Instantly the watertight doors between the firerooms were closed. but the danger had been accomplished. the harm had been done. and through a space extending past four bulkheads a tear had been made in that steel. bottom admitting more water than the ship was able to carry. The water came in with tremendous force. and within five minutes after she struck the ship listed about 5 degrees. I then reached a conclusion which. in my opinion. accounts for the small proportion of steerage passengers who were saved. The occupants of the forward steerage were the first of the passengers to realize the danger. One or two witnesses said they stepped out of their berths into water probably an inch or two inches deep. Those in the forward steerage knew directly of the impact and of the presence of water. which came up from the lower part of the ship into the mail room and the forward steerage. Those steerage passengers went on deck and as fast as they were able took places in the lifeboats. while the after steerage. more than an eighth of a mile away. was by the operatiou of the added weight raised out of tile water. That after steerage was a deck higher than the forward steerage. and was lifted higher and higher until the ship finally disappeared. so that these steerage passengers got their first warning of real danger as the angle of the deck became very great. I feel that the small number of steerage survivors was thus due to the fact that they got no definite warning before the ship was really doomed. when most of the lifeboats had departed. At 12.55 Sunday afternoon. answering the warning of Capt. Ranson. of the steamship Baltic. at whose christening he had taken such a proud part. and on whose bridge he had so often braved the perils of the Atlantic.
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steerage