There were at least three local residents on board the Titanic' Amongst the passengers was Mr. Arthur Gee, who resided at Morningside, Riley Avenue, St. Annes. Mr. Gee represented Messrs. Whitehead, Summer, Harker, and Company, machinery exporters, of Deansgate, Manchester, and he was on a journey to Mexico, travelling by the Titanic. It is stated that he contemplated retiring after the voyage. Mr. Gee had resided in St. Annes three or four months, and frequently played golf on the Old Links. His wife and four children feel considerable anxiety, as no notification has been received about him. Letter from a St. Annes Passenger.
A Remarkable Incident
An interesting letter was received from Mr. Gee, posted at Queenstown. The letter was:-
On board the R.M.S. Titanic,
April 10th 1912.
My dear - - ,
In the language of the poet, ''This is a knock-out''. I have never seen anything so magnificent, even in a first class hotel. I might be living in a palace. It is, indeed, an experience. We seem to be miles above the water, and there are certainly miles of promenade deck. The lobbies are so long that they appear to come to a point in the distance. Just finished dinner. They call us up to dress by bugle.! It reminded me of some Russian villages where they call the cattle home from the fields by horn made from the bark of a tree. Such a dinner!!! My gracious!!!.
A singular incident is related in connection with Mr. Gee's departure. Mr. Gee had intended to sail from Liverpool, but a suggestion being made that he might transfer to the Titanic, he availed himself of the opportunity of sailing on an historic first voyage. At St Annes, he kept a dog, which usually reserved its most affectionate demonstrations for Mr. Gee's children. Mr. Gee, in the course of his business, made frequent journeys from home, but his going and comings were apparently regarded with unconcern by the dog. On the occasion of his departure to embark at Southampton, however, the dog followed the cab to the railway station, and at the station jumped about Mr. Gee in so demonstrative a fashion that he remarked on the strangeness of the incident to a friend who was seeing him off, and said how remarkable it was that the dog should appear to know that he was going on a long voyage.
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