Encyclopedia Titanica

WOMAN IN WILMINGTON TELLS OF THE DISASTER

North American

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Special Dispatch to The North American
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WILMINGTON, Del., April 19---Miss Emily Rugg, 20 years old, of the Isle of Guernsey, England, one of the survivors of the Titanic, arrived in this city today, and told a graphic story of the sinking.

Miss Rugg, who was one of the second-class passengers, was met in New York last night by her uncle, F. W. Queripell, a grocer. The young woman was on her way to visit relatives here.

She was asleep when the ship struck the berg, and the jar aroused her. Looking out she saw a mass of ice. Throwing a coat about her, she went on deck and saw lifeboats being lowered. Returning to the cabin, she dressed, and then went to an adjoining cabin and aroused two women friends.

Following this Miss Rugg ran up on deck and was taken in charge by some of the crew, who dragged her toward a lifeboat. She was lifted into the third boat from the last to leave the ship.

She said that there seemed to be nearly seventy-five persons in the boat and that it was very much crowded. In the meantime a panic had started among those who remained on the Titanic. An Italian jumped from the steerage deck and fell into a lifeboat, landing upon a woman who had a baby in her arms.

Miss Rugg saw the Titanic go down and declares but for the horror of it all, it might have been termed one of the grandest sights she ever saw. The boat seemed to have broken in half, and with all the lights burning brightly, the stern arose into the air, the lights being extinguished as it did so. A moment later the ship plunged beneath the surface.

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Emily Rugg

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Encyclopedia Titanica (2004) WOMAN IN WILMINGTON TELLS OF THE DISASTER (North American, Saturday 20th April 1912, ref: #3781, published 22 September 2004, generated 5th December 2024 09:26:28 PM); URL : https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/woman-wilmington-tells-disaster.html