I know the title of this thread may look a bit weird, as well as the fact I am asking such a peculiar question, but I found an account that had a tidbit puzzling enough for me to want to further inquire about it in this forum.
I recently happened to come across an account of the sinking by Edith Rosenbaum (who was saved in Lifeboat 11) which can be found here (and possibly somewhere else). In it, she wrote "The men in our boat asked the women to cheer, saying �Those cheers that you hear on the big boat mean they have all gotten into life boats and are saved.� And do you know, that we actually cheered, believing that the big shout was one of thanks giving."
To my (quite superficial) knowledge, however, no one else in the same lifeboat mentioned having done such a thing.
I know there are many variables to take into consideration when analyzing such an issue, among others the fact that it was written twenty-two years after the disaster, that it may have been affected by an editorial pen, that Miss Rosembaum herself may have stretched some details, and the fact that just because no one else mentioned such an event it doesn't mean that said event did not take place.
But how can something that was described as "the most horrible sounds ever heard by mortal man" (by Colonel Gracie) or as "the scream of Death" (by Edwina Troutt), be mistaken by cheering by an entire boatload of people (and a fairly numerous one at that, given that Lifeboat 11 appears to have been more than half full at least)?
Again, it's possible that no one who cheered actually believed that the sound was from cheering, but like I said, I found the issue puzzling enough that I thought of inquiring about it here.
Thank you for reading this post.
I recently happened to come across an account of the sinking by Edith Rosenbaum (who was saved in Lifeboat 11) which can be found here (and possibly somewhere else). In it, she wrote "The men in our boat asked the women to cheer, saying �Those cheers that you hear on the big boat mean they have all gotten into life boats and are saved.� And do you know, that we actually cheered, believing that the big shout was one of thanks giving."
To my (quite superficial) knowledge, however, no one else in the same lifeboat mentioned having done such a thing.
I know there are many variables to take into consideration when analyzing such an issue, among others the fact that it was written twenty-two years after the disaster, that it may have been affected by an editorial pen, that Miss Rosembaum herself may have stretched some details, and the fact that just because no one else mentioned such an event it doesn't mean that said event did not take place.
But how can something that was described as "the most horrible sounds ever heard by mortal man" (by Colonel Gracie) or as "the scream of Death" (by Edwina Troutt), be mistaken by cheering by an entire boatload of people (and a fairly numerous one at that, given that Lifeboat 11 appears to have been more than half full at least)?
Again, it's possible that no one who cheered actually believed that the sound was from cheering, but like I said, I found the issue puzzling enough that I thought of inquiring about it here.
Thank you for reading this post.
