I arrived outside my room about 10 minutes later after visiting the lavatory. I couldn’t believe how clean the toilet was even though it was a crew toilet. I couldn’t imagine what the first class passenger’s was like, probably a gold plated toilet with marble flooring. In my momentary daze I forgot where I was. I opened the door of my room and stepped inside. I had not got a proper look the first time I entered the room so I stood at the doorway looking at the plain white sheets, the bare floor and the tiny pine cupboard. I climbed to the top bed of the bunk bed and led on top of the covers with my hands behind my head staring at the ceiling. I remember thinking to myself just before I closed my eyes; “I hope I win in poker tonight.” It was a strange thing to think of last but I guess I was just tired.
I woke up staring at the same white ceiling I had left before dozing off to sleep. I could hear faint laughing in the background, which then became a lot more distinct. It was William and Robert playing cards. I lifted my arm and looked at my watch to find that I had slept till 10:30 pm! Robert noticed that I had woken up and said, “I didn’t want to disturb you”. I told him that I had rather he had woken me up. I slowly got to my knees so I could clamber down the ladder. I asked them what they were playing and they told me that they were playing blackjack, but had just finished. “Now we can play a bit of poker,” said William. “What are we playing for?” I asked. “Coins, for now” said Robert. I got dealt the worst hand of my life. It consisted of a red seven, a black 3, a red four, a black queen, a black nine, a red jack and finally the ace of spades. We carried on playing late into the night and despite my first hand I did actually win quite a few hands. At 12:40 Robert and William decided to call it a night and go to bed. Myself, I was wide a wake and raring to go. I thought it would be best to go to bed and not disturb William and Robert. I got undressed and into my bed, it was unbelievably cold because there were only two sheets. I led there freezing cold and just staring at the ceiling. I was so cold I decided to go down and get the sheets in the bed below me. William had already taken them, so I just climbed back up the ladder and back into bed. I remember lying there for what seemed like hours waiting to go to sleep. I closed my eyes and tried to imagine what things tomorrow would bring.
I opened my eyes the next day to see that both Robert and William had gone from the room. I jumped out of my bed and slid down the ladder. I checked my watch and realized that I had plenty of time to get ready for the days work. I thought that since I was out of bed I should get ready for work. As I was putting my shoes on, William and Robert came into the room with three cups of coffee and some milk. I asked where they had gone and they said that they had just gone for a wander and to get the drinks. After drinking the coffee, the three of us set off down to the main deck to start work. We arrived at the dining room a little while later on to find some of the first class passengers attending the early breakfast. I organised the entertainment for the morning, which included, magic tricks for the children, poker and other card games, singers, musicians and even artists. The ship was looking quite busy after picking up the rest of the passengers from Cherbourg, which meant there were a lot of people to be entertained. This meant more work for me. I had to stroll around the ship checking that the passengers were being entertained as well as organising the afternoon’s entertainment. As I passed through the café I was greeted by one of the casino entertainers who explained to me that he could not shuffle because he has broken his wrist in a rather nasty accident last night. He asked if it was possible for me to take over for him. I would normally have declined but I had little else to do until later on this afternoon so I accepted. I walked to the poker room with the injured man and then took up my seat at the table as the croupier. I had limited experience in this sort of thing and was a little apprehensive to say the least. I took a deep breath and started to deal the cards. After several games and what seemed to be large amounts of money being wagered, I was relieved of my temporary duty by another member of staff. I was pleased with my performance but also glad to leave the table.
It was early afternoon now and I was feeling rather hungry, especially after having no breakfast. I decided that I would just visit the café to get a sandwich and maybe a cake. When I got to the café I walked in to find the room packed with people wanting to get food, mostly second and third class. I could barley make out any tables or chairs and couldn’t quite tell where the counter was. I cut to the front of the cue and said to the waitress that there was an injured crewmember that needed food and water. She believed me and rushed into the back room, she brought out a pint glass of water and some beef sandwiches. I asked if there was any chocolate cake to give him energy, once again she rushed into the back room and returned with a huge piece of chocolate cake. I ran off with the food, feeling a little embarrassed and ashamed with myself for doing such a thing. I walked up to my room with the food and decided to work out the afternoon’s and evening’s entertainment as I ate. I walked into the room and led on the bed with the sandwiches and work sheets. I had to plan all sorts of things to entertain the guests with. This afternoon I had some ballroom dancing planned, along with entertainment such as bowls and some competitions. I led there for over half an hour eating my sandwiches and getting everything prepared. I checked my watch after drinking the last drop of water and got all my papers together to return back to the dining room.
At the dining room I noticed that one of the waiters, Ben who I’d met earlier was serving a very important person (Colonel John Jacob Astor) who was one of the most respected men onboard. I wondered whether Ben could cope under the pressure, I was hoping he didn’t spill wine or soup over the guests. His reputation would be ruined and he would probably be fired. Luckily Ben didn’t trip over or make any mistakes. I then noticed one of the other entertainment officers on the far side of the
room. He seemed to be eating and working at the same time as well. He looked like he was enjoying lobster while organising musical chairs. I walked confidently in-between tables and came to his table. I asked him if I was disturbing him and he said “Oh no feel free to sit here with me, you can help me with this evenings entertainment!” We discussed what we were going to do for the entertainment for about 15 minutes but I was feeling a little stressed and bored so I decided to relax for a while if possible. I decided that I should maybe take part in some bowls or other sport. It would be a good way of making friends. I walked over to one of the bowl’s games and asked if I could join in. They were all in agreement that I could join in, so I picked up one of the bowls and threw it. I had never played bowls before in my life so I was hopeless to begin with, but as the games went on I became better and even won a game.
After playing for some time I said my goodbyes to the sportsmen and hurried of to my room to get changed for the evening. I had arranged to meet William after his shift had finished. We were expected to mingle with the first class passengers, but also expected to behave in an orderly manner. I arrived outside William’s favourite bar after getting changed into something more suitable. I noticed William in the far corner of the bar; he seemed to be talking to a young lady. I walked over to their table and introduced myself to the lady. She seemed to be leaving when I arrived and so I said goodbye and joined William at the table. He asked me what I wanted to drink. I decided to just have the one whisky, I didn’t want to be caught misbehaving due to too much alcohol. We talked about the different things which we had been doing on the ship and soon enough one whisky became two. I decided that I’d had enough alcohol for one night and that an early night was in order. William agreed that we should get an early night and so we both set off up to our room.
We got into our room and for once actually went straight to bed. Although the sheets were as thin as ever and it was as cold as ever I found the bed quite comfortable. I was feeling surprisingly sleepy after such a hard days work and found it no problem to drift off to sleep. Before doing so I set my alarm clock, I was determined not to wake up late in the morning, although I thought I needed the sleep.
The next few days went surprisingly quickly, probably because it was so hectic onboard. There was plenty of entertainment to be organised and I was so busy one day that I had no time for lunch. I had met some more famous and important people onboard including Isidor Straus, who owned the worlds largest department store, and also Captain Smith who came to congratulate me personally on how well I had organised the ballroom dancing.
It was only four days ago that I was in Southampton docks and I already felt at home on the Titanic. It was late evening and I had just finished my meal when William and Robert came over to my table to say that they were going to the room for a drink, and a game of cards. I was feeling a little tired, but I agreed and followed them to the room. We set up the table in the middle of the room and started to play some poker, accompanied with a little whisky. We were not playing for coins anymore, we were playing for real money. By the end of the night I had lost almost all my money and decided to go to bed before I lost anymore. As soon as my head touched the pillow I had gone to sleep, I must have been extremely worn out.
The next thing I knew I was waking up to the sound of rushing water and whistles. I looked over the side of my bed and saw that there was water gushing under the door. I sat up quickly; I couldn’t believe what was happening. Did the titanic have a leak? I jumped out of my bed into the water, which was now ankle height. I noticed that neither William nor Robert were awake. I shouted to the two of them to wake up. They seemed reluctant to get up as it was in the early hours of the morning. I shouted to them that the ship was sinking which seemed to have the desired effect. They both jumped up and got out of bed at the same time. They jumped into the water, which was now shin height. We all realized that we needed to get out of the cabin as quickly as possible. We burst though the door into the corridor; there was a steady stream of water now gushing through the corridor. We waded through it until we got to a flight of steps that would take us to the deck. We ran up the steps as quickly as possible and reached the forward Well deck. It soon became apparent that passengers were struggling to reach the main decks. Panic and mayhem was now setting in as passengers were screaming and shouting. To try and calm the situation, I instructed the classical musicians to play on in the hope that it would have a positive effect on the passengers. It had become clear now that the unthinkable was happening, the Titanic was sinking. By sheer chance William had bumped into Thomas Andrews who was the Chief designer of the Titanic. He gave us the grim news that the ship had hit an iceberg and would only stay afloat for a maximum of one and a half hours if we were lucky. He also stated that the ship only had lifeboats capable of holding one thousand passengers and if we were to fill them all to capacity we would still have over one thousand passengers still left onboard.
The grim reality of the situation suddenly hit me amid the noise and confusion, my heart pounded as I tried to adopt a professional approach. Distress flares were now being fired in the vain hope that a passing ship might see them. As a crewmember my first instinct was to help the passengers and this was where my training would become very useful although I never expected to use it in such drastic circumstances. The first lifeboats were occupied by women and children and were now being lowered down the side of the ship towards the water. Husbands bidding farewell to loved ones would always remain imprinted on my mind. Screaming children and distressed wives adding to the confusion. It was imperative that we acted quickly to help stem the panic and chaos that was becoming more apparent every second. From my brief time aboard I knew that some of the lower deck passengers would have little chance of being saved as the bow of the ship was now under water. More and more passengers were now attempting to make there way to the stern of the ship; this was now clearly the highest point from the cold and murky waters below. Passengers were becoming more and more desperate and began jumping into the water from the decks. Some with lifejackets and others without.
Having helped as many passengers as I could and now seeing that the ship would be below surface in a matter of minutes, I decided that I should abandon ship to have the best chance of surviving. I climbed the railings at the stern of the ship, took a deep breath and jumped. I remember the wind rushing through my hair as I fell and narrowly missing the propellers. It felt like I was falling for minutes rather than seconds. The water was freezing cold and I felt chilled to the bone. I knew that I had to keep moving and swim away from the sinking ship to avoid being dragged under with it. I managed to grab hold of a piece of floating debris, which would aid me in staying afloat and hopefully conserve some of my energy. My only chance now was to get myself in the proximity of a lifeboat. Out of sheer chance a lifeboat came nearby and I knew that it was now or never. I blew my whistle as hard as I could. It took me a few breaths to make any sound at all. Luckily one of the men onboard heard my whistle and called out to me. I kept on whistling as loud as I could. Finally the boat came by along side me and two men pulled me up out of the water. The men wrapped me in some blankets and sat me down. I looked around still shivering violently and to my amazement the lifeboat was nearly empty. I pleaded with the men to go back for more survivors but they said that they would only get sucked under with the Titanic. They rowed the ship well out of range of the Titanic so we could only see minute dots falling from the ship. We watched as the world’s largest man-made moving object was sucked under by the Atlantic Ocean. We watched it until the last piece was submerged. I knew very well that there must have been over one thousand people that had perished and quite possibly my friends as well. This truly was the worst thing that could have happened. I sat there in the lifeboat for the next two hours waiting to be picked up by the nearest ship, those two hours were the longest of my life.
