Margaret Tobin Brown page 8

 Margaret Tobin Brown page 8 by ric gustafson

Margaret walked up to A Deck. There, passengers were putting on their lifebelts. There, Margaret saw her friend Emma Bucknell. Bucknell exclaimed to Margaret that her prediction had come true. They quietly watched as officers struggled with the lifeboats.

Officer Lightoller was put in charge of the even numbered lifeboats on the port side. Because the air was noisy with steam noise, people were not following his orders. He shouted at the top of his lungs. No one was listening. Women and children were reluctant to ger into the lifeboats. There was also confusion because the windows on A Deck were locked. Passengers had to go down a deck and then walk up the stairs. Lightoller filled up Lifeboat 4. His next goal was to fill up Lifeboat 6. At 12:45 am, eight distress rockets were fired from the bridge on the starboard side of the bridge.

Margaret, Helen Candee, Julia Cavendish and Madame de Villiers were put into Lifeboat 6. Lightoller filled the lifeboat the best he could. Quartermaster Hichens, Seaman Fleet, Major Peuchen and a boy Captain Smith threw in at the last moment were the only men on board. The Lifeboat was cut and was lowered. By a series of jerks and pulls, the Lifeboat was lowered into the frigid cold water.

research help: ' Molly Brown unraveling the myth' by Kristen Iversen

Peace and God's blessings. Love Ric