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Message |
    
Jim Currie
Member
Username: sailorjim
Post Number: 205
Registered: 4-2008
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 6:23 pm: | 
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Yes! I read that.
I suppose I'm just being my kind old self!
However, It's not every day you sail on the world's most prominent ship on her maiden voyage and then have it sink under you,
My prize winner for 'Cool Cat' was the 5th Officer. I know Lightholler was the whizz-kid but it seems he was destined to get into scrapes for the most of his life |
Inger Sheil
Member
Username: isheil
Post Number: 3647
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 18, 2008 - 11:12 pm: |
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We don't quite know when Boxhall's illness (identified as pleurisy) began - it could have been pre-sinking, exacerbated by the stress and cold conditions of the night, but we can't be certain (I've speculated before that it might have had something to do with his movements on that last watch as he reported them). I wonder if it was something as simple as a cold that developed into something much worse when he didn't have the opportunity to recuperate properly. But perhaps I'm thinking along those lines as I'm nursing one myself at the moment and am not inclined to give it much quarter (although I did take a day off work).
There are a few, non-specific references in his correspondence to Boxhall suffering illness over the years, and I wonder if he (like many of us) was prone to respiratory infections.
At any rate, he was a very tenacious individual - there is a story dating to his days in sail of how he suffered a severe injury to a leg (possibly even a break of some description) when he was hurled to the deck by heavy seas. He regained his feet and finished his watch before seeking medical attention. |
Ben Lemmon
Member
Username: megacheetah
Post Number: 464
Registered: 1-2008
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 12:28 am: |
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quote:My prize winner for 'Cool Cat' was the 5th Officer.
As is mine. By far, my favorite moment from the tragic night was when H.G. Lowe says: "If you'll get the hell out of the way, I'll be able to do something! You want me to lower away quickly? You'll have me drown the whole lot of them." That would sure put me in my place. Either that, or it would really tick me off! I guess it would depend on how I felt that night.
Hey Inger, how is the great biography coming along?
"There's talk of an iceberg."
Benjamin D. Lemmon
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Inger Sheil
Member
Username: isheil
Post Number: 3648
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 12:48 am: |
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Not bad, Ben - when I get a chance to work on it!
I did catch your email from a little while ago, btw - I had a clean-up of outstanding emails a day or so ago and couldn't find it again. The short answer is, Lowe's literary tastes seem to have run to Kiplingesque works...I do know his favourite poet, and mention it in the biography as it is rather indicative of his character and values. |
Michael H. Standart
Moderator
Username: mstandart
Post Number: 23229
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 3:53 am: |
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>>However, It's not every day you sail on the world's most prominent ship on her maiden voyage and then have it sink under you,<<
That's definately a once in a lifetime event. The sort where you don't want that commemorative T-shirt. Still I don't think Boxhall was all that shellshocked above and beyond the call of shaken to the bone. Seafarers are a tough breed and have to be. This was especially true of officers and ratings who made their way up in sail, and Boxhall did. I'm inclined to believe that people of this era had a quality of toughness that we lack today. They just tended to deal with things which would have us running to some sort of group tharapy these days. Back then, these people were more likely to write it off as "S*** happens, get over it." and they would.
>>I wonder if it was something as simple as a cold that developed into something much worse when he didn't have the opportunity to recuperate properly.<<
That wouldn't surprise me in the least. Especially in the perpetually cold and damp conditions of the North Atlantic. Been there done that, albit on some different oceans.
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart
Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon
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Ben Lemmon
Member
Username: megacheetah
Post Number: 466
Registered: 1-2008
| | Posted on Wednesday, November 19, 2008 - 8:52 pm: |
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quote:I do know his favourite poet, and mention it in the biography as it is rather indicative of his character and values.
Now you're just taunting me! I really would like to read that book. You'll give me a free copy, right Inger? No, I'm kidding. You will give me a copy with your "John Hancock" on it, though, right? Wait a minute! Is the term "John Hancock" purely an American expression, or do you know what it means, Inger?
quote:The sort where you don't want that commemorative T-shirt.
Yeah, a commemorative t-shirt wouldn't quite fit the situation. Everyone would either gasp or do a double-take if they saw a shirt saying I was on Titanic's maiden voyage in old Edwardian calligraphy. And you would remember what happened that night every time you saw that shirt hanging up in your closet, hearing all those screams…
quote:These people were more likely to write it off as "S*** happens, get over it." and they would.
You mean "Ship Happens," right Michael? Anyway…
I would like to pose a question for anyone who is willing to answer. Do you think people might have suffered from shell shock (a.k.a. posttraumatic stress disorder), or do you think it was not as traumatic an event?
"There's talk of an iceberg."
Benjamin D. Lemmon
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Michael H. Standart
Moderator
Username: mstandart
Post Number: 23248
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Thursday, November 20, 2008 - 2:27 am: |
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>>You mean "Ship Happens," right Michael?<<
A little bit more blunt then that, but yes.
>>I would like to pose a question for anyone who is willing to answer. Do you think people might have suffered from shell shock (a.k.a. posttraumatic stress disorder), <<
I would say that much is a certain sure fact, although it wouldn't be all that easy to prove. I know of one woman...her name escapes me at the moment...who ultimately ended up joining a religious order as a nun. There may have been other reasons for that, but she may well have found some measure of solace in the move. Those who ultimately took their own lives would be good candidates. What it boils down to is how they reacted to various situations or more precisely, those situations which they avoided. Frankie Goldsmith for example, who avoided large excited crowds like the plague.
The catch is that PTSD was not something that was known in the sense that we understand it, so knowing it is one thing, proving it is another.
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart
Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon
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Ben Lemmon
Member
Username: megacheetah
Post Number: 468
Registered: 1-2008
| | Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 1:55 am: |
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After researching a tad, I also found John Morgan Davies Jr. It says that he committed barbiturate poisoning in the fifties. While it is plausible to say it was a result of his divorce, a divorce does not always make someone commit suicide. If it did, we would have thousands of Americans committing suicide almost every day. While different people react in different ways, I don't think it would have led to suicide, unless his wife was cheating. What I'm getting at is this: do you think Master Davies might have committed suicide as a result of his divorce AND perhaps the things he experienced the night of the sinking. Perhaps it was like some latent PTSD symptoms, brought about because he lost another loved one.
"There's talk of an iceberg."
Benjamin D. Lemmon
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Michael H. Standart
Moderator
Username: mstandart
Post Number: 23272
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Friday, November 21, 2008 - 2:58 am: |
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>>Perhaps it was like some latent PTSD symptoms, brought about because he lost another loved one.<<
Or it could have been the result of the divorce, or it could have been that in combination with any number of factors which had nothing (Or everything) to do with Titanic. If he left a note, that might be revealing but if he didn't, we can only guess.
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart
Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon
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Erik Wood
Member
Username: ewood
Post Number: 1839
Registered: 4-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - 5:02 am: |
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Those of you who know me well are going to know my thoughts on keeping the passengers guessing. I know it has been covered several times.
Dare I repeat myself?
All the Best,
Capt. Erik D. Wood
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Michael H. Standart
Moderator
Username: mstandart
Post Number: 23578
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - 5:54 am: |
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>>Dare I repeat myself?<<
For the sake of the newcomers, perhaps you should.
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart
Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon
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Samuel Halpern
Member
Username: cmdrsam
Post Number: 2242
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - 5:49 pm: |
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>>For the sake of the newcomers, perhaps you should.<<
INTERPRETATION: I forgot because I'm getting too old to read your thoughts anymore. 
Sam Halpern
TITANICOLOGY
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Samuel Halpern
Member
Username: cmdrsam
Post Number: 2243
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, December 3, 2008 - 5:55 pm: |
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Actually Capt. Erik, let me delve into your thoughts. Could it be?
quote:The crew and the passengers only need to know what I tell them. My responsibility is for their safety, and most of the time knowledge can kill the uneducated passenger.
Sam Halpern
TITANICOLOGY
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Michael H. Standart
Moderator
Username: mstandart
Post Number: 23580
Registered: 12-2000
| | Posted on Thursday, December 4, 2008 - 3:12 am: |
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>>INTERPRETATION: I forgot because I'm getting too old to read your thoughts anymore.<<
Uhhhhhh...what was this thread all about????
Cordially,
Michael H. Standart
Equal Opportunity Curmudgeon
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Erik Wood
Member
Username: ewood
Post Number: 1840
Registered: 4-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, December 4, 2008 - 3:39 am: |
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I was going to elaborate a little, but Sam got the basics right.
All the Best,
Capt. Erik D. Wood
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