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Updated: June 17, 2025
Instantly the captain saw that there was no hope of saving his ship. 'Serve out the life-belts! 'Out with the boats! 'Women and children first! were the orders he shouted from the bridge. Mrs. Rogers did not for a moment lose her presence of mind, and by her activity many women were saved who would in all probability never have reached the deck.
I turned my gaze again seawards: the mist was drawing nearer, threatening to envelop our boats in its embrace. How cold it was! The upper deck was now full of officers, busily putting on their life-belts I had secured mine to my kit-bag, ready to put it on when required. At that moment an officer came up to me. "Have you a life-belt?" he said, "if so would you mind putting it on?
On occasions such as a fog, when the hearts of passengers are naturally full of questions as to where they are, how long will the fog last, is there any danger, and ought we to have on our life-belts, these two afore-mentioned officials have a busy time.
I never gets upsot by no matter what happens, so I jest fixes on one of them life-belts I always has handy whenever I travels on them high- pressure steamboats we hev on the Mississippi whar you run the chance of getting busted up regular every trip and thar I turned out of my cabin slick for anything, so I wer able to help miss, har, in shaking down that dreadful old screech-owl yander, and plaster up little missy arterwards."
'Why the dull oppressive silence and absence of all signs of signals of distress? Looking up the beach we saw the black mass of boatmen all gathered round the door of the lifeboat-house, and we heard their shouts, 'Throw open the doors! 'Let us have the key! 'Why not give us the life-belts now? Finally we decided to launch at exactly nine o'clock.
Whether or not the life-belts fitted or were ever used I can't ascertain. But I believe that one was in existence a year or so ago. The "lines and anchors" were, Posh thinks, lost from his old punt the Gazelle.
Miss Craven and Mary were among the first on deck and for the short space of time that remained they worked side by side among the terror-stricken women and children, their own life-belts early transferred to dazed mothers who clutched wild-eyed at wailing babes.
There was no panic, no fighting for places in the boats on the doomed ship. On the contrary, people refused to believe in the imminence of danger. The idea that the ship was unsinkable had been so borne in on them that even when summoned upon deck and ordered to put on life-belts, many of them refused. In the first boats gotten away from the ship, there were not many people.
"There are life-belts here; see, hung to the front of the cabin. Was that what you meant?" "Yes, and no." He snatched one from the hook, and hastily strapped it about her. "These may help, but we shall need more. Was there no life-raft? My God! there must surely be something of that kind." "Yes, there is; I remember now. It is forward there, near the engine-room hatch.
The boats were being pushed out the davits swung round, the tarpaulin covers removed, and the awnings unbent. Life-belts were being collected in the music-room on deck, and the purser had given orders to the stewards to prolong dinner as much as possible. "Let 'em have their dinner first," the captain had said significantly. And all the while the Mooroo was drifting.
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