he forward bridge, fully ninety feet above the sea, peered out the
benign face of the ship's master, cool of aspect, deliberate of action,
impressive in that quality of confidence that is bred only of long
experience in command.

From far below the bridge sounded the strains of the ship's orchestra,
playing blithely a favorite air from "The Chocolate Soldier." All went
as merry as a wedding bell. Indeed, among that gay ship's company were
two score or more at least for whom the wedding bells had sounded in
truth not many days before. Some were on their honeymoon tours, others
were returning to their motherland after having passed the weeks of the
honeymoon, like Colonel John Jacob Astor and his young bride, amid the
diversions of Egypt or other Old World countries.

What daring flight of imagination would have ventured the prediction
that within the span of six days that stately ship, humbled, shattered
and torn asunder, would lie two thousand fathoms deep at the bottom of
the Atlantic, that the benign face that peered from the bridge would
be set in the rigor of death and that the happy bevy of voyaging brides
would be sorrowing widows?

ALMOST IN A COLLISION

The big vessel had, however, a touch of evil fortune before she cleared
the harbor of Southampton. As she passed down stream her immense
bulk--she displaced 66,000 tons--drew the waters after her with an
irresistible suction that tore the American liner New York from her
moorings; seven steel hawsers were snapped like twine. The New York
floated toward the White Star ship, and would have rammed the new ship
had not the tugs Vulcan and Neptune stopped her and towed her back to
the quay.

When the mammoth ship touched at Cherbourg and later at Queenstown
she was again the object of a port ovation, the smaller craft doing
obeisance while thousands gazed in wonder at her stupendous proportions.
After taking aboard some additional passengers at each port, the Titanic
headed her towering bow toward the open sea and the race for a record on
her maiden voyage was begun.

NEW BURST OF SPEED EACH DAY

The Titanic made 484 miles as her first day's run, her powerful new
engines turning over at the rate of seventy revolutions. On the second
day out the speed was hit up to seventy-three revolutions and the run
for the day was bulletined as 519 miles. Still further increasing the
speed, the rate of revolution of the engines was raised to seventy-five
and the day's