Cam Houseman
Member
Plausible, the poor guy was through a disaster and was already being hated on the Carpathia IIRC. I can only imagine the press before Hearst slaughtered his career
Arun Vajpey
Member
Bruce Ismay became unfairly infamous only after the Titanic disaster. Before then, I doubt if people other than Officers, a few senior crew and select First Class passengers could have recognized him face to face. He would not have been familiar to most Second and Third Class passengers, not 'ordinary' crew working below decks. If one or more of that group saw Ismay being whisked away on board the Carpathia, they would not have known who it was. When they reported it, some journalists probably guessed it was Ismay but a "Mystery Man" would be more saleworthy, at least for a day or two.
Martin Cooper
Member
Well, poor old Ismay was my first thought when I read the comment, (I wish now that I had made a note of the thread I read it on).
However, the comment said that this mystery man had been picked up alone from the sea and quickly hidden away from prying eyes. So if that is correct, then it couldn't have been Mr Ismay, because he was picked up along with other folk in a lifeboat, so it's a bit of a puzzler.
I will have to try and find the comment again, and see which thread it was in and also the commenter, (that is if he/her is still on the message board).
I do know that I was reading about the lifeboats being picked up by the Carpathia, but cannot remember the thread title (must be one of those senior moments again), lol.
If I find it, I will let you know.
Arun Vajpey
Member
Again, could this business about "picked alone from the sea" have been a bit of journalistic embellishment? AFAIK, the Carpathia picked up only lifeboat occupants.
Steven Christian
Member
Yes he was shuttered away and I have read he was given sedatives. I wonder what that was in 1912. Laudanum?
edited by me: Went and looked up drugs in 1912. Forgot about morphine which was a problem in those days. The civil war produced a lot of morphine addicts. And after a lot of others. 1912 was the year they started regulating it.
International Opium Convention - Wikipedia
Ismay opiate addiction after sinking of Titanic < Tim Maltin
Ismay developed a lifelong opiate addiction after the sinking of Titanic and withdrew from society - true or false? Tim Maltin investigates.
timmaltin.com
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Arun Vajpey
Member
Although it is true that for a long time only alcohol and opium were used for sedation of patients, by 1912 there were other options. Phenobarbital had just become a prescription medication but it was still rare and I doubt if the Physician on board the Carpathia had access to any. My own guess would be that they used a small dose of Chloral Hydrate, the so called "knock out drops" that has some pharmacological similarities with alcohol.
Chloral Hydrate was still being used well into the 20th Century. If you have seen the 1962 James Bond film From Russia With Love, SPECTRE agent Robert Shaw admits to using it to put Bond's girlfriend to sleep.
Steven Christian
Member
Ok thanks for the info. Never knew much about drugs as I don't take them. I had to go look that up. Sounds like that might have been what was given to Ismay as it was popular during that time. Although in various sources they say he was given "opiates" because he was despondent. As for From Russia with Love...that's still my favorite 007 movie. The uncut version that is.
robert warren
Member
It seems very odd that Smith would end up in Maryland of all places. What about his daughter and wife? If I survived a disaster , and had a family, I would get back to them ASAP , not cavort around in some foreign country.
Arun Vajpey
Member
True, but it is quite clear that the man who Captain Pryal saw was NOT Captain Smith but some other middle aged bearded man with a passing resemblance. Captain Smith most certainly did not survive the disaster, let alone turn-up in Baltimore.
Apart from the fact that no one on any lifeboat or on the Carpathia claimed that some mystery man was picked-up directly from the sea. The Carpathia was the first lifeboat on the scene and by then anyone who had not already been hauled into a lifeboat would have been dead. All those tales of "swimming for hours" are total fiction, either made-up by men suffering from survivor's guilt or embellishment by reporters.
Cam Houseman
Member
I'm sorry, I misread July 1912 as July 1911