off in the distance and knew a steamship was coming to
our aid.
"I didn't care what happened. I just lay, and gasped when I could and
felt the pain in my feet. At last the Carpathia was alongside and the
people were being taken up a rope ladder. Our boat drew near, and one
b{y} one the men were taken off of it.
"The way the band kept playing was a noble thing. I heard it first while
we were working wireless, when there was a rag-time tune for us, and
the last I saw of the band, when I was floating out in the sea, with my
life-belt on, it was still on deck playing 'Autumn.' How they ever did
it I cannot imagine.
"That and the way Phillips kept sending after the captain told him his
life was his own, and to look out for himself, are two things that stand
out in my mind over all the rest."
CHAPTER XVIII. STORY OF THE STEWARD
PASSENGERS AND CREW DYING WHEN TAKEN ABOARD CARPATHIA--ONE WOMAN SAVED A
DOG--ENGLISH COLONEL SWAM FOR HOURS WHEN BOAT WITH MOTHER CAPSIZED
SOME of the most thrilling incidents connected with the rescue of the
Titanic's survivors are told in the following account given by a man
trained to the sea, a steward of the rescue ship Carpathia:
"At midnight on Sunday, April 14th, I was promenading the deck of the
steamer Carpathia, bound for the Mediterranean and three days out from
New York, when an urgent summons came to my room from the chief steward,
E. Harry Hughes. I then learned that the White Star liner Titanic,
the greatest ship afloat, had struck an iceberg and was in serious
difficulties.
"We were then already steaming at our greatest power to the scene of the
disaster, Captain Rostron having immediately given orders that every man
of the crew should stand by to exert his utmost efforts. Within a very
few minutes every preparation had been made to receive two or three
thousand persons. Blankets were placed ready, tables laid with hot soups
and coffee, bedding, etc., prepared, and hospital supplies laid out
ready to attend to any injured.
"The men were then mustered in the saloon and addressed by the chief
steward. He told them of the disaster and appealed to them in a few
words to show the world what stuff Britishers were made of, and to add
a glorious page to the history of the empire; and right well did the
men respond to the appeal. Every life-boat was manned and ready to
be launched at a moment's notice. Nothing further could be done but
anxiously wait and look out for th
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