Mrs. Frederick M. Hoyt Returns to Home of Parents and Gives the Recorder a Description of Her Experiences Following the Crashing of the Titanic Into the Iceberg, Which Meant the Loss of Hundreds of Lives.
Mr. and Mrs. Frederick M. Hoyt of New York city, who were among the survivors of the Titanic disasters, arrived in Amsterdam Monday afternoon at 5:36 o’clock and went to the home of Mrs. Hoyt’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Forby, of No. 30 Chestnut street. Mrs. Hoyt was formerly Miss Jane Ann Forby. Their coming was unexpected because Mrs. Hoyt, who has been suffering from a severe cold, due to the exposure following the sinking of the big vessel one week ago Monday morning, did not think she would be able to make the trip. Later, however, she decided to undertake it in company with her husband. Mr. Hoyt left today for Boston where he will attend to some business matters, returning the latter part of the week to pass Sunday here before returning to New York with Mrs. Hoyt, early next week.
Mrs. Hoyt was feeling much rested today and granted an interview to a Recorder reporter, the first she has given since the sea tragedy, although both she and her husband have been besieged with repeated requests to relate a detailed account of the terrible disaster. Mr. and Mrs. Hoyt started last November on a European tour which took them to the Mediterranean ports, then to Paris and finally to London. Mr. Hoyt selected this ship not solely because of the fact that it was the maiden voyage of the empress of the seas but because Captain Smith was a personal acquaintance, as was also Dr. William F. N. O’Loughlin, senior surgeon of the White Star company, who was surgeon on the Titanic. Both officers lost their lives in the wreck. Not desiring to border on the sensational, Mrs. Hoyt gave a clear and concise account of all she saw and did during her ordeal and much of the rumours and statements that have been printed since the disaster are discredited by her. In her starting her story, Mrs. Hoyt said:
"Mr. Hoyt and myself had a state-room on C deck and in the dining salon we sat at table with Dr. O’Loughlin, the ship’s surgeon, Dr. Simpson, assistant surgeon and Thomas Andrews, the ship designer who designed the Titanic and was accompanying the ship on her maiden voyage in order to see how well she performed. Sunday evening, April 14, Dr. O’Loughlin, who was a great friend of ours, sat in our stateroom visiting with my husband and myself when about 7 o’clock a steward came to the door and announced that Mr. Ismay wanted the surgeon to take dinner with him. Dr. O’Loughlin went to join the head of the White Star line and they dined together. I saw Dr. O’Loughlin again about 9 o’clock, making his rounds and visiting patients who were ill. Captain Smith was not with Mr. Ismay Sunday night at any time I saw him, there being but the president of the steamship company and the surgeon at dinner alone. Mr. Hoyt and myself retired early and were roused by a noise shortly after 11 o’clock, which seemed to indicate that the engines of the ship had reversed. I looked out of the stateroom window and saw something white passing by. I first thought it was steam but Mr. Hoyt, who had seen icebergs before at sea, told me what it was and then went up on the deck. I followed him, wearing only a light dressing gown. We met Dr. O’Loughlin and Mr. Hoyt asked him if anything serious had happened. Dr. O’Loughlin said he did not know, but a few minutes afterward he told my husband that both of us had better go to our stateroom and dress fully. There was a slight listing to the boat then and I noticed Dr. O’Loughlin whisper something in my husband’s ear. I afterward learned that the surgeon told Mr. Hoyt it was serious and the squash court on one of the lower decks was rapidly filling with water at the time.
"We both dressed as warmly as possible and again went on deck. There was not the slightest disorder but people were hurrying about. We did [not] hear the order for everyone to put [on] life preservers and paid no attention to ours until a man came up to [us] just as we were leaving the stateroom and asked us if we had an extra life preserver. Mr. Hoyt then decided [we] had better put on the two that were in our stateroom, which we did.
"When we got on deck again they were just getting ready to lower the first life boat. It was impossible [for] the officers to induce women to get [in] to the boat. They thought the [word missing] ship was unsinkable and were [word missing] about trusting themselves on the ocean in the small craft. No amount of persuasion could convince the women that it would be safer for them to get in the boats. The first boat contained more men than it did women for this reason alone. Finally, when the women saw that the men were willing to get in the boats they began to change their minds.
"I saw Mr. Ismay standing with Mr. Andrews when the first boat drew away and he was trying to keep order but I could not say what boat he left the ship on. The first boat did not contain more than twenty-five people and perhaps about the same number in the second boat. Finally the li[ttle?] boats began to fill up more rapidly and when near the end there were only a few women left. Mr. Hoyt and myself got into the last life boat which was only partly filled but there was a sudden rush of steerage passengers for the same and it looked as if [it] might be upset. My husband got out of the boat when it began to fill [up] and I followed him.
"Chief Officer Wiley (sic), also drowned, pulled his gun and ordered every man in the boat to get out. There was nothing left then, but the collapsible boats, two of which I saw.
’’Mr. Hoyt went over and talked [with? to?] Captain Smith a moment, remarking on the seriousness of the situation. He relied that it was ’terrible.’ Captain Smith was then at his [post giving?] orders here and there but there was a general din and it is not likely the orders were heard a great distance.
The last collapsible life boat was getting in readiness to be lowered [by?] the davits when Mr. Hoyt said to me I would have to get in. I did so only after much persuasion and after we had bid each other goodbye, Mrs. Henry B. Harris, Mrs. Thorn and myself were the only first class cabin women passengers in the boat. There were steerage passengers, among them several women, about eighteen of us all in the canvas craft which could not sink but could be easily turned turtle. Seamen started to lower us but the boat suddenly gave a heavy list and the men left us hanging suspended in the air and ran to the upper side so as to save themselves. Finally one or two men came back and completed the task of lowering us to the water.
"My husband walked away from the davits after waving a farewell to us and he afterward told me he went over and talked with Captain Smith about the terrible scenes that were being enacted on all sides. Captain Smith told him that he had better go down on one of the lower decks. The captain thought that perhaps some of the boats might return to the ship’s side and there might be a chance of saving his life. Mr. Hoyt went to the lower deck but there were no boats in sight. He did not know the experience we had gone through in being lowered to the surface of the water and thought we were at a safe distance from the ship. On the other hand we had not got started yet. Mr. Hoyt took off his coat and then jumped into the water. That was just before the ship took its final plunge. He is an expert swimmer and of strong physique and immediately struck out to get away from the ship. He swam in the icy cold water for about ten minutes and then our boat came across him. We could not tell who it was but it was a living human being and there was room in our boat so we took him in. He was nearly exhausted and some of the occupants of the boat who were not otherwise engaged, chafed his hands and lifted his arms to keep up the circulation. Not until he was able to sit up and later hear my voice did either of us know that we were together again.
"When we were leaving the ship’s side I could hear the band playing ’Alexander’s Ragtime Band,’ quite distinctly. Afterward the musicians broke into ’Nearer, My God, to Thee,’ and they were playing this when the Titanic disappeared. It was just like a long groan. I did not hear any hysterical cries, but when the ship started to settle under the surface of the water there seemed to be just one wall of despair from the unfortunate people who still remained on deck. The lights were on until the ship sank and then all was darkness.
"In the bottom of our boat we found a man lurking. There was no objection to this, but when one or two of the men at the oars became exhausted the steward called on him for assistance. He was either ill or so frightened that he could not respond. I assisted the steward in operating one of the oars and Mrs. Harris did likewise. We managed to keep going and got away from the ship as far as possible, so there would be no suction to draw us down. I don’t think there was hardly any suction.
"Fifth Officer Low (sic) of the Titanic was in charge of one of the lifeboats and it was due to his heroic management that a number of people were saved. He yelled to all the lifeboats to keep as close as possible and then he had them lashed together. He ordered all the survivors out of his boat and placed them safely in other boats and then went back to where the ship went down to see if he could pick up anyone in the water. He managed to get three men, all he could see. One afterward died in the boat. He was a man in evening dress, but I could not look close enough to see if I knew him.
"It was bitter cold and the lifeboats were struggling to keep within touch with one another. Finally there was a slight blow and the ocean surface became rough. It was necessary to unlash the boats to keep them from crashing into each other and then it was more difficult than ever to keep within touch with one another. Officer Low got to one of the collapsible lifeboats when it was half filled with water and he was just in time to save the occupants from being thrown into the sea. He directed all the movements while we were drifting about and his coolness and courage were marked throughout.
"At 4 o’clock in the morning, just as a gray mist was beginning to steal in the sky, announcing the approach of day, we could see the lights of the Carpathia in the distance and a prayer of joy and thanksgiving went up on all sides, for we knew help was near at hand. It was 8 o’clock before we were on board the Carpathia, so that made just six hours that we were drifting about on the ocean surface, and it was a long six hours.
"When the Carpathia came up to us the women were hoisted to the deck in seamen’s chairs, while the men who could not go up the rope ladders were hauled up. There was every imaginable kindness shown us by the passengers and crew of the Carpathia. Every man was eager and willing to give over his stateroom, while the women fairly swamped us with favors and attention. Many of us had to take up sleeping quarters in the smoking salon, I among a number of others. It was made very comfortable, however, but there was little sleep after dark. The survivors seemed possessed of an uneasiness at dusk that made it impossible to sleep. I figured that [I had?] five hours’ good sleep and rest out of a total of 96 hours following the collision with the iceberg.
"Of course, there were many things that occurred I did not see, but what I did see impressed me very much. This was true of the bravery and heroism of the officers and crew of the Titanic. I did not see a man flinch from duty, and I candidly think that if the women had followed the advice of Captain Smith and his officers to get into the lifeboats when first directed, the boats would have been filled and many more people saved.
"Dr. O’Loughlin was one of the bravest men on the boat. His fatherly advice was carried out in many instances where he saw opportunities for people to get a chance to save their lives, and he always went away with a 'good-bye and God bless you.'"
Mrs. Hoyt said that she had read a number of statements of survivors and that while some of them might be true she knew that many of them were falsehoods. She was also informed today of the announcement that a ship had passed within five miles of the sinking Titanic but did not stand by to give assistance after being warned with rockets and distress signals. Mrs. Hoyt said that if the lights of a ship had been seen in the distance they were not called to her attention nor did she hear Captain Smith or any of the officers refer to the fact. Many rockets were sent up from the Titanic after the collision and Mrs. Hoyt said that if a ship had been in such close proximity the lookout could not but help see them and immediately guess the grave importance.
She said it was an experience she will not soon forget and after granting the interview to the Recorder representative she said it was the last time she cared to go into any details of the sea tragedy.
Mr. Hoyt likewise does not care to talk of the matter much. He is one of the best known yachtsmen in Massachusetts and therefore has a thorough knowledge of the ocean. Mr. Hoyt has a summer home at Marblehead, Mass. He first went to Boston in 1909, when his yachting affiliation was with the New York Yacht club. He desired to entere the Sonder Klasse races at Marblehead and with his boat, named Skeesic [?], won many events. He is also a member of the Eastern and Corinthian Yacht clubs and was one time commodore of the Larchmont Yacht club. He is 38 years of age.
He is the owner of the valuable estate on the Ocean avenue, Marblehead Neck, formerly possessed by the son of the late Senator Redfield Proctor, of Vermont. He spends nearly six months of the year at Marblehead and much of the time is passed on the water.’’
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