Traduction
EASTON EXPRESS du 16/04/1912
THE WORLD'S GREATEST STEAMSHIP DISASTER
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Titanic Sank and Carried 1341 Persons to Death---Survivors on way to New York.
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The appelling magnitude of the wreck of the giant liner Titanic has been but little mitigated by the fragmentary information which had fittered in to-day.
The rescuing steamer Carpathia has 863 survivors on board, according to the latest news received at the offices of the White Star Line in the city. This increases the list of saved by about 290 from the number first reported. But except for this, the favorable details are insignificant compared with the supreme fact that the Titanic is at the bottom of the Atlantic and that the shattered wreck took with her about 1.350 victims to their death.
The first reports, giving the total survivors at 675, were varied by more favorable news early to-day, first from Captain Rostron, of the Carpathia, who have the numbr at about 800, and later by the positive announcement of the White Star line that there are 806 survivors on board the Carpathia.
But with these revised figures there remain 1.341 persons, passengers and crew of the Titanic, who are to-day unaccounted for and apparently lost.
Hope clung desperately this morning to the belief that the steamers Virginian and Parisian, of the Allan line, may have picked up survivors in addition to these on board the Carpathia, but this was practicaly dispelled at 11 o'clock when the Sable Island wireless station reported that the Virginian had no survivors and when the officers of the allanline in Montreal issued a statement that the captain of the Virginian had sent them a wireless message saying he had "arrived at the scene of disaster too late to be of service."
Both the Virginian and the Parisian, therefore, appear to held out no hope of further reducing the extent of the calamity. The Virginian has proceeded on her way for Europe.
The Carpathia, having on board the only survivors accounted for, is comming in slowly to New York. All hope for details of the tragedy and its effects are centered on this ship. She will be in wireless communication with Sable Island to-night, with Nantucket on Thursday, and will reach New York some time Thursday night.
London, Paris and New York are grief-stricken and overwhelmed by the news of the disaster. Tearful crowds of relatives and friends of passengers on board the Titanic thronged the steamship offices in all three cities, waiting hour after hour for news that more often than not when it does come means bereavement and sorrow. People in Paris and London went to bed last night in the belief that all the passengers on board the Titanic had been saved: this morning brought them the appalling truth.
Of the survivors on board the Carpathia by far the larger number are women and children.
Many men of great prominences on two continents are among the missing.
No word has been received of Colonel John Jacob Astor. His wife, however, has been saved. Alfred G. Vanderbilt was not on board the Titanic, as first reported. He is in London. Isidor Straus, the New York millionnaire merchant and philanthropist, who was on board, has not been reported among the survivors.
Major Archibald Butt, President Taft's aide, is still unaccounted for, as many other persons of international importance. J. Bruce Ismay, president of the International Mercantile Marine, owners of the White Star Line, is among the survivors, as is his wife.
Captain E. J. Smith, commander of the Titanic, probably went to his grave with the ill-fated vessel without once being able to communicate direct with the agents of his line.Aside from the C. Q. D. sent by his wireless operator, not one word from him was received up to the time the Titanic sank bow foremost into the ocean. The presumption is that he met death at his post as a gallant skipper should.
That he and his crew enforced rigidly the unwritten law of the sea--women and children first--is plainly indicated by the preponderance of women among the partial list of survivors that the wireless has given.
Although rated as one of the most able commanders since te advent of the modern steamship, Captain Smith's career had been recently marred with ill-luck. He was in command of the Titanic's sister ship Olympic when that vessel was in collision with the British cruiser Hawke. Exonerated of all blme for this occurence, he was placed in charge of the Titanic only to graze disaster when his now charge fouled the steamship New York in the Silent after leaving Southampton on her maiden voyage,which has ended so disastrously. He had been in the line's employ for more than 30 years and his first important command was the Majestic.
Although 868 souls are reported to be on the Carpathia, it is apparent that all of them are not passengers, for it was necessary for members of the Titanic's crew to man the life boats which set out from the sinking liner. How many of the crew were assigned to each boat is a matter of conjecture. A similarly unsettled matter is the percentage of first class passengers among those saved. While the names of survivors obtained are largely those of saloon passengers, the rule, "women first" should applay equally to the second cabin and steerage, a regulation which may have cost the life of many prominent men above decks. It is natural also that the names of the more obscure survivors would be slower in reaching land.
The speed at which the Titanic was traveling when she shattered herself against the iceberg will perhaps not be known until the first of her survivors reach port. Whatever her rate of progress, however, ship builders here and abroad must admit that while the modern steamship may defy wind and weather, ice and fog remain an ever-present element of danger. No ship, they point out, no matter how stauchly built, nor how many water-tight bulkheads protect her, may plunge headlong against a wall of ice without grave results. The general opinion is that the Titanic equipment was put to an extraordinary test which no vessel could have withstood.
Lewis Nixon, the eminent naval architect, is inclined to think the Titanic was either traveling at full speed, or perhaps crashed into a berg so tremendous that there was practically no give. "If The Titanic hit one of those great ice masses" said Mr Nixon, "it is likely that she struck one that had no more give than a rock."
For many years steamship men have asserted that the safest place to be is on a well equipper ocean liner. In proportion to the number carried the statistics show there is load loss of life and less chance of injury on board a modern liner than there is in any other means of transportation.
Trans-Atlantic steamers travel in well-defined routes, known as "steamship lance" the westbound and the eastbound. This reduces to a minimum the chances of collision with one another. But icebergs and derelicts have no respect for these rules, and float into the paths or wellow across them to be a ---- menace in time of fog or very thick weather. There is no way to give waring until too late. Out of a smether of fog a pallid shape may be glimpeed over the bows to be followed a half minute later by the crash of the bows against the mass of ice.


FIRST TIDINGS OF SINKING.
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It was Sent by Wireless From the Olympic.
New Tork, April 16--The tidings that the Titanic had sunk came in a brief wireless dispatch to Cape Race, N. F. shortly after 7 o'clock last night from the White Star liner Olympic, which reported that the Titanic had foundered at about 2.20 a. m. Monday morning in latitude 41.16 north and longitude 50.14 west. The message added that the steamship Carpathia, then on her way to Naples, had reached the scene of the wreck at daybreak and found only boats and wreckage, and that all the Titanic's boats were accounted for and about 625 souls saved, crew and passengers, latter nearly all women and children.
This news was confirmed shortly afterward by officials of the White Star line here, who announced that the Olympic had sent them a wireless dispatch that the Titanic had sunk.
A wireless dispatch received early to-day at Boston, which was relayed by the Olympic from the Carpathia, stated that the Carpathia had 846 of the Titanic's passengers on board, mostly women and children, concluding with the words : "Grave tears are felt for the safety of the balance of the passengers and the crew."
The wireless dispatch from Cape Race, N. F. telling of the sinking also gave the information that the steamship California was remaining and searching the vicinity of the disaster.
That the Virginian might have some of the shipwrecked passengers of the Titanic on board was indicated -------- which stated that she would bring to St. Johns such survivors as she "may rescue." In as much as the Virginian was bound for Liverpool, she would hardly return to the Newfoundland port unless for humanitarian reasons.
The brief wireless dispatches received so far show that the passengers and crew passed through thrilling experiences from the very moment that the monster Titanic crashed into the iceberg in the dead of night until the Carpathia, several hours later, reached the scene and rescued the survivors from life boats hosting in a sea of ice. The collision occured at a time when most of the passengers had retired or were about to go to bed. The shock of the collision sent many of the passengers to the decks partly dressed. A wireless dispatch came through Camperdown, N. S. saying that the passengers were ordered to the life boats at once and that many were scantily clad as they took their places in the boats. This would indicate that the Titanic's condition was such that no time could be spared to return to state cabins for additional clothes.
Danger still confronted even these who were so fortunate as to be part aboard the life boats. Huge quantities of field ice covered the ocean, a wireless dispatch says, and in the darkmoon the crews had to guide their boats with the greatest care to prevent being jammed and over turned. The ice was so heavy that the life boats became widely separated. The air was biting cold and the ---- that rese from the ice --- passed the passengers to --- close together to keep warm. All through the night the life boats ----
Shortly after 2 o'clock the sinking Titanic made her great dive into the sea, carrying with her hundreds of persons to death.
Daylight came and with it arrived the Cunarder Carpathia, which found only the scene of life boats filled with crew and passengers, floating helplessly about the vicinity where the Titanic had passed under the waves.
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ONLY 315 NAMES SENT.
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Other 553 Persons Rescued Not Known in New York.
New York, April 16--The official announcement of the White Star line of positive news that there are 868 survivors of the Titanic on board the Carpathia and the fact that only the names of 315 of those saved have been sent in by wireless shows that there are 353 whome names have not been received here.
Of the 201 first cabin passengers thus far accounted for 132 are women, 62 men and 6 children. Of the 114 second cabin passengers reported surviving 66 are women, 16 men and 10 children.
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PHILADELPHIANS ON TITANIC
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They Are Among These Who Have Not Been Accounted For.
Philadelphia, April 16--Six of the 32 Philadelphians known to have been on the Titanic are unaccounted for. They include George D. Widener and his son. Harry Elkins Widener, William C. Dulles and C. Doane Williams.
Mr. Widener is the son of P. A. R. Widener, the philadelphia capitalist. Mrs. George D. Widener was saved. Mr. Williams is a relative of the Coxe family, wealthy coal operators, and was returning from Switzerland. His wife is still in the country.
P. A. R. Widener was greatly distremed at his inability to get news about his son or grandson. After trying all avenues of communication he went to New York in the hope of learning something.
Among those rescued were J. R. Thayer, second vice-president of the Pennsylvania railroad, his wife and son.
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Little Hope For Drifting Victims.
Montreal, April 16--The weather signal station on the Gulf of St. Lawrence reported to-day that heavy fogs lay off Nova Scotia and that a violent thunder storm broke in that neighborhood last night and is travelling eastward. It was said that such conditions left little hope for the rescue of any survivors of the Titanic that might still be adrift in rafts or boats.
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Sympathy For Relatives of Dead.
Washington, April 16--The House of Representatives unanimously adopted a resolution to-day extending sympathy to the relatives of those who mer their death in the disaster of the Titanic.
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ASQUITH ON DISASTER.
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Tells England to Grace Itself for Terrible News.
London,April 16--Premier Asquith in a brief statement in the House of Commons this afternoon gave public expression to Great Britain's sympathy in connection with the Titanic disaster. He said :
"Perhaps the House will allow me to add this : That I am afraid we must brave ourselves to confront one of those terrible events in the order of providence wich baffle foresight, which appal the imagination and make us realize the inadequacy of words to do justice to what we feel.
We cannot say more at this moment than to give a necessarly imperfect impression of our sense of admiration that the best traditions of the sea seem to have been observed and that willing sacrifices were offered to give the first chance for safety to those who were least able to help themselves."
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FEAR MAJOR BUTT IS LOST.
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Slim Chances That He Will Be Found With Rescue.
Washington, April 16--The White House was not a cheerful place to-day for President Taft and most of his Cabinet and many of the callers were deeply concerned over the probable fate of Major A. W. Butt, who has been Mr. Taft's military aide since he entered the White House. The White Star line officers in New York kept the President advised during the day as they checked over the list of the rescued. As the chance against Major Butt's name appearing among the saved grew fainter and fainter the President began to give up hope.
"The chance is a slim one, but we're hoding on to that." he said to a friend as he left for lunch.
During the day the White House offices received many personal inquiries. All of Major Butt's friends believed he would be among the last to leave the ship.
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WAITING TO INSPECT VESSEL.
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Officials Were Preparing to Learn if Titanic Was Properly Equiped.
Washington, April 16--The Federal steamship inspection service was awaiting the arrival of the Titanic for examination to see that she complied with the English law with regard to life and other equipment. If the vessel had been of American register it would have been obliged to have life boats or life rafts containing 33.470 cubic feet, or accomodations for 2.347 persons.
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MASS OF WRECKAGE SIGTHED.
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But No Boats Or Rafts Were to Be Seen.
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Halifax, April 16--The Sable Island cable ship Minia reported this afternoon through the wireless station here that she had sigthed a great mass of wreckage, but no boats or rafts fron the Titanic. This for the time being disposes of the hope that the Minia, which was anchored off Cape Race when the Titanic first called for help, might have picked up some of the Titanic's passengers.
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PREMONITION OF DEATH.
Racine, Wis, April 16--"I dread taking this trip to Denmark, for I have a feeting that I will never return alive. I just know that the boat will risk on something awful happen to me." said Mrs. Peter C. Hansen, membered among the passengers on the ill-fited ------------ Hansen Howard, of Racine. This she followed by a farewell kind.
Mrs Hansen, accompanied by her husband, sailed last February on a visit to his old home in Denmark. They were on their return voyage on the Titanic. Their names do not appear among the rescued.
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NO LATE NEWS.
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Nothing Heard From the Carpathia This Afternoon.
New York, April 16--There was no further word this afternoon from the steamship Carpathia, which ha the 868 survivors of the Titanic on board. The officials of the Cunard line, who sent a dozen messages to Captain Rostron, of the Carpathia, said they did not know whether or not the wireless operator had been able to reach the steamship.
Crowds in Broadway, in front of the White Star offices, blocked traffic for a time this afternoon, and police reserves had to make a pathway.
The Board of Aldermen passed a resolution this afternoon extending sympathy to those afflicted by the disaster to the Titanic.
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WAITING FOR NEWS.
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Little to Give Out at Offices of the White Star Company Last Night.
New York, April 16--All Through the night the offices of the White Star line and the newspapers were besieged by scores of persons anxious to learn the fate of relatives or friends on board the Titanic, while a flood of telegrams, cablegrams and telephone messages were received, bringing eager inquiries from different parts of the country.
Officials of the White Star line had little news to impart. Wireless operators worked through the night trying to send and pick up calls from the scene of the disaster. The wireless was handleapped in the early morning by a thunder storm which finally silenced wireless transmission for a time.
Gradually the names of the rescued began to come through by wireless by way of Cape Race from the Carpathia, and were posted in the company's offices. Ther were some who scanned the list and turned away with faces showing hopes realized, but the many who came were disappointed and grief stricken. A squad of police and an extra force of clerks were called to take care of the inquirers.
Repeated calls were made for information relative to the fate of Col. Archibald Butt. President Taft's military aide who is returning from a visit abroad. President Taft telegraphed the company early in the day and was promised immediate word if anything of a definite nature regarding Colonel Butt was received.
Vincent Astor, son of Colonel John Jacob Astor, remained up through the night trying to learn the fate of his father. Word came that Mrs. John Jacob Astor, his step-mother, and her maid were safe aboard the Carpathia.
Members of the Guggenheim and Straus families had representatives at the White Star offices throughout the night in anticipation of some definite word being received concerning Isidor Straus and Benjamin Guggenheim, who were among the promment passengers on the Titanic. These names were not in the survivors' lists received up to 8.30 o'clock. Numerous inquiries were received regarding the fate of Henry B. Harris, the theatrical manager, and his wife. The list shows that Mrs. Harris had been saved, but no word came regarding her husband.
Vice-President Franklin, of the international Mercantile Marine, said to-day that he had heard that the Cunarder Carpathia would arrive here on Thursday evening and that his information was that there were 675 survivors of the Titanic on board. Mr. Franklin said that he did not expect to receive any further wireless messages from the Olympic on this side of the Atlantic and that Captain Haddock, of that steamship would soon be in position to send all his wireless reports to the London Office.
A cablegram from London received at the steamship offices in the night, concerning the fate of Sir Cosmos and Lady Duff-Gordon were among the passengers taken from the Titanic and now on board the Carpathia.
Long distance telephone calls came from Philadelphia throughout the night, inquiring for the many society folks from that city aboard the Titanic. The name of Mrs. George D. Widener, from Elkins Park, was posted as among those on board the Carpathia. The names of her husband and her son, Harry Elkins Widener, did not appear among those saved.
Vice-President Franlkin made efforts during the morning to get into communication with Montreal and onboard cities for any information which was likely to be sent by wireless.
"Nothing more has been received." said Mr. Franklin, "since the list of passengers was given out. I am trying to get Montreal on the telephone to find out where the Virginian is. She could hardly be returning to this side unless she had some of the Titanic's passengers aboard.
"The only authentic news we have so far is from the Carpathia, which is returning here with 675 of the Titanic's passengers. All the reports are coming is by way of Cape Race.
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