ildren, lowered and
rowed away into the night. Presently the word went round among the men,
'the men are to be put in boats on the starboard side.'

"I was on the port side, and most of the men walked across the deck to
see if this was so I remained where I was and soon heard the call:

"'Any more ladies?'

"Looking over the side of the ship, I saw the boat, No. 13, swinging
level with B deck, half full of ladies. Again the call was repeated,
'Any more ladies?'

"I saw none come on, and then one of the crew, looking up, said:

"'Any more ladies on your deck, sir?'

"'No,' I replied.

"'Then you had better jump.'

"I dropped in, and fell in the bottom, as they cried 'lower away.' As
the boat began to descend two ladies were pushed hurriedly through the
crowd on B deck and heaved over into the boat, and a baby of ten months
passed down after them. Down we went, the crew calling to those lowering
each end to 'keep her level,' until we were some ten feet from the
water, and here occurred the only anxious moment we had during the whole
of our experience from leaving the deck to reaching the Carpathia.

"Immediately below our boat was the exhaust of the condensers, a huge
stream of water pouring all the time from the ship's side just above the
water line. It was plain we ought to be quickly away from this, not to
be swamped by it when we touched water.

NO OFFICER ABOARD

"We had no officer aboard, nor petty officer or member of the crew to
take charge. So one of the stokers shouted: 'Someone find the pin which
releases the boat from the ropes and pull it up!' No one knew where it
was. We felt on the floor and sides, but found nothing, and it was hard
to move among so many people--we had sixty or seventy on board.

"Down we went and presently floated, with our ropes still holding us,
the exhaust washing us away from the side of the vessel and the swell of
the sea urging us back against the side again. The result of all these
forces was an impetus which carried us parallel to the ship's side and
directly under boat 14, which had filled rapidly with men and was coming
down on us in a way that threatened to submerge our boat.

"'Stop lowering 14,' our crew shouted, and the crew of No. 14, now only
twenty feet above, shouted the same. But the distance to the top was
some seventy feet and the creaking pulleys must have deadened all sound
to those above, for down she came, fifteen feet, ten feet, five feet and
a s