Titanic Historical Society Commutator 248
THS Commutator No. 248, Winter 1st Quarter, January to March 2025
Contents
John Jacob Astor and Madeleine Talmage Force As Reported in the Newspapers
When rich and famous passengers aboard Titanic are mentioned, the Astors are usually at the top of the list. Industrialists, bankers, the movers and shakers that built this country were celebrities in the Gilded Age and their comings and goings were followed closely and reported in newspapers and the society pages. The seaside resorts of Newport, Rhode Island and Bar Harbor, Maine were frequented by the affluent and influential and Bar Harbor was where Colonel John Jacob Astor IV and Miss Madeleine Talmage Force met.
A Wednesday Ship-Olympic in New York Extended-Vintage Vignettes
Belfast and the Titanic Disaster – Belfast News-Letter April 17, 1912
Belfast’s human loss did not compare with Southampton’s though the deaths of Thomas Andrews and his Harland & Wolff’s engineering staff on board were felt keenly. The blow to Ulster pride was perhaps greater than the sense of human loss.
Olympic in 1921- Snapshot by Titanic Survivor Frank Goldsmith
Written on the back of this photo of Olympic, “Taken and printed by Frank J. Goldsmith 1921.” Most likely it was snapped in Southampton when Frank visited his former home for the first time. (Walter Lord was mistaken when he wrote Frank and his wife Victoria’s trip to England in 1965 was their first). Victoria writes about their 1965 trip. (Excerpted from Titanic Eyewitness My Story/THS collection).
Southampton A Town of Mourning – Daily Sketch April 17, 1912
Victorian Southampton was the child of the steam era and its rail link to London guaranteed its growth. The White Star Line moved its express service from Liverpool to Southampton in 1907 and many crew followed and took residence in the southern port. One teacher said to her elementary school class: “Stand up any child who has had a relative on the Titanic ”–– and the whole class stood up.
The Siege of the White Star Offices in Bowling Green, New York – The New York Times April 17, 1912
From early dawn yesterday until early this morning the local offices of the White Star Line in Bowling Green were besieged by relatives and friends known to have been on the ill-fated Titanic. It was an orderly but pathetic crowd of men and women, and there was not a moment when a tear-stained face was not scanning anxiously the printed lists of known survivors that were posted on the bulletin boards.
Principal Occurrences in Titanic’s Engine and Boiler Rooms at the Time of Collision- Introduction and Chronological Sequence
Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 pm on the night of 14th April 1912 and, as a result, the vessel suffered damage to the structural plating of the hull about 10 feet above the level of the keel for about 300 feet of the ship’s length. The speed of the vessel immediately prior to the incident was in excess of 21 knots (24 mph) and, as a result, the damage to the hull would have occurred in about 10 seconds.
By Tom McCluskie
Titanic’s Launch- Belfast News-Letter June 1. 1911
In the presence of thousands of spectators, the S.S. Titanic which will share with the Olympic the distinction of being one of the two largest vessels afloat, was launched from Messrs Harland & Wolff’s yard at the Queen’s Island yesterday. When the Olympic was launched on the 20th of October last there was considerable speculation as to how the ceremony would pass off, as up to the time no ship of her enormous dimensions had ever left the ways, and extraordinary precautions had to be taken in order to provide against any accident.
Covers:
Front: Titanic escorted by a tugboat ready for her trials.
Back: Olympic ready to be scrapped. (Kamuda collection).
Paintings courtesy of Harley Crossley
