Voices from the Titanic

by Geoff Tibballs

  A Central News message says that the body identified as W. Vear is believed to be that of Mr W. T. Stead, and that reported as R. Butt is believed to be that of Major Butt.

  (Daily Sketch, 26 April 1912)

  MORGUE SHIP PUTS 190 BODIES ASHORE; 57 OF KNOWN DEAD CAST INTO THE SEA

  Halifax, Nova Scotia, 30 April

  Slowly the cableship Mackay-Bennett steamed up the harbour of Halifax this morning bearing 190 of the Titanic’s dead. It was just two weeks from the day that the new queen of the sea was to have crowned herself by landing her passengers in New York after a record maiden trip. At the pier here 500 persons from all quarters of the world had gathered to claim their dead.

  To some she brought bitter disappointment; for the Mackay-Bennett had been compelled to bury at sea many of the bodies she had wrested from the sea. There were 116 thus recommitted to the waters, 57 of which had been identified aboard the Mackay-Bennett.

  Despite the shock brought by this announcement, no one expressed any criticism of Capt. Larnder’s action, all believing him sincere in his explanation that lack of space on board, shortage of embalming material and the mutilation of bodies were solely responsible for his course.

  A shocking incident of the disaster was revealed by the announcement that thirty bodies, many those of women, were found near a lifeboat which had capsized. A woman’s skirt was tied to one of the oars, showing that it had been used as a signal.

  That no favouritism was shown in the reburial at sea – that is, that the bodies of prominent persons were not kept aboard to the exclusion of the more humble – is shown by the White Star Line’s announcement that among those bodies sunk again was that of George D. Widener, the Philadelphia capitalist. Although this appears to be a mistake, in that Mr Widener’s son, now here, believes that the body was that of his father’s valet, the name Widener stands on the official list of reburied as issued by the White Star Line late today.

  With a flag drooping below the main deck the black-sided Mackay-Bennett looked the hearse she was. The roofs and the harbour banks were crowded, but it was a reverent crowd that with bowed heads, heard in silence the tolling of the church bells.

  Capt. Larnder got word to the waiting crowd that of the 116 buried most had been members of the crew, for whom, while there is sorrow, there were no claimants on the pier. He authorized the statement that he recovered a total of 306 bodies, of which he was bringing 190 bodies back to port.

  At once there was a rush to learn if the bodies that relatives were there to seek had been disposed of. The first to have his distress ended was Vincent Astor, who learnt that the Colonel’s body was positively aboard.

  Then Maurice Rothschild learnt to his great relief that the body of his uncle, Isidor Straus, was surely among those lifted ashore.

  Dr E. G. Tomlin of Philadelphia learnt that his father-in-law, Frederick Sutton, a wealthy and public spirited merchant of the Pennsylvania city, another whose name was put on the list of recovered, had been buried at sea.

  There was another first-class passenger, Walter H. Anderson, recovered, whose body was likewise recommitted. In addition there were many from the second cabin, the rest of the 116 buried at sea being made up of the steerage and the crew.

  Two little children were picked up. One was a ten-year-old boy who went back to the waters. The second was a little girl, about three years old, with long golden curls that drooped pitifully about her face as she was put into a little coffin this morning. Hers was the first body taken from the ocean when the Mackay-Bennett started on her search. She was found floating serenely, looking very much like a big doll. The crew proposes to erect a monument to her in the local cemetery. So far as can be learnt there was nothing on her clothes to identify.

  From the pockets of the dead came many things. From the rich there fell a stream of gold and jewels and from the poor rolled pieces of food. At least $30,000 was recovered from clothes of the dead and perhaps $50,000 worth of jewellery. In Colonel Astor’s pockets there was found almost $3000 in money.

  (New York World, 1 May 1912)

  MACKAY-BENNETT’S CAPTAIN TELLS OF QUEST FOR BODIES

  Halifax, April 30

  The Mackay-Bennett, her black sides a fitting colour for the work she had been doing, had been tied up in the navy dock for an hour before the master was able to see the newspaper correspondents waiting to hear the details of one of the strangest missions ever a ship was sent on.

  Capt. F. H. Larnder is an upstanding, frank-spoken Englishman, 45 years old. His face is bronzed from the 30 years he has spent at sea. Because of that training he has a clear mind and seeks accuracy first, so his story was simply told, and in that quality lay its greatest strength.

  The ship was put under charter to put out to the scene of the wreck and to bring in all bodies found, but owing to the number of bodies and other conditions, such as adverse weather, this unfortunately proved impossible. We were unable to carry out the letter of our instructions, and some of the bodies found were buried at sea after appropriate religious service by the chaplain here.

  We left Halifax on the afternoon of Wednesday April 17. Fog and bad weather delayed us on our run and we didn’t arrive on the scene until Saturday at 8 p.m.

  On Saturday at noon, having asked all ships within our wireless range to report to us any evidence of the wreck, we received a communication from the German liner Rhein that in latitude 42.1 north, longitude 49.13 west, she had passed much wreckage and had seen several bodies.

  Our course was shaped north 34 degrees east, and while we were heading this way, later in the afternoon, we spoke to the steamer Bremen, which told us of having passed three big bergs and several bodies in latitude 43 north, longitude 49.2 west. Roughly speaking, these two reports showed that the drift was to the north and east, and so I made up my mind to try to go over the trail that the bodies had taken.

  We reached the spot where I thought the Titanic had sunk just after the first watch began, and we shut down and let the ship drift with whatever current chose to carry her, on the theory that where the ship would be carried there we would find the bodies.

  Four hours after we began floating north by east on the rise of a gentle swell three bodies were sighted. This was in the midwatch and at the same time we saw quantities of lighter wreckage, steamer chairs, hatches and pieces of wood.

  We kept a sharp watch on the bodies and at daylight on Sunday two boats were lowered, and though a heavy sea was running we succeeded in recovering 51 bodies. We had to work slowly and carefully and it was well along towards six o’clock that we got the last of the bodies aboard.

  They were in pretty fair shape. Now and then some would be found in mutilated condition. We judged this to be due to the seas smashing over the Titanic as she settled and throwing the men against the railings and fixtures, breaking their heads and otherwise hurting them. Then, again, some may have been hurt by the screws of passing ships.

  The bodies that were in worse shape from these wounds or from being in the water we concluded to bury at sea, so at eight o’clock that night twenty-four of them were recommitted. Canon Hind spoke the service and we helped out as best we could. The bodies were almost all those of the crew. In some cases the undertaker didn’t think it was safe to try to keep them. That night we did not bury any bodies that had been identified.

  Monday, at daylight, when we resumed work, we found the bodies scarce. After a long, careful search all we got was twenty-five. We followed a line of wreckage for sixteen miles and then a batch of bodies was discovered just at dark.

  The ship drifted pretty well on the course the bodies were taking during the night, and at dawn we were not far off. With the findings of the night before we had a good start on Tuesday’s work.

  Finishing with one pack we ran into another. It was our best day’s work. By noon we had 90 aboard.

  One pack we sighted at a distance the bodies looked like seagulls swimming on the water, and the flapping in the breeze of the loose ends of t
he lifebelts made the resemblance to wings almost complete.

  When we bore down upon them the bodies looked like swimmers asleep. They were not floating, but bolt upright, with heads up. The arms were outstretching, as if aiding to support the body. All faced one way – the way they were drifting.

  We saw a big berg when we made this pack. It might have been the berg that sunk the liner. She was long and low lying, rising perhaps 125ft, or maybe 160 at her highest point, which was well in from a bunch that sloped into the water. It was surrounded by wreckage and several bodies.

  The bodies were floating, some near together, some far apart. There seemed no order among them – none hand in hand or embraced. We would come upon them within a few feet of each other in big numbers and then stretched out at great lengths from each other.

  Tuesday afternoon the weather came on and so we only got twenty-nine. There was a thick fog all day Wednesday and it was blowing fresh from the south-west, so we headed to wind and sea. All day we saw nothing. At midnight the weather eased and we shaped to where we expected to find them.

  At 4.30 Thursday morning one was seen from the bridge through glasses. With so little showing above water the bodies were not easy to pick out against the water, and the job was harder when they were surrounded by bits of wreckage, which aided in concealing them.

  As soon as we sighted the body we stopped and drifted. We had got back on the track and that day we picked up thirty-seven more. This was the day that we got word that the Minia was on the way to join us in the work. She spoke to us just after midnight by wireless and after getting our position came alongside about a quarter to one Friday morning. At daylight the two ships began the search together. She confirmed to us having the body of Charles M. Hays aboard.

  The second burial we had was on Monday night when twelve bodies were sunk. We had the final service on Wednesday morning when the weather kept us from our work, so we used our time to bury 78 bodies. The task was no easy one.

  At noon the Mackay-Bennett picked up sixteen more bodies. We then left for Halifax, having as many bodies on board as we could look after.

  As the bodies were hoisted up to the deck each body was searched, was numbered and all the contents of the pockets and valuables were put into a canvas bag, bearing the same number as the body. Close examination of the contents of the bag led to later identification. Each bag was separately examined at night after the work of the day was finished.

  There were doors, chairs and wood from the Titanic spread over thirty miles. We found an empty broken lifeboat upside down with a few bodies near it. It was a flat boat of the collapsible type. We saw no sign of shooting on any of the bodies. We found several men dressed in evening clothes, but found no bodies lashed to doors. Those whom we found it necessary to bury were not men of prominence.

  Regarding the body found at first and supposed to be that of Mr Widener, it has since been established that it was Mr Widener’s valet, with some of Mr Widener’s papers on his person. He was buried at sea. The body was badly damaged. The body of Mr Widener is not on board, and his son is satisfied that the body buried is that of his father’s valet.

  As to Mr Widener, we were never altogether satisfied as to his identity, because, though his papers were found on the body, his underclothing did not look as though it would be worn by him. It was of a poorer texture than he would be expected to wear.

  It is my opinion that the bulk of the bodies are in the ship. I think when she went down the water broke into her with great force and drove them into the hull. Mrs Straus’s body was not yet found.

  I explain the reason that so many of the bodies picked up were members of the crew because they probably jumped before the ship took the fatal plunge. They were used to the ways of the sea and knew the danger of staying aboard her until the end. The passengers stayed aboard her and went down with her. They were crushed down in her as she sunk, and deep in her body they are finding their graves.

  Those aboard her, the doctors think, were killed almost instantly by the terrible pressure in the vortex. Those who got away died later from freezing. I think few were drowned.

  I had only one embalmer aboard and he treated something like 100 bodies. We took them in the order they came; no preference was shown. That is, the passengers were given consideration over the crew because the crew must expect such things when they put to sea, and we felt that in cases where great estates and large wills depended upon the body as proof of death it was best for us to do all in our power to have the body in shape to bring back.

  I have no doubt that the families of the crew would like to have had their bodies sent to them, too. So far as we could, we did. But I thought it proper to give the preference to the men of affairs and, besides, it is fit and proper for a sailorman to be buried at sea. He lives by the sea and so he should be willing to be buried in the sea.

  (New York World, 1 May 1912)

  RECOVERING THE DEAD

  Upturned Boat on Scene of Titanic Disaster Mutilation Caused by a Terrific Explosion

  A surprising discovery was made on the scene of the Titanic disaster by the cable ship Mackay-Bennett, which returned to Halifax yesterday from its search for bodies.

  An Exchange telegram received yesterday stated that a group of thirty bodies, including those of several women, was found alongside an upturned lifeboat. A woman’s red skirt was attached to an oar, and had apparently been used as a distress signal. There were indications that the boat was afloat some time after the Titanic foundered.

  It will be remembered that before the Carpathia reached New York the White Star Company received a wireless message from the Olympic reporting that all the Titanic’s boats were accounted for. This message was read in the House of Commons by the Prime Minister.

  The Mackay-Bennett recovered 306 bodies, and 190 of them were taken to Halifax. One hundred and sixteen bodies were mutilated beyond recognition. Arms and legs were fractured, and the features in many cases were so terribly cut and bruised that (it is declared) the injuries could not have been caused by the sea or wreckage, but must have resulted from a terrific explosion.

  The body of Colonel Astor, which has been embalmed, is to be conveyed on the journey to New York by special train today. His son, Mr Vincent Astor, will travel with the remains. At the sad landing yesterday the proceedings were conducted with impressive solemnity.

  Cash to the extent of 16,000 dollars was found in the pockets of dead people. On Colonel Astor’s body was found 2,500 dollars, and he was wearing a wire belt with a gold buckle, which is said to be a family heirloom. Many bodies were identified by papers, letters and cards. Most of the watches found had stopped between 2.10 and 2.15. The bodies of the first-class passengers were found in groups.

  The corpses taken to Halifax were landed at Government Dock and were guarded by Canadian bluejackets. All shipping was kept outside the Channel for the time being, and very few people besides Government officials were allowed in the dock premises.

  Only one woman was admitted, and she was an undertaker. The rest of the undertakers, together with the mourners, gathered outside.

  Captain Larnder, of the Mackay-Bennett, reports that the bodies were recovered 60 miles north-east of the scene of the disaster in the waters of the Gulf Stream. The searchers swept a square of 30 miles.

  The first body discovered was supposed to be that of Mr Widener, but it was later established as Mr Widener’s valet, Edward Keeping, who had some of Mr Widener’s papers on him.

  The captain believes that all the bodies buried at sea were those of the ship’s crew. He is satisfied that the passengers were properly identified. The bodies of eighteen women were found but none of them were those of first-class passengers.

  Most of the bodies found were just on the edge of the Gulf Stream, and had they not been rescued at the time they were they would in all probability have floated for many miles in the current. One hundred bodies were in one group.

  The White Star officials at New York yester
day morning received a wireless message from the Minia expressing the belief that if any more bodies of Titanic victims are floating they have been swept by the late northerly gales into the Gulf Stream and carried many miles to the east.

  Fourteen bodies have been recovered by the Minia, of which two are unidentified, and these have been buried at sea.

  (Daily Sketch, 1 May 1912)

  Frederick Hamilton, a cable engineer on the Mackay-Bennett, kept a diary of the ship’s sad mission.

  April 20. 7 p.m.

  A large iceberg, faintly discernible to our north, we are now very near the area where lie the ruins of so many human hopes and prayers. The embalmer becomes more and more cheerful as we approach the scene of his future professional activities. Tomorrow will be a good day for him.

  April 21

  The ocean is strewn with a litter of woodwork, chairs, and bodies. The cutter lowered, and work commenced and kept up continuously all day, picking up bodies. Hauling the soaked remains in saturated clothing over the side of the cutter is no easy task. Fiftyone we have taken on board today, two children, three women, and 46 men, and still the sea seems strewn. With the exception of ourselves, the bosum bird is the only living creature here.

  8 p.m.

  The tolling of the bell summoned all hands to the forecastle where 30 bodies are ready to be committed to the deep, each carefully weighed and carefully sewn up in canvas. It is a weird scene, this gathering.

  April 24. Noon

  Another burial service held, and 70 bodies follow the other. The hoarse tone of the steam whistle reverberating through the mist, the dripping rigging, and the ghostly sea, the heaps of dead, and the hard weather-beaten faces of the crew, whose harsh voices join sympathetically in the hymn tunefully rendered by Canon Hind, all combine to make a strange task stranger. Cold, wet, miserable and comfortless, all hands balance themselves against the heavy rolling of the ship as she lurches to the Atlantic swell, and even the most hardened must reflect on the hopes and fears, the dismay and despair, of those whose nearest and dearest, support and pride, have been wrenched from them by this tragedy.