Encyclopedia Titanica

TWO SURVIVORS CALL ON MAYOR TO ASK RELIEF

Evening World

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Steerage Passenger and Sailor Referred to Red Cross Managers of Fund

Two survivors of the Titanic called on Mayor Gaynor to-day. One is a sailor who was assigned to help man a lifeboat, the other a steerage passenger who, wearing a life-belt, leaped overboard from the sinking ship, was picked up by passengers aboard an already over-burdened liferaft, again to be hurled back into the ocean and again to be saved by the occupants of a lifeboat. They sought immediate assistance, having lost every possession when the Titanic sank. Eugene P. Daly, the rescued steerage passenger, was playing the bag pipes in the third cabin to the amusement of his fellow passengers shortly before the iceberg was struck. Daly says he was just about to retire when the impact startled him. He grabbd some clothing and started for the deck. Stewards went through the steerage and reasured the passengers, saying there was no danger. "Most of the women believed these statements," said Daly, "until it was too late. That is why so many of the women in the steerage were drowned. When they finally realized that the ship was sinking they tried to reach the boats, but could not get through the crowd of other frightened pasengers. "I managed to don a life preserver and failing to get a seat in a lifebot or on a raft jumped overboard and struck out just before the ship sank. The water was icy and for the first few minutes I thought I could not survive the cold shock. I do not know how long I was in the water when I caught the edge of a liferaft or collapsible boat already crowded. It upset, but the people in it did not drown. Some of them scrambled back while others, including myself were dragged into a lifeboat containing women and a few men. My sufferings in the lifeboat were intense until we reached the Carpathia, where I was made comfortable. "Here I am now, stripped of every worldly possession, including my beloved bag pipes, my baggage and ninety-eight pounds sterling which I saved in fourteen years in anticipation of spendng the rest of my days in the United States." Daly is living with friends at No. 901 Dean street, Brooklyn. Secretary Adamson gave Daly a note to those in charge of the mayor's relief fund at the headquarters of the American Red Cross Society at No.1 Madison Avenue. Robert Hopkins, the sailor of the Titanic, was also refered to the fund managers. He was asigned by a superior officer to get into one of the boats whose occupants all were women and to help handle the boat. He says that when he put off from the sinking Titanic he was under orders to steer a course towards lights which were burning on the distant horizon. "We all believed that those lights came from the Frankfurd [sic] but she was steaming away, we found out when we tried to row toward her." said Hopkins. Hopkins is one of the White Star crew who refused to sail back to England by company's orders. He said he had to quit the company and expected therefore no relief from that quarter. Hopkins threw some additional light on the so-called "millionaires special," lifeboat No. 2 [sic], which was one of the first boats to leave the Titanic. This boat, Hopkins said, contained Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon, Lady Duff Gordon, a man who was indicated as a millionaire and only ten others, including a few women. The millionaire, according to Hopkins, who recieved the story afterward from fellow crew members, offered to do handosmely by the crew in boat No. 2 [sic] if they "put right away from the Titanic," although there was plenty of room for others. "the crew did as requsted by the millionaire." continued Hopkins, "and after they had boarded the Carpathia the millionaire gave each of the Titanic's crew who had handled his boat a check for five ponds uspon [sic] Coutts's Bank. If anybody can get hold of one of these checks the identity of the millionaire will be established."

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Carpathia

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Encyclopedia Titanica (2003) TWO SURVIVORS CALL ON MAYOR TO ASK RELIEF (Evening World, Monday 22nd April 1912, ref: #1970, published 28 November 2003, generated 11th October 2024 08:18:18 PM); URL : https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/two-survivors-call-mayor-ask-relief.html