People in Grand Staircase during last moments

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Adam McGuirk

Member
In the 1997 movie "Titanic", dozens of people are in the GrandStaircase in the final minutes left of the sinking. In the movie, they are either sucked in through windows when the bridge goes under or they were already there when the water was rushing in and had no way out. However, in "Titanic an Illustrated History", there is a painting of water rushing up the staircase and coming through the glass dome, but no one is in the staircase at that time. Is it known what depiction is correct?
Adam McGuirk
 
Hi Adam!

I know myself, if I were on the ship in the final moments, being inside and below decks would be a fatal combination. I think any passenger with common sense would have shied from being below decks on the forward part of the ship by 2 am.

Though it is possible that there were still passengers inside the Grand Staircase when it went under, we'll never know for sure because it is unlikely that anyone still inside that part of the ship when it went under lived to tell the tale.

Best Regards,

Brian
 
Personally, I would have gone out of there much earlier on. In the movie, we see people just being there, unable to do anything but only wait to be drowned. I do not think it happened in this this way, at least not so many people would be there at that particular time without any other hope of survival. It was the place that one was the least likely to survive and I do not think many would be there intentionally. George ...
 
According to Colonel Gracie a large crowd of probably Third Class passengers were emerging onto the boat deck from the Grand Staircase during the final minutes. It's possible there were a lot more still inside on their way up. The prospects of how they got there are explored in the book Titanic at 2am.
 
Hi everybody! A similar question but under a completely different point of view: were there any accounts of people (passengers and/or crew) who never thought the collision as something serious and went on as usual and eventually died or at last got concerned and saved their own lives? What did those people do and why? They just slept to death??? Thanks!
 
Hi! I just read in another site that a first class passenger was in a wheel chair and obviously had no way out to save himself and eventually died! Any more info about him or anyone else on that matter? Thank you!
 
It might help if you named that passenger. I'm not one of the people oriented types, but if I had a name, I might be able to dig something up in the biographies.
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Hi all! I believe he was a young man who stayed in a cabin on A-deck and was part of a company who travelled back to America after a trip abroad. Also, he was not permanently crippled, he had some sort of an accident or such. That's all from me for now! Thanks!
 
Hi George,

I believe you are talking about J. Hugo Ross. My understanding is that he was ill with dysentery and was carried onboard Titanic on a stretcher. I have never seen any mention of a wheel chair. What web-site did you get your information from?
 
Wasn't second class passeneger Richard Becker, aged 2, took aboard Titanic by wheelchair? I also read that his sister Ruth spent some time pushing Richard around deck in his chair. Richard had an illness which couldn't be treated in India, where the family had their mission, and they were headed for the U.S. for treatment.

Cheers,

Boz
 
Young Richard Becker was an infant not yet 2 years old, so his conveyance was probably a standard 'pushchair', which would have been appropriate whatever his state of health. Babies graduated to the pushchair from the perambulator. Here's a pic of a 1916 example, and a sporty version from 1948, of the type which some of us might remember!
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