Helped Mrs. Harris Into a Boat and Died with Her Husband
Edgar J. Meyer is a name to be added to the list of those who perished
nobly on the Titanic. His wife was saved. It has been impossible to
interview her, but through Eugene Meyer, Jr., her husband's brother and
business partner, she has told some of the incidents of their parting on
the deck of the Titanic.
Mr. Meyer helped in getting the lifeboats over the side. He attempted to
place her in the first of these, but she refused to go, and so he turned
to helping other women and children to enter them, encouraging all with
his own cheerfulness and energy. Only his wife knew that his
cheerfulness was assumed. Finally, he compelled her to enter a boat. It
was the boat in which Major Peuchen left the ship as one of its crew.
She never saw her husband again.
But Mrs. Henry B. Harris saw him and noted his gallantry and courage;
and when the survivors were taken on the Carpathia, Mrs. Harris, herself
bereaved, sent word to her that it might comfort her to know that Mr.
Meyer died like a gallant gentleman and a hero.
Mrs. Harris told Mrs. Meyer that Mr. Meyer had assisted Mr. Harris in
placing her in the last boat, and that he, Mr. Harris, Mr. Douglas, and
one of the ship's officers lowered them over the side. The ship already
was low in the water, and as the lifeboat drew away Mrs. Harris saw Mr.
Meyer, Mr. Harris, and Mr. Douglas making toward the stern of the boat
with their lifebelts on.
Edgar J. Meyer was the youngest of eight children of Mr. and Mrs. Eugene
Meyer. He was 28 years old, and had been married two years and a half.
He leaves in addition to his widow a little girl about a year old. Mr.
Meyer was a graduate of Cornell University, where he took his degree as
a Mechanical Engineer. A method discovered by him at that time of
measuring velocity of flame propagation in gas engines has since been
incorporated into the text books. After graduation he joined his brother
in business in Wall Street. He was recognized for his ability, but he
was valued even more highly by those who came in contact with him for
his gentle and pleasant personality and his manly and straightforward
manner.
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