Stood Up All Night Long in Lifeboat, Nestling Her Babies in Her Skirts to Keep Them Warm and Dry and Alive
(Special Dispatch to the Beacon Journal)
New York, April 20--Mrs. Addie Wells and her two chidlren, Joan, aged four, and Ralph, aged two, survivors of the Titanic horror, were found last night at the Star Hotel, 57 Clarkson street, together with A. H. Wells, husband, and A. Trevaskis, brother of Mrs. Wells, the latter from Akron, O.
It is a thrilling story that Mrs. Wells tells of her night ride to safety. Like so many others she did not realize her peril and had she not been literally forced into a life boat might have shared the fate of 1,600 others. "We were all in bed, " Mrs. Wells said, "Joan was asleep, but I was not.
When the crash came I took the children and went on deck. I hadn't more than got there when some one grabbed me, saying: "This way, " and hustled me and the children up to the lifeboat. "An officer was shouting, "'Come on here, lively now, this way, women and children' and before I knew what was happening we were in a lifeboat, and the boat was going down the side while the men stood back serious and sober, watching us. "I thought even then it was some sort of a drill or something, except that just as we went down I saw a revolver in an officer's hand. "A Mrs. Davis and a little boy were in the baot with us, and she asked me what it was all about. "As soon as the boat struck water, the seaman began pulling away with all their might. As we got away, we saw a lot of wild eyed men come rushing up from steerage, but they were met by a man with a gun who pushed them back into a crowd of men and said, "Stand back there now, the first word out of you and I'll ----' I didn't catch the rest. Some of the men from the first and second class cabins were standing beside the officer. "There were 40 or 50 in our boat and I couldn't get a chance to sit down, but stood up keeping the babies warm and dry in my skirts. The sailors pulled at the oars for all thery were worth, but the boat kept drifting back against the ship. Finally we got away a hundred feet and we didn't have any more trouble. We spent the night in the boat and were picked up at daybreak."
(Special Dispatch to the Beacon Journal)
New York, April 20--Mrs. Addie Wells and her two chidlren, Joan, aged four, and Ralph, aged two, survivors of the Titanic horror, were found last night at the Star Hotel, 57 Clarkson street, together with A. H. Wells, husband, and A. Trevaskis, brother of Mrs. Wells, the latter from Akron, O.
It is a thrilling story that Mrs. Wells tells of her night ride to safety. Like so many others she did not realize her peril and had she not been literally forced into a life boat might have shared the fate of 1,600 others. "We were all in bed, " Mrs. Wells said, "Joan was asleep, but I was not.
When the crash came I took the children and went on deck. I hadn't more than got there when some one grabbed me, saying: "This way, " and hustled me and the children up to the lifeboat. "An officer was shouting, "'Come on here, lively now, this way, women and children' and before I knew what was happening we were in a lifeboat, and the boat was going down the side while the men stood back serious and sober, watching us. "I thought even then it was some sort of a drill or something, except that just as we went down I saw a revolver in an officer's hand. "A Mrs. Davis and a little boy were in the baot with us, and she asked me what it was all about. "As soon as the boat struck water, the seaman began pulling away with all their might. As we got away, we saw a lot of wild eyed men come rushing up from steerage, but they were met by a man with a gun who pushed them back into a crowd of men and said, "Stand back there now, the first word out of you and I'll ----' I didn't catch the rest. Some of the men from the first and second class cabins were standing beside the officer. "There were 40 or 50 in our boat and I couldn't get a chance to sit down, but stood up keeping the babies warm and dry in my skirts. The sailors pulled at the oars for all thery were worth, but the boat kept drifting back against the ship. Finally we got away a hundred feet and we didn't have any more trouble. We spent the night in the boat and were picked up at daybreak."
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