Encyclopedia Titanica

PANIC TERRIBLE JUST BEFORE VESSEL SANK

Denver Post

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'Seemed as If All the Devils of Hell Had Been Let Loose,' When People Realized Worst, Says Doctor.

Mr. Henry W. Frauenthal of New York declared all of the women on board the Titanic were thought to have been safely lowered to the boats before the order for the men to take them came. "When the ship first struck," he said, "none of us dreamed of the danger we faced. All who had been asleep after the first rush to the decks, returned to their cabins to dress. "When the word came that we were sinking and the lifeboats were ordered over the side, the panic was fearful. From all sides came shrieks and groans and cries, and it seemed as if all the devils of hell had been let loose. "Just now I am so thankful to be alive that my appreciation of the horror is dulled. I am only afraid that when I recover from the first shockit will all come back to me again, and I would rather have gone down with the boat, I think, than have to live over again, even in my imagination, the last few minutes of that fearful night. "I would rather have stayed, too, then know that women went down with the Titanic, but I swear we thought every woman on the ship had been placed safely in the boats. It was 'Women first' with all of the men, and at least it seemed as if the decks had been cleared of them, for not one was to be seen save those already lowered. Then the officers ordered the men to leave the sinking vessel and we left for the boats, not knowing, any one of us, I think how many of our fellow men we were leaving behind as prey to death."

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Henry William Frauenthal

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Encyclopedia Titanica (2003) PANIC TERRIBLE JUST BEFORE VESSEL SANK (Denver Post, Friday 19th April 1912, ref: #2003, published 4 December 2003, generated 13th December 2024 10:19:28 AM); URL : https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/panic-terrible-just-before-vessel-sank.html