“The shock,” Mr. Fowler continued, “did not seem to be at all severe. I just felt it and had no idea the result had been so serious.
“The water came into our port-hole, and reached above my shoulders before I could shut it. By that time the ship was heeling over so badly that it was difficult to get out. I heard the siren blowing a great deal, and got up to look out to see whether we were passing another vessel or were whistling for a pilot. I had just got my head out through the hole when the collier drove right into us just beyond me. And then we gradually went over to one side.
FELL INTO WATER
“I tried to quiet the people when I got out,” continued Fowler, “by telling them that it was all right, and that the boat would right herself. I saw a lady with two children, a small baby and one little girl of six, and I put on them a life-belt each, which I grabbed from the spare ones by the side of the stairs. I took them on deck and in a kind of panic we lost each other and I don’t know if any of them were saved. Every one was struggling to get on deck, and if I had not had strength I could not have got away. I climbed up to the second saloon deck and went along there and saw Miss Wilmot struggling to get up the steps. She could not do so, as the boat was listing so badly and there was a lot of water in the passage, into which she fell back.
“The ship was so much to one side that you could walk on her plates as on a floor.”
MONTREAL MAN SAW NO LIFE-BELTS
“When the boat commenced to slide over I looked for a life-preserver, but found that some one had taken every one of them from the promenade deck. So I went back to my cabin and took the life-preserver on the top of the wardrobe. The majority of passengers did not seem to know that there were life-preservers in their cabins, and although they were easily accessible they were not conspicuous and many could not find them in the confusion, although they looked.”
Thus did Lionel Kent, of Montreal, tell of the sinking of the Empress:
“I was in Cabin 41, which was aft on the promenade deck, and my traveling companion was Mr. Gosselin. He woke me about an hour after I had retired and told me there had been a collision. I did not feel it at all. I went on deck at once in my night attire and my bathrobe, and I saw the two boats just drifting apart. At that time there were no lights on the deck, and very few people were about, but they soon began to appear.
“I remained on the port side of the boat as the list continued until the starboard side was under water. Then I jumped into the water with many other people, and was picked up ten minutes later by one of the life-boats. Those in her, numbering about thirty, were mostly members of the crew, with four or five women.