the deck there was no further attempt to violate the rule of “women and children first.”