Except in the homes connected with those who were on board the Titanic, probably nowhere is the fate of the liner being discussed more feelingly than in the big London hotels, where the most notable of the travellers stayed while in the Metropolis.

Many stories will doubtless yet be told of peculiar whims or fancies which influenced persons for or against the crossing of the Atlantic by the Titanic.

Some 20 or 30 parties left from the Savoy, but it cannot yet be stated whether any the guests at the hotel were delayed by good fortune prompted to depart by ill.

At the Cecil, however, where there were about 16 guests who left England by the Titanic, an interesting story is told of how a Mr. and Mrs. Bill both refrained from crossing by the vessel on account of the superstition of the lady, "Mrs. Bill told her husband that she did not like to travel by a boat making a maiden voyage,” stated the manager to our representative. "Mr. Bill had actually booked passages by the Titanic, but at the earnest request of his wife consented to alter the sailing.

Inquiries among those who almost live on the " herring pond ” tend to show that this superstition against a maiden trip is by no means uncommon, though it is more than counterbalanced by the rush of others to be among a ship's first batch passengers."

Some people make a point of crossing on a liner making a maiden trip; others would not go over in such circumstances at any price. No doubt the accident to the Olympic, the sister ship, would also have a deterrent effect on the superstitious in the case of the Titanic."

An interesting story of what the superstitious will regard as an "ignored warning" is told by the manager of the Waldorf Hotel. "One of our guests who left by the Titanic, " he said, “was Col. Weir, an American, with whom I was chatting in the smoking-room the night before went away. We were discussing various topics when he suddenly said, ‘l’m hanged if I’ll go tomorrow.’ Pressed as to the reason for this unexpected remark, he said, ‘Well, I know it sounds absurd, but I have got a "funny feeling" about going. I may receive a business message this evening, and if I do I will not go, although I have booked a first-class passage. "The next morning,” continued the manager, he was still further upset by the fact that on waking, he found that his ewer was broken. Of course, we chaffed him about his superstitions, but he told his valet that if he did not feel like continuing his journey, he would wire his valet from Queenstown. The wire, however, never came."

It is now recalled that as the boat train conveying passengers to the Titanic left Waterloo Station last Wednesday, the engine, after drawing the train nearly out from the platform, suddenly stopped owing to a mechanical defect. It was some time before the locomotive could restarted.