The Titanic Commutator Issue 209

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IN THIS ISSUE

This is the first issue for 2015 THS membership

The new membership year of 2015 begins with this issue and we’re still in a process of transition. Ed’s loss is felt daily whether it is personal or related to the THS. I can’t begin to count how many times I’d ask Ed where a particular file or information about a passenger, etc. was and he would nod and knew where to find it. So much was in his head. The majority of the THS archives is hard copy in metal files stored in three separate locations. Only the last decade has been digitalized which means searching is not automatic or a quick answer in a computer.

I’m extremely grateful for encouragement in cards and letters from so many of you and continue to receive. It’s been overwhelming. I regret I haven’t been able to reply personally to everyone. Please know that you all are appreciated and your thoughtfulness means a lot.

Also I’m continually amazed and thankful for the wealth of talent and knowledge from members who contribute articles and this issue is a prime example. Parks Stephenson’s Titanic’s Guardian Angel, “Many, if not all, of the survivors from Titanic owe their lives to an unlikely guardian angel…a fire in one of Titanic’s coal bunkers. This claim, I admit, seems counter-intuitive and will therefore require some explanation.”

In another article, Mike Herbold wrote: Using the alias George Brayton, a gambler and 1st class passenger on Titanic, over the years made headlines often, usually using his real name, George A. Brereton, usually for being arrested or for being indicted in a federal case. Finally, distressed financially, and resorting to living with his sister’s family, he made newspaper headlines by shooting himself.

Senan Molony sent a fascinating story about Edith Russell: “Being a survivor of this tragedy has also made me an object of curious interest on many occasions. When I cross the Atlantic on steamers I meet numbers of people, and when it becomes known that I am a Titanic survivor they immediately ply me with every sort of question. One of the more frequent questions is: ‘Were you really saved?’ (I have never learned quite how to answer this one.) Or, ‘Did you hear Nearer, my God, to Thee?’, and, yet another, ‘Was the water rough?,’ and ‘Were you cold?’; ‘How many were saved?’; ‘Were you frightened?’; ‘You certainly were lucky!’ ”

Gregory Toth describes the Lord-MacQuitty Collection: Walter Lord bequeathed his historic collection of Titanic related materials and personal items previously owned by survivors to the National Martime Museum in 2002. He made the bequest encouraged by his close friend William MacQuitty, in his will. Lord does not need to be introduced to members of THS. He worked endlessly to track down many Titanic survivors in order to obtain their stories for his famous work published in 1955, A Night to Remember.

Mark Baber contributes interesting historical bits with Vintage Vignettes plus a few other stories. There is a variety of good reading for everyone. …Karen Kamuda, Publisher

Contents

Titanic’s Guardian Angel
By Parks Stephenson

Presumed Guilty, The Sad Story of Grace A. Brereton
A Titanic Cold Case

By Mike Herbold

Vintage Vignettes:
Bridge Sharps On Boat

Saved By A Toy Pig When Great Ship Struck Iceberg
Contributed by Senan Molony

The Lord McQuitty Collection
In the National Maritime Museum, London

Contributed by Gregory Toth

Straus Memorial Rededicated
Joan Adler, Straus Historical Society

Vintage Vignettes:
Olympic at the Outbreak of World War One

Vintage Vignettes:
Adriatic and the Roosevelts

The White Star Line: Progress of the Company
The Albany Advertiser, June 24, 1914

Sea Poste
THS Member Obituaries; letters remembering Edward Kamuda. Ray Lepien replies about what became of steel from Olympic when scrapped.

Covers
Front: A photo Edith Russell sent to Edward Kamuda. She wrote on the back “This is an awful photo of me but wonderful of dog & pig. Topsy-Peke & Pig Titanic 1912 – April 14 15 given to me in 1911 & it is intact but no tail, no music and broken feet Edith Russell” Interestingly, she said no music. Photo: Kamuda collection

Back: The musical pig belonged to Edith (Rosenbaum) Russell who boarded the Titanic at Cherbourg. In August 1911, Edith had been seriously injured in a traffic accident, which claimed the life of the driver, a German merchant named Mr. Lewe; the musical toy was a gift from her mother to help recuperate.

Photo: NMM Images: ©National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London.

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Weight 8 oz
Dimensions 11 × 9 × 0.25 in
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