The
women were ordered to the front, the men to the rear. Half a dozen
healthy, husky immigrants pushed their way forward and tried to crowd
into the first boat.

"Stand back," shouted the officers who were manning the boat. "The women
come first."

Shouting curses in various foreign languages, the immigrant men
continued their pushing and tugging to climb into the boats. Shots
rang out. One big fellow fell over the railing into the water. Another
dropped to the deck, moaning. His jaw had been shot away. This was the
story told by the bystanders afterwards on the pier. One husky Italian
told the writer on the pier that the way in which the men were shot down
was horrible. His sympathy was with the men who were shot.

"They were only trying to save their lives," he said.

WIRELESS OPERATOR DIED AT HIS POST

On board the Titanic, the wireless operator, with a life-belt about
his waist, was hitting the instrument that was sending out C. Q. D.,
messages, "Struck on iceberg, C. Q. D."

"Shall I tell captain to turn back and help?" flashed a reply from the
Carpathia.

"Yes, old man," the Titanic wireless operator responded. "Guess we're
sinking."

An hour later, when the second wireless man came into the boxlike room
to tell his companion what the situation was, he found a negro stoker
creeping up behind the operator and saw him raise a knife over his head.
He said afterwards--he was among those rescued--that he realized at
once that the negro intended to kill the operator in order to take his
life-belt from him. The second operator pulled out his revolver and shot
the negro dead.

"What was the trouble?" asked the operator.

"That negro was going to kill you and steal your life-belt," the second
man replied.

"Thanks, old man," said the operator. The second man went on deck to get
some more information. He was just in time to jump overboard before the
Titanic went down. The wireless operator and the body of the negro who
tried to steal his belt went down together.

On the deck where the first class passengers were quartered, known as
deck A, there was none of the confusion that was taking place on the
lower decks. The Titanic was standing without much rocking. The captain
had given an order and the band was playing.

{illust. caption = WAITING FOR THE NEWS

A Bird's eye view of the great crowds...}

{illust. caption = WIRELESS STATION AT CAPE RACE

Where the first news of the Titanic disaster was r