Le "Cherbourg Eclair" du lundi 15 avril 1912

Original text
Cherbourg Eclair du 15/04/1912
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THE LINER "TITANIC" HAS SINKED


A dispatch from Cape-Race announces that the liner "Titanic" struck an ice bank last night.
The ship sank by the bow.
Some women were saved.

The Titanic carried about 3,000 passengers.

The first telegrams received are contradictory.
Some say that the ship has sunk, others that she is in the process of sinking.
It is obvious that a mass like the Titanic must take some time to sink.
On the other hand, as the collision occurred south of Newfoundland, it is likely that the fishing boats that operate in this area provided a great deal of assistance to the rescue operations.
But so far, there is no precise news.

The Titanic was the largest ocean liner ever to cross the ocean.
We described her here before her first stopover in our harbour, which took place last Wednesday.
At 7 o'clock in the evening, the monster of the seas entered through the western channel, to the accompaniment of the ship's music.
Two Americans, a gentleman and a lady, had reserved the two most beautiful flats on board, for the price of 25,000 francs.
An hour later, she was on her way to New York, and to see her on the high seas, you would have thought that this giant of the seas was invulnerable.
Today, what man's genius and audacity had created has been swallowed up.
The ocean has taken its revenge.
Cape Race, where the disaster occurred, is a wireless telegraph station at the entrance to the Newfoundland Bank.
The "Titanic", which had left Southampton on its maiden voyage at 12.20 p.m. on Wednesday, left Cherbourg at 8.10 p.m., having made its first stopover there and taken on board 274 passengers.
As the giant of the seas ... on the ice bank, she had on board 1,800 passengers, 625 of whom were first class, and 890 crew and service personnel, making a total of around 2,700 people.
Among the main passengers were Mr Ismay, director of the White Star Line, Mr O. Widener, Colonel Astor, attached to President Taft's military household, Mr Andrews Wm. Cardeza, J. Baxter, Eve Douglas, and M. A. Ryerson, who was on his way to America for the funeral of his son, who had been killed in an automobile accident and whose funeral he had arranged by a long telegram from Cherbourg.
The "Titanic" was commanded by Captain Smith, who had previously commanded the "Olympic", whose second and recent voyage had been marked by a collision with a British warship. Commander Smith was held responsible for this accident.

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