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“That Is Where They Die”: Paul Maugé

"That Is Where They Die": Paul Maugé

The Titanic was Paul Maugé's first-ever ship.

Having joined up on April 6, 1912, he was to act as the so-called "Secretary to the Chef" in the First-class restaurant a la carte. 

He had just turned 25 years old.

Paul, whose full name was Paul Achille Maurice Germain Maugé, was Parisian by birth, and an illegitimate child by contemporary mores.

As a member of the restaurant staff on Titanic, Paul would have been bunked on E-Deck; the only exception to this standard appears to have been Luigi Gatti, who was the restaurant's manager and overseer.

The a la carte restaurant, otherwise referred to as the Ritz, was an independent dining establishment available exclusively to First-class clientele.

The Ritz catered to those who felt compelled to further distinguish, or perhaps remove themselves, from their perceived lessers.

Mr. Gatti, the owner of two popular restaurants in London, also ran the a la carte restaurant on Titanic's elder sister, Olympic.

And with that success, Mr. Gatti unveiled its counterpart on Titanic; the latter, however, could seat more patrons--and therefore, mandated additional staff.

Paul Maugé's position as the Secretary to the Chef was a novel addition to the structuring of the Ritz. It is rumored, though not confirmed to date, that his pay exceeded that of even Second Officer Lightoller.

Essentially a kitchen clerk, Paul may have acted as a  bookkeeper, dealing in fiscal matters; it has also been suggested that Paul functioned as the maitre d'hotel, a front-facing representative, or even heir apparent, to Luigi Gatti.

Paul himself, however, consistently described himself as a Secretary to the Chef, and he attested to being in said chef's company for the duration of the sinking.

The chef was named Pierre Rousseau.

Paul Maugé's movements throughout the voyage are undocumented, but it reasonable to assume he was simply carrying out his duties.

On the night of April 14, 1912, Paul stated that he was roused from sleep by his cabin-mate, an unnamed pastry chef, getting up from bed in response to the iceberg strike.

He claimed to have then heard an "alarm signal"--a ringing bell--that is believed to have been sounded in the watertight compartments. Paul, however, testified that the alarm existed to alert Third-class passengers.

Paul then went to "the front of the ship" on the "First-class passenger deck" to ascertain what was happening, where he insisted he saw the first lifeboat being lowered. On the way back down toward his cabin, he claimed to have witnessed Captain Smith on his return from the boiler rooms.

Paul, with his accommodations situated on E-Deck, also encountered flummoxed steerage passengers. "A lot of persons came from the front and went to the back," he said. "Some of them with luggage, some with children. Some showed us a piece of ice."

Sufficiently alert to danger now, Paul thusly determined to make his way to Chef Rousseau.

20125. What became of all the other persons who were employed in the restaurant; did they remain on the deck or did they go up with you?
- Well, I go down again, and I said to the chef, "There is some danger happening; we must get up." He lost his temper - he lost himself.

20126. He lost his presence of mind?
- Yes.

20127. Do you mean that he was agitated at what you told him?
- Yes.

20128. And lost his head - is that what you mean?
- Yes. I said to the other cooks to wait for us. After that we had been by the third class deck just at the back, and we have been trying to go on the second class passenger deck. Two or three stewards were there, and would not let us go. I was dressed and the chef was too. He was not in his working dress; he was just like me. I asked the stewards to pass. I said I was the secretary to the chef, and the stewards said, "Pass along, get away." So the other cooks were obliged to stay on the deck there; they could not go up. That is where they die.

Paul suspected that he and Chef Rousseau were permitted to pass by the stewards because they were not uniformed, but dressed in plainclothes.

"[The stewards] let me pass, Me and the chef, because I was dressed like a passenger," Paul said. "I think that was why they let me pass."

Once the pair of men reached the upper decks, they waited and watched for the other restaurant staff to appear up top.

But they never did.

Paul insisted that a small number of unidentified stewards kept them back. "I cannot say after that how they managed to try to pass," he said. "Anyway they could not pass because I stood on the second class passenger deck for half-an-hour."

After this half-hour has passed, Paul and Chef Rousseau ascended the boat deck.

Finding themselves on the starboard side, Paul and Pierre Rousseau looked on as some of the last boats were lowered, though the order of said boats is uncertain.

It was then that Paul realized an opportunity for salvation. "About six or ten persons were jumping in" a lifeboat from the top deck, and Paul spontaneously made his move to do the same.

"The second or third lifeboat was between two decks and I jumped directly from the top deck to this lifeboat," he explained. "It was going to the water, but it was between two decks when I jumped."

But Chef Rousseau would not follow.

20165. (The Commissioner.) How big a jump did you take? Just show us along this curtain?
- About half this, perhaps. (Pointing.)

20166. Down to where you are standing?
- Yes, to the lifeboat.

20167. (The Attorney-General.) He said about 10 feet. (To the witness.) You got into the boat, and eventually were saved?
- Yes, but before that I did ask the chef to jump many times, but the chef was too fat I must say - too big, you know. He could not jump.

20168. He was too stout, and, at any rate, he would not jump?
- No.

20169. You jumped. I suppose you saw it was very serious?
- Yes, and when I was in the lifeboat I shouted to him again in French. "Sautez."

20170. To jump down to you?
- Yes; he said something, but I could not hear because at the same moment a man said to me, "Shut up," or something like that.

Paul later claimed that, at that exact moment, a man on Titanic tried to remove him from his seat by catching him by the back of his coat as the lifeboat was lowered past--or perhaps was level with--a lower deck.

He did not see the chef again.

Pierre Rousseau perished in the sinking. His remains, if ever recovered, went unidentified.

Paul, having rescued himself in what is now presumed to have been Lifeboat 13, went on to testify at the British Inquiry on Day 19--although his testimony was apparently a bit befuddling due to a language barrier.

Of 69 restaurant employees on Titanic, Paul Maugé was one of only three who survived the disaster.

He went on to marry twice. He eventually moved with his second wife to Montreal, Canada, where he died in 1971 at the age of 83.

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“For Presentation to Passengers, Executed on the Shortest Notice”: Food Storage on Titanic

"For Presentation to Passengers, Executed on the Shortest Notice": Food Storage on Titanic

Down on E-Deck, alongside a 3rd-Class corridor, there was a Potato Room.

It was larger than some First-Class suites. Next door, across a slim hallway which was blocked off by a Bostwick gate, was the Wash Room assigned exclusively to the care of potatoes.

A plain necessity, seeing as the Potato Room housed an approximate 40 tons of potatoes for Titanic’s maiden voyage. It was the most plentiful foodstuff on board.

Food storage on Titanic was vast, and necessary.

Foodstuffs were supplied to Titanic in veritable tonnage.

In regard to produce: an established fruiterer of Southampton, called Oakley & Watling, was a regular supplier for the White Star Line. A contemporary advertisement boasts: "Every Description of Decorative Floral Work for Ships. --- Fancy Baskets & Bouquets of Choicest Flowers --- Also --- Ornamental Baskets of Assorted Fruit For Presentation to Passengers, Executed on the Shortest Notice."

Another supplier was Grey's, a Liverpudlian firm who had more recently opened a local branch.

These stocks were brought on board in logical but no less staggering numbers.

Potatoes                              40 tons

Onions                                3,500 lbs.

Tomatoes                           3,500 lbs.

Fresh asparagus               800 bundles

Fresh green peas              2,500 lbs.

Lettuce                               7,000 heads

Apples                                36,000

Orange is                           36,000

Lemons                              16,000

Grapes                                1,000 lbs.

Grapefruit                          13,000

As cited in "Titanic Voices: Memories from the Fateful Voyage" by Donald Hyslop, Alastair Forsyth, & Sheila Jemima, 1997.

The varietals of a portion of this produce, such as the apples, is subject to speculation.

For instance, a preserved menu card from First-Class breakfast on April 11, 1912, offers a baked-apple dish. Baked apples were commonly made with russett apples; this may very well have been the case on Titanic.

Otherwise, it is reasonable to assume that, in the absence of global fruit trade and year-long cultivation methods of today, that the varietals on board would have been subject to the season in the United Kingdom. That produce, in turn, might have been swapped out for what was readily available in America for the return trip.

The extensive refrigeration network that housed this gargantuan horde of produce occupied lower decks, as well as orlop. It boasted individuated cold chambers for all varieties of the foodstuffs onboard.

Separate cold chambers, whose temperatures could be independently regulated, maintained the likes of mineral water; dairy products such as butter, milk, and cheese; beef; poultry, fish,  game, and bacon; champagne stores; and assorted vegetables and fruit. Cold chambers were also assigned exclusively to fresh-cut flowers.

Additionally, cold larders were installed throughout Titanic in various bars and pantries, to permit for ice-making.

The engineering of this refrigeration system--while a complex matter, the mechanics of which are better left to a more capable writer--essentially made use of a brine circulation system to keep contents evenly cool.

Along with the afore-stated produce, Titanic also brought with it 2,200 lbs. of coffee.

So there was, naturally, also a "Coffee Man": a 35-year-old named Johannes Vogelin-Dubach, who worked as waitstaff in the Ritz, which was the a la carte restaurant available exclusively to First-Class passengers.

The Assistant Coffee Man was a 24-year-old friend of Johannes's named Gerald Grosclaude, with whom he shared a home address in Southampton.

There is little evidence as to how coffee was served on board, though it was presumably drip-style. Fancier options may have been available to the First-Class.

In the Ritz Restaurant, it would not have been atypical for coffee to have been served in tandem with liqueurs. This practice was common enough that coffee was often served only three-quarters full, in order to accommodate the so-called "cordials" that would be poured directly into the cup.

Then there was the Ice Cream Room. This insulated and refrigerated space contained 1,750 quarts of fine ice cream, possibly contained in metal canisters.

The Ice Cream Room, found down on G Deck, would have been visited primarily by the Titanic's sole "Ice Man," who oversaw frozen confections for the clientele of the Ritz Restaurant.

This singular role belonged Adolf Mattmann, a 20-year-old from Switzerland who had previously apprenticed as a pastry chef and worked in confection at an illustrious hotel in Lucerne. He had only moved to England in the autumn of 1911, when he worked as a patissier on Titanic's elder sister, the R.M.S. Olympic.

When Adolf signed onto Titanic, he did so with marked intention.

Adolf wrote to his parents, "I want to make at least two crossings working in pastry aboard the Titanic because after that I will be able to get almost any pastry chef job in any of the best hotels in London."

Neither Adolf, nor the Coffee Men Johannes and Gerard, survived the sinking.

Because the refrigerated holds were aft and deep within the vessel, the whole of the complex is assumed to have been obliterated by the stern's implosion as Titanic sank.

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“Oh, Let the Train Go By”: The Fortunately Unfortunate Slade Brothers

"Oh, Let the Train Go By": The Fortunately Unfortunate Slade Brothers

The Slade brothers—Alfred, Thomas, and Bertram—were brothers, all in their mid-twenties at the time Titanic was berthed in Southampton.

And they were all of them seasoned seagoers.

Alfred had just wrapped up a gig on a ship called Highland Glen, while Bertram and Thomas had both transferred off of Titanic’s elder sister Olympic before she departed Southampton for New York City on March 30th. 

On April 6th, the Slade trio successfully signed onto Titanic’s maiden voyage as firemen. All three brothers listed their address as 21 Chantry Road in Southampton, where they lived with their mother.

The Titanic was scheduled to depart Southampton at noon on April 10th.

The Slade boys were expected to muster alongside their fellow sign-ons at 8:00 a.m. And they did so.

Names were taken down, and orders were issued. The crew were instructed to stand by until the ship departed. Most of the men, including the Slades, elected to return to shore to while away the time.

A fellow fireman named John Podesta, who according to his sign-on record was a neighbor of the Slade family on Chantry Road, also chose to go ashore. 

I got up on the morning of April 10th and made off down to the ship for eight o'clock muster, as is the case on all sailing days, which takes about an hour. As the ship is about to sail at about twelve o'clock noon most of us firemen and trimmers go ashore again until sailing time. So off we went [with] several others I knew on my watch, which was 4 to 8. My watch-mate, whose name was William Nutbean and I went off to our local public-house for a drink in the Newcastle Hotel. 

John continued, stating that he and his “watch-mate” William left the Newcastle around 11:15 a.m., bound for the docks.

But they shortly thereafter decided they had more than enough time to sneak in one more round at The Grapes, a public house on Oxford Street.

There, John and William ran into the Slade brothers, perhaps alongside three or four other wayward firemen—among them a boy with the surname Penney, who reportedly boarded with the Slade family and for whom Titanic was his first-ever ship.

According to John Podesta, the group of six or so finally exited The Grapes at only ten minutes to noon to make their harried way to the Titanic.

But then fate rode in.

We were at the top of the main road and a passenger train was approaching us from another part of the docks. I heard the Slades say, "Oh, let the train go by". But me and Nutbean crossed over and managed to board the liner. Being a long train, by the time it passed, the Slades were too late...

So, while John Podesta and William Nutbean risked crossing the tracks as the train approached, the Slade trio decided to hang back.

The brothers have been described as "relaxed" in that moment--perhaps euphemistically.

Alfred, Tom, and Bertram Slade, along with their housemate Penney, finally reached the Titanic at 11:59 a.m.

Her final gangway connecting the ship to the dock had just been pulled away.

Thanks to their daring, John Podesta and William Nutbean had managed to make it just in time.

But the Slade brothers and the others with them were simply out of luck.

Sixth Officer James Moody oversaw that particular gangway.

After Podesta and Nutbean had presumably barreled their way on board, Officer Moody had withdrawn the gangway, only to briefly drop it back into place to allow a delivery boy to disembark the Titanic.

And as Officer Moody ordered the gangway pulled back for the second time, the disordered Slades ran up.

Still on the dock with bags hung ready from their shoulders, the boys shouted their appeals up the ship's side. They demanded to be let on board.

But Officer Moody would not give in.

The errant Slades had been already substituted by other able firemen who had been standing by on the dock, who no doubt had been waiting for just such an opportunity to arise.

[Sixth Officer] Moody was stationed at the aft gangway as the Titanic prepared for her noon departure. A late group of several stokers and trimmers who had been drinking at a public house arrived to find that the last gangway had already been detached. They argued with a White Star official on the dock side of the gangway, but Moody did not order the gangway reattached. Six standbys had been selected to replace the latecomers.

Second-class passenger Lawrence Beesley likewise observed the confrontation from afar, and he chronicled it in his memoir.

Soon after noon the whistles blew for friends to go ashore, the gangways were withdrawn, and the Titanic moved slowly down the dock, to the accompaniment of last messages and shouted, farewell of those on the quay… Two unexpected dramatic incidents supplied to thrill of excitement and interest to the departure from dock. The first of these occurred just before the last gangway was withdrawn:– a knot of stokers ran along the quay, with their kit, slung over their shoulders in bundles, and made for the gangway with the evident intention of joining the ship...

Lawrence's retelling--so characteristically detailed--buoys the report that Officer Moody was not of a permissive temperament that day, and the Slade boys were hardly calm as they pled their case.

But a petty officer guarding the shore end of the gangway firmly refused to allow them on board; they argued, gesticulated, apparently attempting to explain the reasons why they were late, but he remained obdurate and waved them back with a determined hand, the gangway was dragged back amid their protests, putting a summary ending to their determined efforts to join the Titanic. Those stokers must be thankful men to-day that some circumstance, whether their own lack of punctuality or some unforeseen delay over which they had no control, prevented their being in time to run up that last gangway!

Tom, Bertram, Alfred, and their friend Penney were unceremoniously left behind by the Titanic.

Because the Slade boys had successfully mustered on Titanic that morning only to no-show at zero hour, they were marked as "deserted". So was Penney.

And so were other firemen and trimmers by the names of B. Brewer, Frank Holden, and J. Shaw, who perhaps due to their shared status as deserters, are sometimes claimed to have also been part of the fated group at The Grapes that day.

John Podesta and William Nutbean were lucky to have beaten the clock on April 10th, and luckier still only days later: they both survived the sinking of the Titanic.

The firemen brought on the replace the Slade trio, however, did not.

Mrs. Slade is reported to have been interviewed by the Southampton Times & Hampshire Express about her sons' most fortunate mishap in an article published on April 20, 1912.

"What a good job they missed their ship!" she supposedly exclaimed. "I have thanked God ever since."

SOURCE MATERIAL

Beesley, Lawrence. "The Loss of the S.S. Titanic." Houghton Mifflin Company, 1912. Rpt. by Mariner Books, 2000.

Babler, Gunter. "Guide to the Crew of the Titanic: The Structure of Working Aboard the Legendary Liner." The History Press, Gloucestershire, UK. 2017.

https://www.thegrapessouthampton.co.uk/history

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/slade-brothers-the-real-story.html

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/john-alexander-podesta.html

https://www.titanicofficers.com/titanic_08_moody_03.html

https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/travel/southampton-gateway-to-the-world-titanic-legacy

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“Knots of Sailors Who Stand Idly About”: Recruitment Day

"Knots of Sailors Who Stand Idly About": Recruitment Day

April 6, 1912, was a day of great relief in port city of Southampton, England.

Sister ships Berengaria, Leviathan, and Majestic docked in Southampton. Taken prior to 1931 by an unknown party.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

By April 6th, the United Kingdom national coal strike had already been ongoing for 37 days. It had summarily devastated Southampton’s maritime workforce, forcing hundreds of ship workers into unemployment.

"Daily the ranks of unemployed are swelled," reported the Southern Daily Echo, "to join the knots of sailors who stand idly about."

Smoke no longer climbed from chimneys as households, in spite of the wet English chill, rationed what little coal they had left. Families were led into destitution, causing many to apply for aid and relief funds.

A contemporary newspaper report described one waiting line on Bargate Street as a "mournful queue of the workless" that had sadly become a "daily spectacle... many of the women had little tiny tots in their arms, and if some were too tired, worn and helpless to talk to each other, they hugged the sunny  side of the road... [because] warm petticoats had been pawned days ago to provide food."

The periodical Southern Daily Echo reported on March 21, 1912, that

"That distress in the industrial parts of Southampton is becoming more acutely felt is shown by the abnormal number of applicants for admission to the Workhouse, and a steady increase in the number of applicants for shelter at the vagrants’ ward. Without fuel, and almost without bread, the lot of many unskilled workers and their families is a parlous one.”

It reiterated on April 4, 1912, the following as reports of the strike’s resolution loomed. 

“There are many innocent sufferers from the present industrial upheaval, who have no direct interest in the strike, and will derive no benefit whatever happens. The casual dock labourer at the best of times lives more or less from ‘hand to mouth’... Every day that passes enlarges the zone of distress.”

And so, on the morning on April 6, 1912, the Miners Federation came together to vote on a “return to work” measure. After a reportedly spirited debate that carried on for two or three hours, they voted in favor. With that, the coal strike was at last done.

Southampton’s population was desperate to get back to work.

And thus, Recruitment Day began.

It must be emphasized that the Titanic and her peers did not come prepackaged with staff.

All manners of crew were employed on a contract-by-voyage basis, and they were recruited or otherwise picked up at various ports prior to departure--and even on the day of, according to some reports.

On the morning of April 6, 1912, Titanic had been berthed in Southampton for less than three days, having arrived on Wednesday, April 3rd, just shy of midnight. She had since been docked in Berth 44.

The coal strike had not prevented any and all persons in Southampton from obtaining work. But of those who had been restricted and without work for the duration of the strike, many were some of the poorest in the community.

Never the less, because the White Star Line had insisted on keeping its vessels on schedule regardless of the strike, some more fortunate men had been able to “sign on” to Titanic in the previous days: some, able seamen who left for Belfast back in late March, in order to board Titanic for her delivery voyage to Southampton; some, the likes of stewards and shopkeepers with prior experience.

By April 6th, cargo had begun to arrive at the White Star dock. And with the strike having ended that very morning, masses of heretofore unemployed men also gathered. 

The White Star Dock, accessible via Dock Gate 4, was reportedly mobbed.

The White Star Line’s office on Canute Road, only a brief walk away, was likewise managing an enormous crowd.

Union halls, particularly those belonging go the British Seafarers Union and the National Sailors and Firemens Union, were thronged with hundreds more workers hoping to land a gig on Titanic.

The process to sign on to a vessel was a chaotic one.

For those with prior seagoing experience, this mandated certificates of discharge and satisfactory performance on previous vessels. Regulars from similar vessels, or even a sister ship such as Olympic, of course orbited and were favored. It was a further attestation of one's competency and character to have previously served.

Violet Jessop, a stewardess on Titanic, wrote vividly of her memories of the process as she observed it years before Titanic, when she entered into seafaring life via another shipping company.

"The clerks seemed to sense my discomfiture and courteously gave me instructions where to go in order to obtain a health certificate from the company’s doctor, a necessity before I would be allowed to sign… as I came out, I found the escort thoughtfully sent by the clerk in charge of our "Articles" to conduct me back to the Board of Trade… When the shipping master appeared, there was a surge of anxious faces, each group of men clustering around the representative of the company they hoped to get taken on by. Then, employers could choose their men… Each discharge book – a seaman’s passport – was examined, and many questions asked. When the final sorting was done, and the rejected one stood aside to make room for their more fortunate, brethren, the shipping master called for silence, in order to read aloud the "Articles of Agreement."

Jessop, Violet. "Titanic Survivor: Memoirs of Violet Jessop Stewardess." The History Press, 2007.

The jobseekers signed the Articles without paying much heed to the details therein. According to Violet, it was routinely assumed that the employer would have, and dearly keep, the upper hand regardless.

Violet went on to describe the bedlam of the scene.

"The deafening babble of tongues died down and attention, not un mixed with all, was according to him… In that seething mass there was an impulse to stick together, although loyalty played no part in it. This was the herding instinct of creatures up against things; some found themselves befriending people they would not associate with on better acquaintance."

Jessop, Violet. "Titanic Survivor: Memoirs of Violet Jessop Stewardess." The History Press, 2007.

By the time Titanic departed on April 10th, she had necessitated the employ of literal hundreds in Southampton.

Per the British Board of Trade, 908 crewmembers were aboard Titanic in total.

And of that number, a staggering 724 crewmembers signed onto Titanic's maiden voyage with a Southampton address.

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“All Quite Calm and Collected”: Frederick Dent Ray

Frederick Dent Ray was 32 years old when he signed onto Titanic’s crew on April 4, 1912.

He had set out for sea at just 17 years old, and appears to have travailed ports around the globe.

When the Second Boer War came, he enlisted in the Prince of Wales’s Light Horse Infantry. A bout of enteric fever—more commonly known as typhoid—eventually got Frederick booted from service, and he was returned back to England.

But Frederick did not settle in at home quite yet.

He soon took himself to South Africa, and he joined the Cape Mounted Police. He there engaged in Lord Methuen’s final wartime campaign.

Frederick returned again to England after that, entirely unscathed.

By 1908, he was a married man. He and his wife Annie initially settled in Southampton, but census records find them in Reading by 1912.

Frederick put himself back out to sea, undertaking employment with the White Star Line as a First-class saloon steward. Per his own description, Frederick’s duties were “to wait at the tables and set the saloon generally. That is all.”

Most notably, Frederick served on the R.M.S. Olympic for an extended period. He was even on board in September of 1911, when the Olympic collided with the H.M.S. Hawke.

On board Titanic, Frederick was assigned the attendance of particular First-class passengers for the duration of the trip.

His passengers included celebrated artist Frank Davis Millet, Mr. Clarence Moore, the Clarks, and Major Archibald Butt, a close and coveted aide to American President Howard Taft.

On the evening of April 14th, Frederick was waiting starboard-side tables in the dining room. 

That particular night, he waited upon Mr. Millet and Mr. Moore as they dined together—but not Major Butt, as he had been extended an invitation to the Wideners’s dinnner-time gala for Captain Smith. This was taking place on the opposite side of the very large saloon. 

Frederick’s shift was to end at 9:00 p.m.

After work, Frederick retired to his cabin at about 10:30 p.m.

Frederick’s cabin was located aft on E-Deck, and was designated as Room 3. He shared this “saloon waiters’ quarters” with 27 other stewards.

Frederick was asleep when Titanic collided with the iceberg, and the impact aroused him from sleep. He later described it as “a shock. Similar to a train being pulled up in the station.”

He thought only that something had gone awry with the engines and laud awake for a few minutes. 

Another steward, who was Frederick’s superior, then instructed him to get out of bed right away, because the ship had struck an iceberg. It was serious, he said, and they needed to get to their stationed lifeboats.

Frederick thought he was kidding. And so he laid in bed a bit longer before falling back to sleep.

When Frederick next awoke, a colleague was standing in the doorway, shouting, “All hands to the boats!” 

And so Frederick finally got up, dressed and donned a life vest, and made his way to the boat deck. 

On C Deck, he met with a colleague, Second Steward George Dodd, who instructed Frederick to go find another lifebelt. Frederick searched through five staterooms before locating the item and returning it to George. 

Then Frederick continued up to the boat deck and his assigned boat, Lifeboat No. 9. This was located on the starboard side, which was overseen by First Officer William Murdoch.

Once Frederick arrived, he saw that things were “dragging” and felt very cold.

Senator SMITH.
When you got to lifeboat No. 9 and saw those 8 or 10 men standing around it and one or two passengers and no women, what took place?

Mr. RAY.
I went to the rail and looked over and saw the first boat leaving the ship on the starboard side. By that time I was feeling rather cold, so I went down below again, to my bedroom, the same way that I came up.

And so Frederick went back down to the stewards’ quarters on E-Deck to grab an overcoat. 

While there with his open suitcase, Frederick took a moment to grab some handkerchiefs, which he said he “had a good supply of” thanks to his wife. He also had the presence of mind to grab toiletries like his toothbrush and shaving gear. 

“I thought wherever I was next...” he later recalled, “I should require them.”

Frederick began making his way back up to the boat deck.

En route, he saw the alleyway called Scotland Road was deserted, and E-Deck was flooding. 

Frederick then ran into First-class passenger Martin Rothschild on the stairwell, whom Frederick knew from his prior stint on Olympic. The two men spoke briefly about the accident.

"I spoke to him and asked him where his wife was. He said she had gone off in a boat. I said, 'This is rather serious.' He said, 'I don't think there's any occasion for it.'" So we walked leisurely up the stairs until I got to A deck and went through the door."

Martin Rothschild would not survive.

That conversation was not all that Frederick Dent Ray attested to, regarding his second trek to the boat deck.

On the way up, I saw the purser with five of the staff of the pursor's office with the safes open, and they had mailbags there. They were putting the jewels and jewel boxes into the mailbags… and talking, chatting one to the other. I continued… on my way up to the boat deck, and on the way up, I heard a fiddle. I wondered whoever was playing a fiddle at that time? ... and [it] transpired afterwards that it was a band. I thought it might be a passenger playing a fiddle…

they weren't playing any tune… they were tuning on the fiddle.

Frederick thereafter reported to Lifeboat 9 and assisted passengers in boarding, then moved to Lifeboat 11 to do the same. Some were reticent; some were recalcitrant.

Frederick then proceeded down to the next lifeboat—No. 13–which he stated was about half-full with women and children. The sailors then instructed men to board, in order to help in rowing the boat. 

It was then he spotted First-Class passenger Washington Dodge, with whom Frederick had already become acquainted.

"I met him on the Olympic in on the previous occasion and I persuaded him to come on the... come back on the Titanic. And of course, when we sailed from Southampton, I recognised him, and we had a chinwag and talked to one another, and he had a wife and a little boy about four years old, about [?] of that. And... I said, Where's your little... where's your wife and little boy? He said, well, he said, they've gone in another boat. And I said, well, I said come on. I said you get in this boat. We want somebody to row."

Frederick then followed Mr. Dodge into Lifeboat 13.

There, as Frederick recalled, a woman was in the midst of a panic attack. And Frederick in turn seems to have lost his patience.

"She was crying all the time and saying, 'Don't put me in the boat; I don't want to go in the boat; I have never been in an open boat in my life. Don't let me stay in.' I said, 'You have got to go, and you may as well keep quiet.'"

One of the sailors then dropped a bundled baby down into Frederick’s arms, with its mother climbing down into the lifeboat shortly thereafter.

Lifeboat 13 had a harrowing descent. It was “jumpy” and uneven according to Frederick, but it also nearly killed its passengers.

Nearing the water, Frederick and others foresaw danger.

…we got nearly to the water, when two or three of us noticed a very large discharge of water coming from the ship's side, which I thought was the pumps working. The hole was about 2 feet wide and about a foot deep, a solid mass of water coming out from the hole. I realized that if the boat was lowered down straight away the boat would be swamped and we should all be thrown into the water. We shouted for the boat to be stopped from being lowered, and they responded promptly and stopped lowering the boat.

The men used the lifeboat’s oars to push away from the boat, but their escape was hardly over.

Because there were no sailors in the boat, none of the occupants seemed to know how to cut the lifeboat loose from the ropes. 

And the discharging water had pushed Lifeboat 13 aft.

Directly under Lifeboat 15, which was descending with rapidity.

People screamed for knives to cut the falls, and the men—most notably Lead Stoker Fred Barrett—frantically severed the ropes. 

Lifeboat 15 came within two feet of crushing to death the 60-plus people in Lifeboat 13.

Once away from the ship—a decision that Frederick Dent Ray claimed he had objected to—Fred Barrett was elected in charge of the tiller.

And so Frederick Dent Ray, along with other able-bodied men, rowed throughout the night.

We pushed out from the side of the ship. Nobody seemed to take command of the boat, so we elected a fireman to take charge. He ordered us to put out the oars and pull straight away from the ship. We pulled all night with short intervals for rest. I inquired if the ladies were all warm, and they said they were quite warm and they had a blanket to spare. There seemed to be very little excitement in the boat. They were all quite calm and collected.

Later, in a letter to Titanic historian Walter Lord, Frederick explained how the handkerchiefs he had pocketed from his suitcase, came in handy to help the men on board stay warm.

"...of course you know that after going up to my lifeboat, I went back for my overcoat & looking in my (bunk?) I saw 6 handkerchiefs which were to become very useful as the people in the boat were complaining of the cold to their heads, so I told them to tie a knot in each corner & they had a very good improvised cap, Mrs W.Dodge had one, & in the morning, six heads were crowned."

Frederick also recalled in an earlier letter to Mr. Lord that he had accidentally absconded from Titanic with two salt spoons in his pocket. A mistake, he swore it was, and not petty larceny.

My wife has just reminded me that I have not told you how I came to have 2 salt spoons in my pocket on that night. She is afraid you might think that I was going to pinch them, how it happened was in cleaning the table it meant going the length of the saloon to put them in the side board drawer...

Frederick Dent Ray was called to testify on Day 9 of the American Senate Inquiry. He was not summoned to appear at its British counterpart.

Frederick Dent Ray would turn out to be one of the Titanic’s longest-lived survivors overall, as well as the longest-lived surviving crewmember.

He died in 1977, aged 97.

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“God Help Me, I Told a Lie”: Kate Gilnagh

"God Help Me, I Told a Lie": Kate Gilnagh

A week before Kate Gilnagh stepped aboard the R.M.S. Titanic, a fortune teller had called at her family's home in County Longford, Ireland.

According to Kate's relatives, her father Hughie was turning the woman away when 17-year-old Kate stepped forward, insisting that she would like her fortune told for a sixpence.

The fortune teller reportedly took Kate's palm and told the girl: she would soon cross water, and although there would be danger, that Kate herself would not come to harm.

Kate Gilnagh boarded Titanic in Queenstown, Ireland, as a steerage passenger on April 11, 1912. She was emigrating to America to join her sister Mollie in Manhattan.

Kate took to cabin 161 on E-Deck.

And by lucky chance, she found herself bunking with three other girls all also from County Longford: they were two other Kates, and a Margaret.

Over the course of the voyage, Kate Gilnagh seems to have become acquainted with more male passengers who came from Longford--this was hardly surprising to anyone, according to reports, due to her memorable beauty.

Kate also is reported to have socialized with Eugene Daly, a 29-year-old piper who is rumored to have caught her eye while on deck.

On the night of the collision, Kate recalled to Walter Lord that there was a lively party happening in the communal portion of steerage. She even detailed that a rat had, at one point, scurried through the mess of dancers, inciting short-lived chaos.

Eventually, Kate and her three bunkmates had retired to their cabin when a man with whom they had become acquainted, rattled the door.

According to Walter Lord, this was none other than Eugene Daly.

Kate Gilnagh and her cabin-mates attempted to make their way to the upper decks. But they were stopped en route.

According to Kate, an unidentified crewman blocked the way of the group in an attempt to keep the steerage passengers in order. And when she herself tried to pass through an unknown barrier, said crewman halted her in her path.

It was then that she reported her friend Jim Farrell shouldered his way through the crowd with ferocity.

"At another barrier a seaman held back Kathy Gilnagh, Kate Mullins and Kate Murphy... Suddenly steerage passanger Jim Farrell, a strapping Irishman from the girls' home county, barged up. 'Great God, man!' he roared. 'Open the gate and let the girls through!' It was a superb demonstration of sheer voice power. To the girls' astonishment the sailor meekly complied."

Excerpt from "A Night to Remember," by Walter Lord, page 57.

With Jim's help--and Kate later referred to him in an interview as their "guardian angel"--the group ascended the decks.

But somewhere along the line, Kate Gilnagh is reported to have gotten spun around and had gotten lost from her friends. She told Walter Lord that she quite suddenly found herself alone on the portside Second-class promenade with no apparent means to reach the boat deck above.

The deck, Kate said, was eerily devoid of people, aside from one man leaning on the railing and staring grimly out toward the blackened sea. Seeing her plight, he offered for her to stand on his shoulders so she might reach and climb up onto the deck above them.

Kate accepted.

Just as she hauled herself onto the boat deck, a nearby lifeboat--often reported as Lifeboat 16--was starting its descent. Kate attempted to board, but she was blocked yet again by a crewman telling her the boat was at capacity.

"But I want to go with my sister!" she spontaneously cried out.

On the fiftieth anniversary of the sinking, Kate Gilnagh told the following to the New York Daily News.

"God help me, I told a lie... at first they didn't want to let anyone else into it because it was overcrowded. I said that I wanted to go with my sister. I had no sister aboard. They let me get in, but I had to stand because we were so crowded."

Citation courtesy of "The Irish Aboard Titanic" by Senan Molony, 2000.

Jim Farrell had also made it to that same lifeboat, but he did not leave the deck.

According to a contemporary report from the Irish Post, on May 25, 1912, the pair had one final, somber interaction.

"[Kate Gilnagh] further states that she was wearing a small shawl on her head which got blown off, when a person named Mr James Farrell on Clonee, gave her his cap.

As they were being lowered, he shouted: 'Good-bye for ever' and that was the last she saw of him."

Citation courtesy of "The Irish Aboard Titanic" by Senan Molony, 2000.

When Kate arrived in New York City, she was listed as a domestic servant, aged 17 years, and destined for a relative's house on East 55th Street.

Her sister Mollie was reportedly "inconsolably arranging a Requiem Mass" for her sister's repose, when Kate walked into the room.

Fifty years later, Kate retold the story to the New York Daily News.

"My relatives thought I was dead and when I got to my sister's house they were preparing for my funeral."

Citation courtesy of "The Irish Aboard Titanic" by Senan Molony, 2000.

Mollie and Kate immediately arranged to take a portrait together.

They did so to reassure their family back in Ireland that Kate had somehow, by the grace of heaven, survived the sinking of the Titanic.

SOURCE MATERIAL

Lord, Walter. "A Night to Remember." St. Martin's Griffin, 2005 edition.

Molony, Senan. "The Irish Aboard Titanic." Wolfhound Press, 2000.

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/katie-gilnagh.html

https://www.titanicexperiencecobh.ie/great-granddaughter-of-titanic-survivor-katie-gilnagh-visits-titanic-experience-cobh/

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“Steadfast in Peril”: Titanic’s Post Office

"Steadfast in Peril": Titanic's Mail Room

Titanic’s “R.M.S.” designation meant “Royal Mail Steamer.”

The White Star Line, unremarkably, was under contract with the British government to efficiently and expediently transit mail.

And Titanic did in fact carry mail.

3,364 bags of it, to be precise. 

These thousands of sacks, containing multiple millions of pieces of mail, arrived on board at all three port destinations reached.

Most mail bags embarked at Southampton and Cherbourg, with 1,758 at the former port and 1,412 at the latter. A comparatively small amount of 194 followed at Queenstown, before Titanic turned toward the open sea.

Receiving and sorting this mail by journey’s end was the sole responsibility of only five mail clerks. 

Two of these men, James Williamson and John Richard Jago Smith, reported from the ranks of the Royal Mail.

Three American clerks—Oscar Woody, John March, and William Gwinn—joined them from their employ within the United States Postal Service.

Maritime postal clerks were esteemed, to say the least.

These men were elite, with most having been recruited from the Railway Mail Service and Foreign Mail Section after extended service. Such clerks have been noted to sort an average of 60,000 pieces of mail per day with minimal error.

And the five clerks on board Titanic were no exception to this rule of excellence.

Titanic’s postal quarters were split between two deck levels: the Post Office on G Deck, and the Sorting Mail Room on Orlop situated directly beneath it. They were located forward on the starboard side, within the fourth watertight compartment.

Titanic's mail facilities were by all accounts more polished--and far more generous--than any that the postal clerks had previously experienced. 

On most vessels, the mail sorting room was distant from the hold that stored the still-bagged mail, and it was typically constricted and dingy.

Titanic, on the other hand, provided such spacious accommodation. And it boasted an infinitely efficient design: the two rooms were “stacked” one over the other, with a wide companionway connecting them for easy access.

The expansive post office had racks and cubbies for envelopes. Additionally, there was a broad sorting table and even a latticework gate that allowed the clerks to separate registered mail from the rest.

The sleeping quarters originally assigned to Titanic's postal clerks were situated among steerage cabins.

The Postal Museum in London possesses letters from the ship’s inspection on April 9th, the day before her maiden voyage. Therein, the writer(s) take umbrage with conditions of the clerks’ accommodations among Third-Class passengers--and in derogatory terms.

"The [sleeping] Cabins are situated among a block of Third Class cabins, and it is stated the occupants of these latter, who are mostly low class Continentals, keep up noisy conversation sometimes throughout the silent hours and even indulge at times in singing and instrumental music…if their [id est, the mail clerks] work during the day is to be performed efficiently it is essential that they should enjoy a decent sleep at night."

Consequently, the mail clerks were swiftly given alternate, more peaceful accommodations.

They were also reassigned a private dining room on an upper deck--a saloon they shared with the two Marconi operators.

From the moment the Titanic set sail, the five postal clerks would have been at work sorting through the literal thousands of bags of mail in the hold: categorizing all parcels and post according to their intended destinations. 

Additionally, the First- and Second-Class Reading and Writing Rooms had postal boxes stationed outside their doors for passenger use.

The clerks, therefore, may have been alternately tasked with retrieving any such mail—and certainly worked to sort all of that, too.

The goal was to have all mail successfully dispatched at the so-called “quarantine station” in New York Bay, where all incoming ships had to tarry for health inspections.

Therefore, the mail would have disembarked even before the ship’s passengers.

At the time of the iceberg strike, the five men were in their private dining area celebrating the imminent birthday of American postal clerk Oscar Woody.

He would be turning 41 years old the next day, on April 15th.

Upon feeling the collision, the five mail clerks immediately made their way to the post office on G Deck.

Mail on board a ship was considered seriously precious cargo, and the clerks were duty- and honor-bound to safeguard it at all costs. 

And so the men set to bundling and transferring all the mail they could manage into sacks and closing them up for transport to the upper decks.

Fourth Officer Joseph Boxhall was sent down to the mail room by Captain Smith.

At the American Senate Inquiry, Boxhall retold his story of meeting the postal clerks. 

Looking down into the open companion way that connected the post office where they stood to the mail hold directly below them, Boxhall stated he saw full-up mail bags floating by.

[Senator Fletcher] 3682. Did you do so?
- I was proceeding down, but I met the carpenter. 

3683. What did you say to him?
- I said, "The captain wants you to sound the ship." He said, "The ship is making water," and he went on the bridge to the captain, and I thought I would go down forward again and investigate; and then I met a mail clerk, a man named Smith, and he asked where the captain was. I said, "He is on the bridge." He said, "The mail hold is full" or "filling rapidly." I said, "Well, you go and report it to the captain and I will go down and see," and I proceeded right down into the mail room.

3684. What did you find there?
- I went down as far as the sorting room deck and found mail clerks down there working.

3685. Doing what?
- Taking letters out of the racks, they seemed to me to be doing.

3686. Taking letters out of the racks and putting them into pouches?
- I could not see what they were putting them in.

3687. You could not see what disposition they were making of them?
- I looked through an open door and saw these men working at the racks, and directly beneath me was the mail hold, and the water seemed to be then within 2 feet of the deck we were standing on.

3688. What did you do in that situation?
- (continuing): And bags of mail floating about. I went right on the bridge again and reported to the captain what I had seen.

In a contemporary report, Officer Boxhall reportedly recounted his time in the mail room with further detail.

According to Boxhall, the clerks continued their work even as the post office began to flood not five minutes later.

They began hauling the heavy sacks--at least 100 lbs each, one under each arm--moving waist-deep through the frigid seawater.

Over and over again.

"When he got down to E deck, where the mailroom was located, he says he found it awash. Gwinn was there in his nightclothes, having rushed down from his room two decks above. Three other clerks were also there and all were bundling registered mail in sacks. It is estimated that its value was $800,000.

Boxhall says that the four men loaded themselves with heavy sacks of mail and stumbled on decks. at that time the boats were being launched."

Eventually, the struggling mail clerks appealed to the stewards for aid, and bedroom steward Alfred Theissinger obliged.

Alfred later recalled the following.

"I urged them to leave their work. They shook their heads and continued at their work. It might have been an inrush of water later that cut off their escape, or it may have been the explosion. I saw them no more."

All in all, Titanic’s postal clerks salvaged approximately 200 bags of mail from the post office on G Deck—but in the end, none were saved.

Tragically, nor were they.

All five men—Woody, Smith, Williamson, March, and Gwinn—died that night.

Two of their bodies were retrieved from the sea by the MacKay-Bennett: John March, and Oscar Woody.

The United States Postmaster General stated the following in a recommendation to the Postal Committee of the House of Representatives.

"The bravery exhibited by these men," [Postmaster General] Hitchcock said, "in their efforts to safeguard under such trying conditions the valuable mail intrusted [sic] to them should be a source of pride to the entire Postal Service, and deserves some marked expression of appreciation from the Government."

In Britain, a memorial was dedicated in Southampton: it reads “Steadfast in Peril.”

In 1999, a documentary revealed that the mailroom was accessible via the front cargo hatch. 

Inside the post office on G Deck, the underwater robot--called Robin--found the mail sorting table, overturned and slowly rotting. Nearby, the latticework fence that segregated registered mail from the rest was open.

Then Robin descended further into the mail room on Orlop deck.

There, the submersible encountered canvas bags, grown over with sea life, and still full of mail.

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“I Think It Is True That They Can Smell Danger”: Titanic’s Rats

"I Think It Is True That They Can Smell Danger": Titanic's Rats

When Thomas Ranger, a fireman on Titanic, arrived in Washington DC for the American Senate Inquiry, he had experienced the luxury of hotel lodgings in Washington, D.C.

When Thomas arrived back home in Britain, however, and was asked to testify before the British Board of Trade, he slept multiple nights outside on the bank of the Thames.

Another bedless man amidst “benches and tramps," Thomas Ranger stated he “prefered to walk than sleep” at the Sailors' Home.

All because of vermin.

Ranger and other surviving crew, on standby to be called before the Board, had been advised to stay at the Sailors’ Home in London, which had offered wayward seafarers interim accommodations between voyages since the 1800s. 

In May of 1912, however, the rooms in the Sailors’ Home were overly full—to the point that makeshift quarters were put out in the yard.

Meanwhile, construction to the building was ongoing, with bricklayers. The Titanic survivors were assigned to the vicinity of the remodeling efforts.

And Thomas Ranger could not bear to sleep there because the construction had disturbed and displaced an unspecified quantity of rats.

It’s no revelation that rats are—and have been—everywhere.

Even on a grand, new liner’s maiden voyage.

Yes, Titanic indeed had a rat population.

Rats have congregated on ships for so long and with such regularity that they are believed to have spread worldwide alongside human, thanks to our human Age of Conquest when ships dominated the open seas.

It’s reasonable to hypothesize that rats would have boarded the Titanic much like they have any other vessel in history: by running up unguarded mooring lines, as stowaways within waiting cargo, and even by taking up residence within the walls during construction in the shipyard.

Interestingly, around the time of the British Inquiry into the Titanic disaster, a law had recently been enacted that mandated the use of rat-guards on mooring lines, upon penalty of a five-pound fine.

But rats are cleverer than that.

Oftentimes, rats were so plentiful aboard that firemen working the boilers had a particular method of killing shipboard rats on-sight: by scooping the offending rats up with their shovels and flinging them into the fiery maw of the furnace.

For this reason, many ships had at least one cat on board.

In the case of Titanic, this rumored mouser was named Jenny: a newly adopted stray about to birth a litter.

According to Violet Jessop, Jenny the Ship's Cat was tended to primarily by a scullion named Joseph 'Big Joe' Mulholland.

The Sunday Independent reported on Joe's own account on the anniversary of the sinking, in 1962.

"There was something about that ship I did not like and I was glad to lift my old bag and bid goodbye...

Big Joe is still fond of cats and perhaps he has a reason. He recalls that on his way down to the Titanic before she set sail from Belfast with bands playing and crowds cheering, he took pity on a stray cat which was about to have kittens. He brought the cat aboard and put her in a wooden box down in the stokehold.

At Southampton, when he was ruminating whether to take on the job of store-keeper on the trip or sign off, another seaman called him over and said: 'Look Big Joe. There's your cat taking its kittens down the gang-plank.'

Joe said, 'that settled it. I went and got my bag and that's the last I saw of the Titanic.'"

Citation from "The Irish Aboard Titanic" by Senan Molony, 2000.

As the paper reported: "When his cat walked off, so did Joe."

And so Titanic's left on her maiden voyage mouser-less.

There is no official record of how many rats were on Titanic.

But eyewitness accounts attest to at least a half-dozen.

Fireman Jack Podesta gave an interview to the periodical ‘Southern Evening Echo’ in 1968, in which he reported having seen rats behaving oddly down in the boiler rooms on Saturday April 13th—the day before the iceberg strike.

"On this very morning, my chum and I had just gone across firing our boilers and we were standing against a watertight door—just talking—when all of a sudden, on looking through the forward end on [Titanic’s] starboard side, we saw about six or maybe seven rats running toward us. They passed by our feet; in fact, we both kicked out at them and they ran after somewhere. 

They must have come from the bow end, about where the crash came later. We did not take much notice at the time because we see rats on most ships, but I think it is true that they can smell danger."

But it wasn’t just crew that sighted rats on board.

There are fleeting mentions that children in third-class chased the occasional rat.

And third-class passenger Kathy Gilnagh also told Titanic historian Walter Lord that on the night of April 14th, she had seen a rat.

Shortly before collision, there was a large party in the common area of steerage.

And Kathy Gilnagh told Walter Lord that, at some point during the frivolity, a rat scurried across the room--presumably dashing across the makeshift dance floor. According to Kathy, the girls shrieked and may have even cried, but a few boys gave chase.

Kathy did not elaborate about whether those boys managed to catch that particular rat.

But the party reportedly continued on.

Even during the collision with the iceberg.

SOURCE MATERIAL

Molony, Senan. "The Irish Aboard Titanic." Wolfhound Press, 2000.

Lord, Walter. "A Night to Remember."

http://www.paullee.com/titanic/Podesta.php

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor-sleeping-rough.html

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“The Captain’s Tiger”: James Arthur Paintin

"The Captain's Tiger": James Arthur Paintin

James Arthur Paintin was a tiger.

That is, he was the sole steward to attend to no lesser man than Titanic's captain, E.J. Smith.

James went by his middle name of Arthur, and he was 29 years old in April of 1912.

He was also a newlywed, having married Alice Bunce only five months prior, in November of 1911. They had courted for approximately four years prior to their marriage.

According to the account of a family member, Arthur Paintin intended for the Titanic to be his final stint at sea, because Alice had become pregnant. The couple reportedly hoped to purchase a hotel.

Arthur boarded the RMS Titanic as a personal steward to the captain, and was therefore a member of the Victualing Crew. Old nautical terminology refers to Arthur’s particular role as “the Captain’s Tiger.”

The origin of this unofficial but quite compelling title seems to be something of a mystery.

Arthur had entered into employment with the White Star Line in 1907, and by 1912, he had already served as Captain Smith’s Tiger on both the Adriatic and Titanic’s elder sister Olympic.

It is unclear if Arthur had acted in the capacity of a steward for a significant amount of time prior to his time with Captain Smith, because while on board Titanic, he wrote that he had joined a “stewards club” the previous August. He did note that benefits did not begin in that club until the first anniversary of his membership.

So Arthur was thusly intrigued by the opportunity to join what was essentially a rotary club called the "Hearts of Oak". He expressed this interest to his father.

When Arthur signed onto Titanic in Southampton on April 4th, he had a cold, although it was just beginning to improve.

“My cold is still pretty bad,” he wrote in a letter to his parents while on board, “but nothing like it was last week.” 

And he wasn’t exactly inspired by his accommodations, but he endeavored to be positive in spite of it.

"Bai jove [sic] what a fine ship this is, much better than the Olympic as far as passengers are concerned, but my room is nothing near so nice, no daylight, electric light on all day, but I suppose it's no use grumbling."

Citation courtesy of "Titanic Voices: Memories from the Fateful Voyage," by Donald Hyslop, Alastair Forsyth, and Sheila Jemima. 1994.

As the Captain’s Tiger, Arthur was in essence a personal valet. And it would certainly seem that Captain Smith had a distinct appreciation for Arthur's excellent services, as Titanic's maiden voyage was at least their third voyage together.

Arthur would have been responsible for Captain Smith’s functional needs within his quarters, like his laundering and boots, and with bringing him necessities like messages and meals as needed.

It is possible that Arthur accompanied Captain Smith to public meals, in order to attend to his needs. But where and when the Tiger himself ate, is not known.

Stewardess Violet Jessop observed that, at least on Olympic, all manners of stewards ate hurriedly and without much respite, whenever their schedules would allow it.

 "[Stewards ate] standing in any available corner of a greasy pantry, amid steamy smells and nauseating, grease-strewn decks, eaten in the quickest possible time in order to get away."

Citation courtesy of "Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoirs of Violet Jessop," edited by John Maxtone-Graham. 1997.

There was a lounge on board Titanic assigned exclusively for the use of personal maids and valets of passengers. But it it is unknown if this lounge likewise would have been available and appropriate for the Captain's Tiger.

To date, Arthur Paintin’s movements throughout Titanic's voyage are entirely unconfirmed. There appears to be no record.

Acting as the Captain’s Tiger was a role of some significance—which is why Arthur’s absence from eyewitness accounts is sometimes noted by Titanic enthusiasts as peculiar. But then again, it is not in the general purview of a personal steward to be noticeable.

Only Frederick Dent Ray, a surviving Saloon Steward, has thus far been noted as having witnessed James Arthur Paintin on board--specifically, in the final moments of the sinking.

Frederick testified as follows on the ninth day of the American Inquiry, stating that Arthur had last been seen alongside Captain Smith on Titanic's bridge.

Senator SMITH.
Did he [Captain E.J. Smith] have a personal waiter or steward of his own?

Mr. RAY.
Yes, sir.

Senator SMITH.
Who was he?

Mr. RAY.
A man named Phainten [James Arthur Paintin], I think it was; I am almost sure.

Senator SMITH.
Did he survive?

Mr. RAY.
No, sir. He was last seen on the bridge, standing by the captain.

Just like E.J. Smith, the Captain's Tiger did not survive the sinking of the Titanic.

The body of James Arthur Paintin, if recovered, was never identified.

Back home, Alice Paintin was widowed after less than six months of marriage. And three months after Titanic foundered, she gave birth to her lost husband's son.

She named the baby James Arthur Paintin.

SOURCE MATERIAL

Hyslop, Donald, Alastair Forsyth, and Sheila Jemima. "Titanic Voices: Memories from the Fateful Voyage." Sutton Publishing Limited, 1997.

Jessop, Violet. "Titanic Survivor: The Newly Discovered Memoirs of Violet Jessop Who Survived Both the Titanic and Britannic Disasters." Annotated by John Maxtone-Graham. Sheridan House, Inc., 1997.

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/james-arthur-paintin.html

https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/family-information-about-arthur-paintin-his-wife-and-child.html

https://www.titanicinquiry.org/USInq/AmInq09Ray01.php

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“The Trunks and Valises And All That With Them”: Ludwig Muller

"The Trunks and Valises And All That With Them": Ludwig Muller

With the advent of the 20th century arrived a more enlightened perception of immigration. Steamship companies sought to capitalize on the ever-increasing number of steerage passengers boarding their European vessels for the United States.

Among the first to boast elevated accommodations for its Third Class was the White Star Line.

The following was published as a review of the White Star liner RMS Baltic, which underwent her maiden voyage in June 1904 under the command of Captain Edward J. Smith, who would command the RMS Titanic less than a decade later.

But the most significant feature of the new ship is the splendid accommodations provided for the third-class passengers, the emigrants. Nothing could show more clearly the value which the great steamship companies place upon the privilege of carrying the common people... the newer ships cater distinctly to their comfort and each new boat makes distinct advances in this direction.

Translators, most often to as "interpreters," were employed on board passenger liners such as the Baltic, Olympic, and Titanic.

Typically, a single interpreter was assigned per voyage, and this individual was responsible for assisting and otherwise managing the mass of immigrants in the steerage class. Many emigrating groups were families from northern and central Europe; thus, interpreters often seem to have been fluent in Germanic languages alongside English.

The "Interpreter Steward" acted as a liaison between passengers and crew, facilitating communications between parties that included non-English speakers. The on-board interpreter could be prevailed upon to aid in any number of circumstances, from the most mundane of matters to the downright whimsical.

In 1906, for instance, the interpreter of the White Star Line's RMS Majestic was called upon to assist in officiating the at-sea wedding of a "youthful runaway couple" from Norway who were unable to get married before boarding, as they had intended.

This ceremony was, incidentally, arranged with great diligence and evident joy by Chief Purser Hugh McElroy. He would, six years hence, serve in the same role on Titanic.

At the opposite end of the spectrum were interpreters who were reported as idle, morally compromised ne'er-do-wells. The following account regarding an unidentified White Star interpreter was published in 1909.

An interpreter who spoke English, Swedish, Norwegian, and some German was on board to serve when needed. He was, however, not at all conscientious in the performance of any duties and evidently not very capable. His price for granting privileges, performing favors and overlooking abuses was a mug of stout... he did not hesitate to solicit free drinks from everyone... he was generally present in the dining room during meals, though he did nothing. To young women passengers his manner could be most friendly and gracious. To others he was positively rude.

© "Guide to the Crew of the Titanic: The Structure of Working Aboard the Legendary Liner" by Gunter Babler, 2017.

By all survivor accounts, however, this description does not characterize the interpreter of RMS Titanic.

Ludwig Muller, also called Louis, was German by birth. He had already operated as the Third-Class interpreter on Titanic's older sister Olympic. He presumably spoke an assortment of northern European languages.

Ludwig embarked on Titanic at Southampton on April 10, 1912. His last recorded address was a hotel called the Hooper's Temperance, an establishment on Oxford Street in Southampton that was frequented by transient mariners from all around.

On board, Ludwig found himself bunked in a rare two-bunk cabin on E Deck. His sole cabinmate was a Third-Class Steward named Sidney Sedunary.

A typical Third-Class cabin on the RMS Olympic, Titanic's older sister, circa 1911.

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Ludwig's experience on board Titanic prior to the iceberg strike is not recorded. Considering that he was acting as the sole interpreter for over 700 steerage passengers, it is fair to presume he was continually on the clock.

His movements during the sinking, however, were noted in multiple survivor accounts.

During the sixth day of the British Board of Trade's Inquiry into the disaster, Chief Baker Charles Joughin testified to that he had spotted Muller during the sinking.

Joughin also spoke in detail about the hindrances that Ludwig Muller dealt with as he endeavored to do his duty. Specifically, the steerage passengers whom the interpreter was attempting to direct insisted upon hauling all of their luggage with them, and Ludwig could not dissuade them.

6174. So that, unless on this particular occasion special instructions were given to [Third-Class passengers] as to the route they should follow they would not know where to go, would they?
- They would not know unless they were given instructions.

6175. Did you hear any such instructions given?
- Yes.

6176. By whom?
- I saw the interpreter passing the people along that way, but there was a difficulty in getting them along because some of the foreign third class passengers were bringing their baggage and their children along.

6177. Who was the interpreter?
- I do not know his name.

6178. You do not know his name?
- No.

6179. Where was he standing?
- He was standing just abaft this emergency door leading into the third class.

6180. He was pointing or directing those who came to the door?
- Passing them along.

6181. That is at the door, but my point is this. Did you see or know of anyone going to the third class quarters and giving instructions there to the third class passengers?
- No, Sir, I did not. I am out of that altogether.

6182. As to the course they should follow in order to escape?
- I did not hear any orders.

6183. You did not hear any directions being given to these people to go to this door, when further instructions would be given to them?
- I only saw and heard the interpreter doing his business.

...

6193. You say at the time this passage seemed to be obstructed by third class passengers bringing their luggage?
- Yes.

6194. Would that lead to any confusion?
- It would.

6195. Did it, as a matter of fact?
- There did not seem to be much confusion, only it hampered the steward; it hampered the interpreter and the men who were helping him, because they could not prevail on the people to leave their luggage.

During this same testimony, the Solicitor-General was compelled to circle back to the professional conduct of the interpreter and his efforts to aid the Third-Class passengers.

6350. You spoke of seeing an interpreter in the third class part of the ship trying to get the third class people to come along and go up to the deck?
- Yes.

6351. Did I catch you rightly to say the interpreter was doing it and men were helping him?
- I could see two or three stewards.

6352. You could?
- Yes.

6353. Third class stewards?
- I suppose they were, I am not quite sure.

6354. Trying to persuade the people?
- Yes.

During the British Inquiry, a Mr. Clement Edwards solicited further information from surviving First-Class bathroom steward Samuel Rule regarding Ludwig Muller's actions during the disaster.

Rule's account aligned seamlessly with Joughin's testimony three days prior. In fact, he indicated that Ludwig Muller had been proactive in spite of an apparent lack of instruction from superiors, endeavoring in the absence of leadership to direct the Third-Class passengers. It is also worth noting that a significant number of those immigrants on board did not hail from countries that spoke Scandinavian languages.

And yet, it would seem that Muller did his damnedest anyway.

Rule also corroborated Joughin's account that said passengers were adamant in carrying their possessions along with them, and that this impeded Muller and the Third-Class stewards who were attempting to aid the situation.

9769. Did anyone give the stewards' department any orders what to do?
- They gave me no orders.

9770. Did you see any orders given by any of these people in position?
- No.

9771. Did you see any stewards going forward or aft to the third class?
- As I passed out on E deck, Muller, the interpreter, was getting all his people from forward aft, and they were taking their luggage with them on E deck.

9772. He was getting them from forward to aft?
- Yes, the afterend of the ship.

9773. Were there any women among them?
- No, all men.

9774. They were passing the men along E deck?
- All the foreigners.

9775. And they were bringing the baggage along?
- Yes, the trunks and valises and all that, with them.

9776. Was there any chaos in the alleyway?
- None whatever; you would think they were landing on the tender taking their baggage to New York.

While Samuel Rule stated that he did not see any chaos mounting in that moment, the staggering pressure that Ludwig Muller faced is irrefutable and harrowing to imagine. Eyewitness testimony affirms that, as Titanic sank, he remained with the steerage passengers in his charge.

And for that, he died.

The Third-Class promenade deck on RMS Olympic, circa 1914.

PUBLIC DOMAIN

Ludwig Muller's corpse, if recovered, was unidentified.

He was 37 years old.

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