R.M.S. Titanic (Hanson W. Baldwin, 1934)

8/3/2019 R.M.S. Titanic (Hanson W. Baldwin, 1934)

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R.M.S. Titanic 173

CopyrightbyHolt,RinehartandWinston.Allrightsreserved.

I

The White Star liner Titanic, largest ship the world had ever

known, sailed from Southampton on her maiden voyage to New

York on April 10, 1912. The paint on her strakes1 was fair and

bright; she was fresh from Harland and Wolff s Belfast yards,

strong in the strength of her forty-six thousand tons of steel,

bent, hammered, shaped, and riveted through the three years

of her slow birth. A

There was little fuss and fanfare at her sailing; her sister

ship, the Olympicslightly smaller than the Titanichad been

in service for some months and to her had gone the thunder of

the cheers.

But the Titanic needed no whistling steamers or shouting

crowds to call attention to her superlative qualities. B Her

bulk dwarfed the ships near her as longshoremen singled up

her mooring lines and cast off the turns of heavy rope from the

dock bollards.2 She was not only the largest ship afloat, but was

believed to be the safest. Carlisle, her builder, had given her

R.M.S. Titanic

BACKGROUND

The R.M.S. Titanic was a giant luxury cruise ship that left

Southampton, England, to sail to New York in April, 1912.

The ship hit an iceberg and sunk. Around 1,500 people died.

The following article from 1934 describes the tragedy. The

author researched ships logs, interviews, and other records to

write the article.

1. strakes: single lines of metal plating extending the whole length of

a ship.

2. bollards (BAHL UHRDZ): strong posts on a pier or wharf for holding

a ships mooring ropes.

by Hanson W. Baldwin

Word Study

Look up the word superlative

in the dictionary. Write at

least two synonyms (words

with similar meanings) for

superlative.

VOCABULARYB

How long did it take to build

the Titanic?

QUICK CHECKA

10

R.M.S. Titanic by Hanson W. Baldwin from Harpers Magazine, January 1934. Copyright

1934 by Hanson W. Baldwin. Reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown Ltd.


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174 R.M.S. Titanic

double bottos and had divided

her hull into sixteen watertight

coartents, which ade her,

en thought, unsinkable. She had

been built to be and had been

described as a gigantic lifeboat. A

Her designers dreas of a trile-

screw3 giant, a luxurious, floating hotel, which could seed to

New York at twenty-three knots, had been carefully translated

fro bluerints and old loft lines at the Belfast yards into a

living reality.

The Titanics sailing fro Southaton, though quiet,

was not wholly uneventful. As the liner oved slowly toward

the end of her dock that Aril day, the surge of her assing

sucked away fro the quay4 the steaer New York, oored just

to seaward of the Titanics berth. There were shar cracks as the

anila ooring lines of the New York arted under the strain.

The frayed roes writhed and whistled through the air and

snaed down aong the waving crowd on the ier; the New

York swung toward the Titanics bow, was checked and dragged

back to the dock barely in tie to avert a collision. Seaenuttered, thought it an oinous start. B

Past Sithead and the Isle of Wight the Titanic steaed.

She called at Cherbourg at dusk and then laid her course for

Queenstown. At 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, Aril 11, she stood out

of Queenstown harbor, screaing gulls soaring in her wake,

with 2,201 ersonsen, woen, and childrenaboard.

Occuying the Eire bedroos and Georgian suites of

the first-class accoodations were any well-known enand woenColonel John Jacob Astor and his young bride;

Major Archibald Butt, ilitary aide to President Taft, and his

friend Frank D. Millet, the ainter; John B. Thayer, vice resident

of the Pennsylvania Railroad, and Charles M. Hays, resident

of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada; W. T. Stead, the English

3. triple-screw: three-propellered.

4. quay (KEE): dock.

Word Study

Ominous means suggesting

evil or harm; threatening.

It is in the same word family

as omen. Find omen in a

dictionary. What does it

mean? How does its definition

relate to the definition of

ominous?

VOCABULARYB

What reasons did people

have for thinking the

Titanic was unsinkable?

QUICK CHECKA

20

30

40

50

Ralph White/Corbis


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R.M.S. Titanic 175


journlist; Jcques Futrelle, French novelist; H. B. Hrris,

thetricl nger, nd Mrs. Hrris; Mr. nd Mrs. Isidor Strus;

nd J. Bruce Isy, chirn nd nging director of the

White Str Line.

Down in the plin wooden cbins of the steerge clss

were 706 iigrnts to the lnd of proise, nd trily stowed

in the gret holds ws crgo vlued t $420,000: ok bes,

sponges, wine, clbshes,5 nd n odd iscellny of the

coon nd the rre.

The Titanic took her deprture on Fstnet Light6 nd,

heding into the night, lid her course for New York. She ws

due t qurntine7 the following Wednesdy orning.

Sundy dwned fir nd cler. The Titanic steed soothly

towrd the west, fint streers of brownish soke triling

fro her funnels. The purser held services in the sloon in

the orning; on the steerge deck ft8 the iigrnts were

plying ges nd Scotsn ws puffing The Cpbells Are

Coing on his bgpipes in the idst of the upror. C

At 9:00 a.m. essge fro the steer Croni sputtered

into the wireless shck:

Cptin,Titanic

Westbound steers report bergsgrowlers nd field ice 42 degrees N. fro 49 degrees to 51

degrees W. 12th April.

CoplientsBrr. D

It ws cold in the fternoon; the sun ws brillint, but the

Titanic, her screws turning over t seventy-five revolutions per

inute, ws pproching the Bnks.9

5. calabashes (KAL UHBASHUHZ): large smoking pipes made from thenecks of gourds.

6. Fastnet Light: lighthouse at the southwestern tip of Ireland. After

the Fastnet Light there is only open sea until the coast of North

America.

7. quarantine (KWAR UHNTEEN): place where a ship is held in port after

arrival to determine whether its passengers and cargo are free of

communicable diseases. Quarantine can also be used to mean the

length of time a ship is held.

8. aft: in the rear of a ship.

9. Banks: Grand Banks, shallow waters near the southeast coast of

Newfoundland.

Do you think the information

in this paragraph is objective

or subjective? Why?

READING FOCUSC

After having read this

far, do you think that this

entire selection is a primary

or secondary source? Give a

reason for your answer.

READING FOCUSD

60

70


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176 R.M.S. Titanic

In the Marconi cabin10 Second Oerator Harold Bride,

earhones claed on his head, was figuring accounts; he did

not sto to answer when he heard MWL, Continental Morse

for the nearby Leyland liner, Californian, calling the Titanic.

The Californian had soe essage about three icebergs; he

didnt bother then to take it down. A About 1:42 p.m. the

rasing sark of those days soke again across the water. It

was the Baltic, calling the Titanic, warning her of ice on the

steaer track. Bride took the essage down and sent it u to

the bridge.11 The officer-of-the-deck glanced at it; sent it to the

bearded aster of the Titanic, Catain E. C. Sith,12 a veteran

of the White Star service. It was lunchtie then; the catain,

walking along the roenade deck, saw Mr. Isay, stoed,

and handed hi the essage without coent. Isay read it,

stuffed it in his ocket, told two ladies about the icebergs, and

resued his walk. Later, about 7:15 p.m., the catain requested

the return of the essage in order to ost it in the chart roo

for the inforation of officers.

Dinner that night in the Jacobean dining roo was gay.

It was bitter on deck, but the night was cal and fine; the sky

was oonless but studded with stars twinkling coldly in theclear air. B

After dinner soe of the second-class assengers gathered

in the saloon, where the Reverend Mr. Carter conducted a

hyn singsong. It was alost ten oclock and the stewards

were waiting with biscuits and coffee as the grou sang:

O, hear us when we cry to Thee

For those in eril on the sea.

On the bridge Second Officer Lightollershort,stocky, efficientwas relieved at ten oclock by First Officer

Murdoch. C Lightoller had talked with other officers about the

roxiity of ice; at least five wireless ice warnings had reached

the shi; lookouts had been cautioned to be alert; catains and

10. Marconi cabin: room where messages were received and sent by radio.

11. bridge: raised structure on a ship. The ship is controlled from the

bridge.

12. Smiths initials were actually E. J., not E. C.

Based on context clues, or

clues from the surrounding

text, figure out which

meaning of the word bitter

is being used in this sentence

and write it below.

LANGUAGE COACHB

Why do you think Second

Operator Bride didnt

write down and pass along

the message from the

Californian?

LITERARY ANALYSISA 80

90

100

110

Is this description of Second

Officer Lightoller subjective

or objective? Give a reason

to support your answer.

READING FOCUSC


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R.M.S. Titanic 177


officers exected to reach the field at any tie after 9:30 p.m.

At twenty-two knots, its seed unslackened, the Titanic lowed

on through the night. D

Lightoller left the darkened bridge to his relief and turned

in. Catain Sith went to his cabin. The steerage was long since

quiet; in the first and second cabins lights were going out; voices

were growing still; eole were aslee. Murdoch aced back and

forth on the bridge, eering out over the dark water, glancing

now and then at the coass in front of Quarteraster Hichens

at the wheel. E

In the crows-nest, lookout Frederick Fleet and his artner,

Leigh, gazed down at the water, still and unruffled in the di,

starlit darkness. Behind and below the the shi, a white shadow

with here and there a last winking light; ahead of the a dark

and silent and cold ocean.

There was a sudden clang. Dong-dong. Dong-dong.

Dong-dong. Dong! The etal claer of the great shis bell

struck out 11:30. Mindful of the warnings, Fleet strained his

eyes, searching the darkness for the dreaded ice. But there were

only the stars and the sea.

In the wireless roo, where Phillis, first oerator, hadrelieved Bride, the buzz of the Californians set again crackled

into the earhones:

Californian: Say, old an, we are stuck here, surrounded

by ice.

Titanic: Shut u, shut u; kee out. I a talking to Cae

Race; you are jaing y signals.

Then, a few inutes laterabout 11:40 . . .

II

Out of the dark she cae, a vast, di, white, onstrous shae,

directly in the Titanics ath. For a oent Fleet doubted

his eyes. But she was a deadly reality, this ghastly thing. F

Frantically, Fleet struck three bellssoething dead ahead.

He snatched the telehone and called the bridge:

Word Study

If youre not sure what

unslackenedmeans,

examine the prefix un and

think about what the root

word slack means. Write a

definition below.

VOCABULARYD

The author probably got

this exchange between the

Californian and the Titanic

from a radio communication

transcript (a written copy of

something that was said).

Would this be a primary or

secondary source?

READING FOCUSE

120

130

140

Use context clues to

determine the meaning

of the word ghastly. Write

the definition in your own

words.

LANGUAGE COACHF


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178 R.M.S. Titanic

Iceberg! Right ahead!

The first officer heard but did not stop to acknowledge the

message.

Hard-a-starboard!

Hichens strained at the wheel; the bow swung slowly to

port. The monster was almost upon them now.

Murdoch leaped to the engine-room telegraph. Bells

clanged. Far below in the engine room those bells struck the first

warning. Danger! The indicators on the dial faces swung round

to Stop! Then Full speed astern! A Frantically the engineers

turned great valve wheels; answered the bridge bells . . .

There was a slight shock, a brief scraping, a small list to

port. Shell iceslabs and chunks of itfell on the foredeck.

Slowly the Titanic stopped.

Captain Smith hurried out of his cabin.

What has the ship struck?

Murdoch answered, An iceberg, sir. I hard-a-starboarded

and reversed the engines, and I was going to hard-a-port around

it, but she was too close. I could not do any more. I have closed

the watertight doors.B

Fourth Officer Boxhall, other officers, the carpenter, came

to the bridge. The captain sent Boxhall and the carpenter below

to ascertain the damage.

A few lights switched on in the first and second cabins;

sleepy passengers peered through porthole glass; some casually

asked the stewards:

Why have we stopped?

I dont know, sir, but I dont suppose it is anything much.In the smoking room a quorum13 of gamblers and their prey

were still sitting round a poker table; the usual crowd of kibitzers14

looked on. They had felt the slight jar of the collision and had seen

an eighty-foot ice mountain glide by the smoking-room windows,

13. quorum (KWAWR UHM): number of people required for a particular

activityin this case, for a game.

14. kibitzers (KIHB IHTSUHRZ): talkative onlookers who often give

unwanted advice.

How did Murdoch try to

avoid hitting the iceberg?

QUICK CHECKB

Word Study

Starboard, port, and astern

are nautical termswords

that are related to ships.

Look up these words ina dictionary. Write their

definitions below.

VOCABULARYA

150

160

170


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R.M.S. Titanic 179


but the night was calm and clear, the Titanic was unsinkable;

they hadnt bothered to go on deck.

But far below, in the warren of passages on the starboard

side forward, in the forward holds and boiler rooms, men

could see that the Titanics hurt was mortal. C In No. 6 boiler

room, where the red glow from the furnaces lighted up the

naked, sweaty chests of coal-blackened firemen, water was

pouring through a great gash about two feet above the floor

plates. This was no slow leak; the ship was open to the sea;

in ten minutes there were eight feet of water in No. 6. Long

before then the stokers had raked the flaming fires out of the

furnaces and had scrambled through the watertight doors in

No. 5 or had climbed up the long steel ladders to safety. When

Boxhall looked at the mailroom in No. 3 hold, twenty-four feet

above the keel, the mailbags were already floating about in the

slushing water. In No. 5 boiler room a stream of water spurted

into an empty bunker. All six compartments forward of No. 4

were open to the sea; in ten seconds the icebergs jagged claw

had ripped a three-hundred-foot slash in the bottom of the

great Titanic.15 D

Reports came to the bridge; Ismay in dressing gown ranout on deck in the cold, still, starlit night, climbed up the bridge

ladder.

What has happened?

Captain Smith: We have struck ice.

Do you think she is seriously damaged?

Captain Smith: Im afraid she is.

Ismay went below and passed Chief Engineer William Bell,

fresh from an inspection of the damaged compartments. Bellcorroborated the captains statement; hurried back down the

15. An underwater expedition to the Titanic wreck in 1986 led by the

explorer Dr. Robert Ballard revealed loosened or buckled seams in

the ships hull but no three-hundred-foot gash. Ballard concluded

that the collision of the ship with the iceberg caused the buckling

of the seams and a separation of the hulls plates, which in turn

allowed water to enter the ship and sink it. This theory explains why

survivors said they barely felt the fatal collision when it occurred.

Word Study

The word mortalhas

multiple meanings, and can

be used as an adjective or a

noun. In which way is it usedhere? What does the word

mean in this sentence?

VOCABULARYC

Even though this article is

objective, the facts arent

always correct. Based on

this footnote and the

background information that

was given, why do you think

this is so?

READING FOCUSD

180

190

200


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180 R.M.S. Titanic

glistening steel ladders to his duty. A Man after man followed

himThomas Andrews, one of the ships designers, Archie Frost,

the builders chief engineer, and his twenty assistantsmen who

had no posts of duty in the engine room but whose traditions

called them there.

On deck, in corridor and stateroom, life flowed again.

Men, women, and children awoke and questioned; orders were

given to uncover the lifeboats; water rose into the firemens

quarters; half-dressed stokers streamed up on deck. But the

passengersmost of themdid not know that the Titanic was

sinking. The shock of the collision had been so slight that some

were not awakened by it; the Titanic was so huge that she must

be unsinkable; the night was too calm, too beautiful, to think ofdeath at sea. B

Captain Smith half ran to the door of the radio shack.

Bride, partly dressed, eyes dulled with sleep, was standing behind

Phillips, waiting.

Send the call for assistance.

The blue spark danced: CQDCQDCQDCQ16

Miles away Marconi men heard. Cape Race heard it, and

the steamships La Provence andMt. Temple.The sea was surging into the Titanics hold. At 12:20 the

water burst into the seamens quarters through a collapsed

fore-and-aft wooden bulkhead. Pumps strained in the engine

roomsmen and machinery making a futile fight against the

sea. Steadily the water rose.

The boats were swung outslowly, for the deckhands

were late in reaching their stations; there had been no boat drill,

and many of the crew did not know to what boats they were

assigned. Orders were shouted; the safety valves had lifted, and

steam was blowing off in a great rushing roar. In the chart house

Fourth Officer Boxhall bent above a chart, working rapidly with

pencil and dividers.

16. CQD: call by radio operators, inviting others to communicate

with them.

What are some reasons why

none of the passengers knew

the Titanic was sinking?

QUICK CHECKB

210

220

230

Selection Vocabulary

Corroboratedmeans

supported; upheld the

truth of. Explain how Bell

corroborated what thecaptain had said.

VOCABULARYA


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R.M.S. Titanic 181


12:25 a.m. Boxhlls position is sent out to fleet of vessels:

Coe t once; we hve struck berg.

To the Cunrder Carpathia (Arthur Henry Rostron, Mster,

New York to Liverpool, fifty-eight iles wy): Its CQD, old

n. Position 4146N.; 5014 W.

The blue sprk dncing: Sinking; cnnot her for noise of

ste.

12:30 a.m. The word is pssed: Woen nd children in

the bots. Stewrds finish wking their pssengers below; life

preservers re tied on; soe en sile t the precution. The

Titanic is unsinkble. TheMt. Temple strts for the Titanic;

the Carpathia, with double wtch in her stokeholds, rdios,

Coing hrd. The CQD chnges the course of ny shipsbut

not of one; the opertor of the Californian, nerby, hs just put

down his erphones nd turned in.

The CQD flshes over lnd nd se fro Cpe Rce to

New York; newspper city roos lep to life nd presses whir.

On the Titanic, wter creeps over the bulkhed between

Nos. 5 nd 6 fireroos. She is going down by the hed; the

engineersfighting losing bttlere forced bck foot by

foot by the rising wter. Down the proende deck, HppyJock Hue, the bndsn, runs with his instruent.

12:45 a.m. Murdoch, in chrge on the strbord side, eyes

trgic, but cl nd cool, orders bot No. 7 lowered. C The

woen hng bck; they wnt no bot ride on n ice-strewn

se; the Titanic is unsinkble. The en encourge the,

explin tht this is just precutionry esure: Well see you

gin t brekfst. There is little confusion; pssengers stre

slowly to the bot deck. In the steerge the iigrnts chtterexcitedly.

A sudden shrp hiss streked flre ginst the night;

Boxhll sends rocket towrd the sky. It explodes, nd

prchute of white strs lights up the icy se. God! Rockets!

The bnd plys rgtie.

No. 8 is lowered, nd No. 5. Isy, still in dressing gown,

clls for woen nd children, hndles lines, stubles in the

Is this sentence about

Murdoch subjective or

objective, or both? Explain

your answer.

READING FOCUSC

240

250

260

270


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182 R.M.S. Titanic

wy of n officer, is told to get the hell out of here. Third

Officer Pitn tkes chrge of No. 5; s he swings into the bot,

Murdoch grsps his hnd. Goodbye nd good luck, old n.

No. 6 goes over the side. There re only twenty-eight

people in lifebot with cpcity of sixty-five. A

A light stbs fro the bridge; Boxhll is clling in Morse

flshes, gin nd gin, to strnge ship stopped in the ice j

five to ten iles wy. Another rocket drops its shower of sprks

bove the ice-strewn se nd the dying ship.

1:00 a.m. Slowly the wter creeps higher; the fore

ports of the Titanic re dipping into the se. Rope squeks

through blocks; lifebots drop jerkily sewrd. Through the

shouting on the decks coes the sound of the bnd plying

rgtie.

The Millionires Specil leves the shipbot No. 1,

with cpcity of forty people, crries only Sir Coso nd

Ldy Duff Gordon nd ten others. Aft, the frightened ii-

grnts ill nd jostle nd rush for bot. An officers fist flies

out; three shots re fired in the ir, nd the pnic is quelled. . . .

Four Chinese snek unseen into bot nd hide in the botto.

1:20 a.m. Wter is coing into No. 4 boiler roo. Stokersslice nd shovel s wter lps bout their nklesste for the

dynos, ste for the dncing sprk! As the wter rises, gret

sh hoes rke the fling cols fro the furnces. Sfety vlves

pop; the stokers retret ft, nd the wtertight doors clng shut

behind the.

The rockets fling their splendor towrd the strs. The

bots re ore hevily loded now, for the pssengers know

the Titanic is sinking. B Woen cling nd sob. The gretscrews ft re rising cler of the se. Hlf-filled bots re

ordered to coe longside the crgo ports nd tke on ore

pssengers, but the ports re never openednd the bots

re never filled. Others pull for the steers light iles wy

but never rech it; the lights dispper; the unknown ship

stes off.

The wter rises nd the bnd plys rgtie.

Why did the lifeboats take

more passengers as the

night progressed?

QUICK CHECKB

Think about what the

atmosphere was like on

the Titanic at this time,

and remember what you

read about the boat drills.Why do you think the

lifeboats of the Titanic

were let down without

being totally full?

LITERARY ANALYSISA

280

290

300

310


11/19

R.M.S. Titanic 183


1:30 a.m. Lightoller is getting the port bots off; Murdoch,

the strbord. As one bot is lowered into the se, bot officer

fires his gun long the ships side to stop rush fro the lower

decks. A won tries to tke her Gret Dne into bot with

her; she is refused nd steps out of the bot to die with her dog.

Millets little sile which plyed on his lips ll through the

voyge plys no ore; his lips re gri, but he wves goodbye

nd brings wrps for the woen.

Benjin Guggenhei, in evening clothes, siles nd sys,

Weve dressed up in our best nd re prepred to go down like

gentleen.

1:40 a.m. Bot 14 is cler, nd then 13, 16, 15, nd C. The

lights still shine, but the Bltic hers the blue sprk sy, Engine

roo getting flooded. C

The Olypi signls, A lighting up ll possible boilers s

fst s cn.

Mjor Butt helps woen into the lst bots nd wves

goodbye to the. Mrs. Strus puts her foot on the gunwle

of lifebot; then she drws bck nd goes to her husbnd:

We hve been together ny yers; where you go, I will go.

Colonel John Jcob Astor puts his young wife in lifebot, stepsbck, tps cigrette on fingernil: Goodbye, derie; Ill join you

lter. D

1:45 a.m. The foredeck is under wter; the focsle17 hed

lost wsh; the gret stern is lifted high towrd the bright

strs; nd still the bnd plys. Mr. nd Mrs. Hrris pproch

lifebot r in r.

Officer: Ldies first, plese.

Hrris bows, siles, steps bck: Of course, certinly; ldiesfirst.

Boxhll fires the lst rocket, then leves in chrge of bot No. 2.

2:00 a.m. She is dying now; her bow goes deeper, her

stern higher. But there ust be ste. Below in the stokeholds

the swety fireen keep ste up for the flring lights nd

17. focsle (FOHK SUHL): forecastle, front upper deck of a ship.

What is the blue spark?

Go back and re-read some of

the story to help you find the

answer.

QUICK CHECKC

What do you think Colonel

Astor means when he tells

his wife, Ill join you later?

LITERARY ANALYSISD

320

330

340


12/19

184 R.M.S. Titanic

the dncing sprk. The glowing cols slide nd tuble over

the slnted grte brs; the se pounds behind tht yielding

bulkhed. But the sprk dnces on.

The Asin hers Phillips try the new signlSOS.

Bot No. 4 hs left now; bot D leves ten inutes lter.

Jcques Futrelle clsps his wife: For Gods ske, go! Its your

lst chnce; go! Mde Futrelle is hlf forced into the bot. It

clers the side.

There re bout 660 people in the bots nd 1,500 still on

the sinking Titanic. A

On top of the officers qurters, en work frnticlly

to get the two collpsibles stowed there over the side. Wter

is over the forwrd prt of A deck now; it surges up the

copnionwys towrd the bot deck. B In the rdio shck,

Bride hs slipped cot nd life jcket bout Phillips s

the first opertor sits hunched over his key, sendingstill

sending4146 N.; 5014 W. CQDCQDSOSSOS

The cptins tired white fce ppers t the rdio-roo

door. Men, you hve done your full duty. You cn do no ore.

Now, its every n for hiself. The cptin disppersbck

to his sinking bridge, where Pinter, his personl stewrd, stndsquietly witing for orders. The sprk dnces on. Bride turns

his bck nd goes into the inner cbin. As he does so, stoker,

gried with col, d with fer, stels into the shck nd reches

for the life jcket on Phillipss bck. Bride wheels bout nd

brins hi with wrench. C

2:10 a.m. Below decks the ste is still holding, though

the pressure is fllingrpidly. In the gynsiu on the bot

deck, the thletic instructor wtches quietly s two gentleenride the bicycles nd nother swings csully t the punching

bg. Mil clerks stgger up the bot-deck stirwys, drgging

soked il scks. The sprk still dnces. The bnd still

plysbut not rgtie:

Nerer y God to Thee.

Nerer to Thee . . .

Word Study

Companionways is a

compound word, a word

that is formed by joining

two words. It means stairs

or ladders within a ship.

Circle two more compound

words on this page.

VOCABULARYB

Word Study

The word brain has multiple

meanings and can be used as

a noun and as a verb. How is

it being used here and what

does it mean?

VOCABULARYC

Why is the information in

this sentence objective?

READING FOCUSA

350

360

370

380


13/19

R.M.S. Titanic 185


A few en tke up the refrin; others kneel on the slnting

decks to pry. Mny run nd scrble ft, where hundreds re

clinging bove the silent screws on the gret uptilted stern. D

The sprk still dnces nd the lights still flre; the engineers re

on the job. The hyn coes to its close. Bndster Hrtley,

Yorkshiren violinist, tps his bow ginst bulkhed, clls

for Autun s the wter curls bout his feet, nd the eight

usicins brce theselves ginst the ships slnt. People re

leping fro the decks into the nerby wterthe icy wter. A

won cries, Oh, sve e, sve e! A n nswers, Good

ldy, sve yourself. Only God cn sve you now. The bnd

plys Autun:

God of Mercy nd Copssion!

Look with pity on y pin . . .

The wter creeps over the bridge where the Titanics ster

stnds; hevily he steps out to eet it.

2:17 a.m. CQ The Virginin hers rgged, blurred CQ,

then n brupt stop. The blue sprk dnces no ore. The lights

flicker out; the engineers hve lost their bttle. E

2:18 a.m. Men run bout blckened decks; lep into the

night; re swept into the se by the curling wve tht licks upthe Titanics length. Lightoller does not leve the ship; the ship

leves hi; there re hundreds like hi, but only few who

live to tell of it. The funnels still swi bove the wter, but

the ship is clibing to the perpendiculr; the bridge is under

nd ost of the forest; the gret stern rises like squt

levithn.18 Men swi wy fro the sinking ship; others drop

fro the stern.

The bnd plys in the drkness, the wter lppingupwrd:

Hold e up in ighty wters,

Keep y eyes on things bove, F

Righteousness, divine toneent,

Pece nd everls . . .

What do you think it means

that the engineers have lost

their battle? What evidenceis there that they have failed

at something?

LITERARY ANALYSISE

Why do you think the band

played while the ship was

sinking?

LITERARY ANALYSISF

18. leviathan (LUH VY UHTHUHN): biblical sea monster, perhaps a whale.

What are some of the people

who do not make it onto the

lifeboats doing?

QUICK CHECKD

390

400

410


14/19

186 R.M.S. Titanic

The forwrd funnel snps nd crshes into the se; its

steel tons her out of existence swiers struggling in the

freezing wter. Stres of sprks, of soke nd ste, burst fro

the fter funnels. The ship upends to 50to 60 degrees.

Down in the blck byss of the stokeholds, of the engine

roos, where the dynos hve whirred t long lst to stop,

the stokers nd the engineers re reeling ginst the hot etl,

the rising wter clutching t their knees. The boilers, the engine

cylinders, rip fro their bed pltes; crsh through bulkheds;

rublesteel ginst steel.

The Titanic stnds on end, poised briefly for the plunge.

Slowly she slides to her grveslowly t first, nd then ore

quicklyquicklyquickly.

2:20 a.m. The gretest ship in the world hs sunk. Fro

the cl, drk wters, where the floting lifebots ove, there

goes up, in the white wke of her pssing, one long continuous

on. A B

III

The bots tht the Titanic hd lunched pulled sfely wy

fro the slight suction of the sinking ship, pulled wy fro

the scres tht ce fro the lips of the freezing en nd

Underline one piece of

subjective information on

this page.

READING FOCUSA

420

430

Illustrations by Ken Marschall 1992 from TITANIC:

AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY, a Hyperion/Madison Press Book

Consider everything you

have read so far. What might

have been done to prevent

the Titanic from meeting

this fate, and how might

the evacuation have been

handled better?

LITERARY ANALYSISB


15/19

R.M.S. Titanic 187


women in the water. The boats were poorly manned and badly

equipped, and they had been unevenly loaded. Some carried so

few seamen that women bent to the oars. Mrs. Astor tugged at

an oar handle; the Countess of Rothes took a tiller. Shivering

stokers in sweaty, coal-blackened singlets and light trousers

steered in some boats; stewards in white coats rowed in others.

Ismay was in the last boat that left the ship from the starboard

side; with Mr. Carter of Philadelphia and two seamen he tugged

at the oars. In one of the lifeboats an Italian with a broken

wristdisguised in a womans shawl and hathuddled on the

floorboards, ashamed now that fear had left him. In another

rode the only baggage saved from the Titanicthe carryall of

Samuel L. Goldenberg, one of the rescued passengers.

There were only a few boats that were heavily loaded;

most of those that were half empty made but perfunctory

efforts to pick up the moaning swimmers, their officers

and crew fearing they would endanger the living if they

pulled back into the midst of the dying. Some boats beat

off the freezing victims; fear-crazed men and women struck

with oars at the heads of swimmers. One woman drove

her fist into the face of a half-dead man as he tried feeblyto climb over the gunwale. Two other women helped him

in and staunched the flow of blood from the ring cuts on

his face. C

One of the collapsible boats, which had floated off the

top of the officers quarters when the Titanic sank, was an icy

haven for thirty or forty men. D The boat had capsized as

the ship sank; men swam to it, clung to it, climbed upon its

slippery bottom, stood knee-deep in water in the freezing air.Chunks of ice swirled about their legs; their soaked clothing

clutched their bodies in icy folds. Colonel Archibald Gracie

was cast up there, Gracie who had leaped from the stern as

the Titanic sank; young Thayer who had seen his father die;

Lightoller who had twice been sucked down with the ship and

twice blown to the surface by a belch of air; Bride, the second

operator, and Phillips, the first. There were many stokers, half

Academic Vocabulary

What ideas about the life-

boat passengers can you

derive, or obtain, from this

paragraph?

VOCABULARYC

Word Study

Use a dictionary to find the

meaning of haven, and then

write a synonym for haven

below.

VOCABULARYD

440

450

460

470


16/19

188 R.M.S. Titanic

naked; it was a shivering company. They stood there in the

icy sea, under the far stars, and sang and prayedthe Lords

Prayer. After a while a lifeboat came and picked them off, but

Phillips was dead then or died soon afterward in the boat. A

Only a few of the boats had lights; only oneNo. 2had a

light that was of any use to the Carpathia, twisting through the

ice field to the rescue. Other ships were coming hard too; one,

the Californian, was still dead to opportunity.

The blue sparks still danced, but not the Titanics. La Provence

to Celtic: Nobody has heard the Titanic for about two hours.

It was 2:40 when the Carpathia first sighted the green light

from No. 2 boat; it was 4:10 when she picked up the first boat

and learned that the Titanic had foundered.19 The last of the

moaning cries had just died away then.

Captain Rostron took the survivors aboard, boatload by

boatload. He was ready for them, but only a small minority of

them required much medical attention. Brides feet were twisted

and frozen; others were suffering from exposure; one died, and

seven were dead when taken from the boats, and were buried

at sea.

It was then that the fleet of racing ships learned theywere too late; the Parisian heard the weak signals of MPA, the

Carpathia, report the death of the Titanic. It was thenor soon

afterward, when her radio operator put on his earphonesthat

the Californian, the ship that had been within sight as the Titanic

was sinking, first learned of the disaster.

And it was then, in all its white-green majesty, that the

Titanics survivors saw the iceberg, tinted with the sunrise, floating

idly, pack ice jammed about its base, other bergs heaving slowlynearby on the blue breast of the sea. B

IV

But it was not until later that the world knew, for wireless

then was not what wireless is today, and garbled messages had

19. foundered: filled with water, so that it sank; generally, collapsed; failed.

Remember that this article is

a secondary source. Would

this paragraph be written

differently if the sameinformation appeared in a

primarysource? Explain.

READING FOCUSB

480

490

500

Who was Phillips and what

happened to him?

QUICK CHECKA


17/19

R.M.S. Titanic 189


nourished a hope that all of the Titanics company were safe. Not

until Monday evening, when P.A.S. Franklin, vice president of

the International Mercantile Marine Company, received relayed

messages in New York that left little hope, did the full extent of

the disaster begin to be known. Partial and garbled lists of the

survivors; rumors of heroism and cowardice; stories spun out

of newspaper imagination, based on a few bare facts and many

false reports, misled the world, terrified and frightened it. C It

was not until Thursday night, when the Carpathia steamed into

the North River, that the full truth was pieced together.

Flashlights flared on the black river when the Carpathia

stood up to her dock. Tugs nosed about her, shunted her

toward Pier 54. Thirty thousand people jammed the streets;

ambulances and stretchers stood on the pier; coroners and

physicians waited.

In midstream the Cunarder dropped over the Titanics

lifeboats; then she headed toward the dock. Beneath the customs

letters on the pier stood relatives of the 711 survivors, relatives

of the missinghoping against hope. The Carpathia cast her

lines ashore; stevedores20 looped them over bollards. The

dense throngs stood quiet as the first survivor stepped downthe gangway. D The woman half staggeredled by customs

guardsbeneath her letter. A low wailing moan came from

the crowd; fell, grew in volume, and dropped again.

Thus ended the maiden voyage of the Titanic. The lifeboats

brought to New York by the Carpathia, a few deck chairs and

gratings awash in the ice field off the Grand Bank eight hundred

miles from shore, were all that was left of the worlds greatest

ship. E

V

The aftermath of weeping and regret, of recriminations

and investigations, dragged on for weeks. Charges and

countercharges were hurled about; the White Star Line was

20. stevedores (STEE VUHDAWRZ): persons who load and unload ships.

Using context clues, define

throngs in your own words.

Use a dictionary to check

your answer.

LANGUAGE COACHD

According to the text, what

remained after the Titanic

sank?

QUICK CHECKE

510

520

530

Word Study

Heroism and cowardice

are antonymsthey have

opposite meanings. Knowing

this, write a definition ofheroism. Then, write one

example of heroism that you

have read about in this story.

VOCABULARYC


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190 R.M.S. Titanic

bitterly criticized; Ismay was denounced on the floor of the

Senate as a coward but was defended by those who had been

with him on the sinking Titanic and by the Board of Trade

investigation in England.

It was not until weeks later, when the hastily convened

Senate investigation in the United States and the Board of Trade

report in England had been completed, that the whole story was

told. The Senate investigating committee, under the chairman-

ship of Senator Smith, who was attacked in both the American

and the British press as a backwoods politician, brought out

numerous pertinent facts, though its proceedings verged at times

on the farcical.21 Senator Smith was ridiculed for his lack of

knowledge of the sea when he asked witnesses, Of what is an

iceberg composed? and Did any of the passengers take refuge

in the watertight compartments? A The senator seemed par-

ticularly interested in the marital status of Fleet, the lookout, who

was saved. Fleet, puzzled, growled aside, Wot questions theyre

arskin me!

The report of Lord Mersey, wreck commissioner in

the British Board of Trades investigation, was tersely

damning.The Titanic had carried boats enough for 1,178 persons,

only one third of her capacity. Her sixteen boats and four

collapsibles had saved but 711 persons; 400 people had needlessly

lost their lives. The boats had been but partly loaded; officers in

charge of launching them had been afraid the falls22 would break

or the boats buckle under their rated loads; boat crews had been

slow in reaching their stations; launching arrangements were

confused because no boat drill had been held; passengers wereloaded into the boats haphazardly because no boat assignments

had been made.

But that was not all. Lord Mersey found that sufficient

warnings of ice on the steamer track had reached the Titanic,

Selection Vocabulary

Pertinentmeans having

some connection with the

subject. Why were Senator

Smiths questions notpertinent to the proceedings?

VOCABULARYA

21. farcical (FAHR SIHKUHL): absurd; ridiculous; like a farce (an exaggerated

comedy).

22. falls: chains used for hoisting.

540

550

560


19/19


that her speed of twenty-two knots was excessive under the

circumstances, that in view of the high speed at which the

vessel was running it is not considered that the lookout was

sufficient, and that her master made a very grievous mistake

but should not be blamed for negligence. B Captain Rostron

of the Carpathia was highly praised. He did the very best that

could be done. The Californian was damned. The testimony of

her master, officers, and crew showed that she was not, at the

most, more than nineteen miles away from the sinking Titanic

and probably no more than five to ten miles distant. She had seen

the Titanics lights; she had seen the rockets; she had not received

the CQD calls because her radio operator was asleep. She had

attempted to get in communication with the ship she had sighted

by flashing a light, but vainly.

The night was clear, reported Lord Mersey, and the sea

was smooth. When she first saw the rockets, the Californian

could have pushed through the ice to the open water without any

serious risk and so have come to the assistance of the Titanic.

Had she done so she might have saved many if not all of the lives

that were lost.

She made no attempt.C

Would you say this article

is mostly a subjective or

objective account of what

happened to the Titanic?

Explain your answer and

give examples from the text.

READING FOCUSC

570

580

What were some of the criti-

cisms of the Titanics prepar-

edness and its crews actions

during the disaster?

QUICK CHECKB

R.M.S. Titanic (Hanson W. Baldwin, 1934)

Documents

Transcript of R.M.S. Titanic (Hanson W. Baldwin, 1934)