Titanic lifeboat 9. The fifth boat to be lowered from the starboard side. Purser McElroy and First Officer Murdoch seem to have supervised the loading of this boat together. Boats 1, 3, 5 and 7 held only passengers from first class besides the crew. In boat 9, the situation changed. Mrs Futrelle had been separated from her husband a bit earlier on in the night and had ended up near No. 9 into which she stepped. She believed there were about 30 people in it, including 17 crewmen; she thought they were stewards and cooks. Mrs. Aubert and her maid also entered the boat and apparently, Mrs. Aubert was in somewhat of a state during the whole rescue operation. Some ladies from second class were assisted into the boat by the six or so stewards that Purser McElroy had ordered into the boat to help passengers. When no more ladies were to be found in the vicinity, some men passengers were let in. Edward Beane had helped his wife into the ''ninth boat,'' and seeing there was room, he joined her in the boat; in a long interview in the Syracuse Herald, he said the boat was only half-filled and that he had had to jump into the sea and swim for a long time to reach it. Yet, this was not so, since boat 9 picked up nobody from the sea. He and a few other gentlemen simply entered the boat from the deck. In all, there seem to have been 35-40 people in it; twelve ladies, six or seven men passengers as well as perhaps 18 male crew members.
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