PRAISES CAPT ROSTRON

Miss Eleanor B. Danforth of Gardiner, Me, Tells of Rescue of Titanic Survivors.
GARDINER, Me. April 23 — Miss Eleanor B. Danforth of this city, daughter of Hon Frederic Danforth, former member of the State Board of Railroad Commissioners, has just arrived at her home at 29 Pleasant st, where she has been resting quietly after her experiences in the rescue of the passengers from the Titanic.

Miss Danforth was the only Maine passenger aboard the Carpathia on her way to the Mediterranean when the steamer was suddenly called to the assistance of the unfortunates. She was in company with her aunt. Miss Eleanor Stevens of Boston, formerly of Randolph, and they were two of the four who left the Carpathia upon its arrival in New York without proceeding on the trip planned.

"None of us got a great deal of sleep after the survivors were taken on board." said Miss Danforth. There was so much commotion and the topic of the disaster was so uppermost in the minds of every one that few could really rest.

"Though I was not directly in the wreck. I lived in the atmosphere of it through the stories told by the survivors." she continued. There was no sign of any steamer and not a vestige of any wreck except the lifeboats when we arrived on the scene. It hardly seemed possible that such a giant craft could have completely disappeared.

"Early Monday morning I awoke and went on deck as usual. The steward said: 'We are going to the help of the Titanic.'

"It was still dark and we could see the gleam of ice. When the day fully dawned the sight was magnificent, but terrifying. Our ship was surrounded by icebergs, one ice field being 20 miles long, so the steward told me. Stationed all about the deck were sailors watching eagerly for a glimpse of the Titanic. Finally the first lifeboat was sighted. We came upon it quickly. It was about half-full of people, some wearing only their nightclothes. One man wore his dresssuit. Some of the women were bareheaded and in their evening clothes.

The people in the lifeboat were calm. but their faces were drawn and all were shivering with the cold. There was not the slightest panic connected with their transfer to the Carpathia. I stood by the side of the ship and watched the sailors as one by one they lifted the women and men by means of ropes on board the ship.

"All the passengers on the Carpathia lent a hand and were ready to sacrifice any of their comforts for the survivors. Many gave up their staterooms, and others shared their apartments with the newcomers. Many devoted long hours to tending the survivors and planning and sewing for them.

"The lifeboats reached us in quick succession and for awhile the survivors seemed dazed. They could not realize the awful truth. There were not beds enough for all of the survivors in addition to the passengers on the Carpathia, so the men rolled themselves in blankets and crept under the dining saloon tables. Others slept on the tables. Chairs were at a premium. But no one complained, whatever his lot. The people from the Titanic were given the best of everything.

"I talked with many of the Titanic survivors and it is my belief that few on board the ill-fated ship believed that she would sink. They hesitated to get into the boats, feeling safer on the deck. This, I think, must account for the fact that some of the boats were only half full of passengers.

"I notice that there have been various stories afloat that Capt Smith shot himself just before the Titanic went down, but this does not appear to be the opinion of a great many of the survivors with whom I talked on the Carpathia. The majority of them say that he jumped at the last moment.

"Incidentally, I think the captain of the Carpathia exhibited courage when he steamed out to the scene of the disaster at such speed in the midst of the Ice fields. I confess I was a little alarmed myself over the perilousness of the trip and this feeling was shared by many of the other passengers. "We all found the captain of the Carpathia genial and accommodating, but stern and strict when conditions required. He was never for a moment confused or nonplussed."