Miss Jermyn Tells the Story of Her Escape

Annie Jane Jermyn

Third-class passenger

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Awakened by Impact Against Berg, She Fights Way to Upper Decks.

CLAD ONLY IN NIGHT DRESS WHEN IN BOAT

Struck in Back by Man Whom She Believes Was Shot by an Officer.

Miss Annie Jermyn, a survivor of the Titanic wreck, who is to make her home in Lynn in the future, today consented to give details to a reporter of the Item. She was able to be about the house of her sister, Mrs. May Draper, with whom she is to reside at 21 Webster street. Miss Jermyn, who is about 22 years of age, looks none the worse of her experience, although she is still suffering from the bruises she received in making her escape from the sinking ship, and is quite nervous.

She comes from Ballydehob, County Cork, Ireland, has rosy cheeks and light hair. Her story of escape from the Titanic is graphic. She confirms the statement that there was considerable shooting done during the excitement which prevailed after the vessel had struck the iceberg. In escaping from the ship, Miss Jermyn was obliged to jump from the upper deck to the lifeboat below in the water, and in doing this she received the injuries to her stomach.

"I sailed from Queenstown, Ireland, on Thursday morning, April 11 after having spent the previous night in a hotel at that place, awaiting the arrival of the steamer Titanic, from its starting place, Southampton, England," said Miss Jermyn. "It was my first ocean voyage and the ship was such a large one that I felt perfectly safe in crossing the ocean on her. With me was Miss Mary Kelley, a young woman from the north of Ireland whom I had selected as a friend for the voyage."

"Sailing from Queenstown, Thursday morning everything went well until the night of the crash. I was asleep at the time the impact came, but was quickly awakened by the shaking of the huge vessel. Men, women and children were thrown from their berths and soon there was a panic among the third cabin passengers. Women screamed and fainted and in a short while many of the women were lying about the floor of the cabin. I esteem my escape from the ship as a miracle."

"In a short time, word was sent from the captain that everything was all right and for the passengers to return to bed. But there was too much excitement, and fear of the ship sinking was too great for the passengers here, to return to their berths as ordered. Just who the officer was that came down with the message of safety, I do not know, for they were all strangers to me. Water soon began to flow over the floor of our deck and this enraged the passengers. A rush was made to reach the upper decks of the vessel, but the gate leading to the upper part was locked and we were held in the cabin as prisoners to meet our death. This incident is one that I shall never forget."

"At the time the crash came the fresh water faucets were set running by the impact and it was impossible to turn them off. We must have been in the third cabin for fully two hours, before I was able to make my escape, which I did after climbing over the tall gate that held us prisoners, and which was surely twice as high as myself. This I accomplished after a dozen or more unsuccessful attempts by climbing ropes and any other piece of the ship that I could get hold of. In attempting to get over the gate, my efforts were cut off by men and other women, who would catch hold of me and pull me down again, that they might be able to get ahead of me."

"By the time I succeeded in getting over the gate, the water in the steerage had risen to quite a height, and it was easily understood that the ship had met its doom, and that hundreds of lives would be wiped out. I was clad only in a night dress, for the excitement was so great that I had no time or else forgot to dress. The third cabin passengers were on one of the lowest decks of the vessel and I believe it must have been below the water line of the vessel."

"Reaching the upper deck of the steamer, I found that most of the first and second cabin passengers had been taken off in lifeboats. The air was very cold, but the sea was calm. It seemed hours to me as I stood on the top deck, fighting to make my escape and clad only in my night dress, with not even a pair of slippers to keep my feet from the wet deck. It was certainly agony to watch members of the crew lower a number of the lifeboats and load them with passengers ahead of me."

"The last lifeboat had been lowered and I readily observed that my time had come to meet death in a watery grave unless I took a chance on jumping for this lifeboat. By this time the ship was nearly submerged in the sea, and so near was the upper deck where I was standing to the surface of the ocean, that I was nearly able to stoop down and take a fist full of the water. The captain was still aboard the vessel, and I could hardly hear his voice above the shouting and agonizing yells of those who were being left to meet their death."

"I observed that there were no more than 13 women in the last lifeboat to be set off by the crew, and as there was plenty of more room, I decided to take a chance, and jumped as the oarsmen began to row it away. I landed safely in the boat, but in striking my stomach struck against the side of the small boat, and this is how I account for the injuries received."

"No sooner had I landed in the lifeboat than I felt somebody strike my back. It was a man, I believe of Italian nationality, but he had not sat in the boat a minute when the officer drew his pistol and fired one shot which seemed to strike the man in the back of the head. He was sitting in the next seat ahead of me, and the last I remember was seeing him pitch head first into the ocean. The shooting was too great for my nerves, and to see the poor fellow fall into the water, after being shot through the head, caused me to lapse into unconsciousness."

"After fainting, I was revived within an hour and I can just remember of seeing the lights aboard the Titanic sink from sight and the screams of those on board were terrifying. Their screams could be heard until they were smothered beneath the surface of the water. Others lingered about in the icy water and were soon frozen to death. The boat in which I was saved was not filled with passengers on leaving the ship, but many persons who had been thrown into the water were picked up and soon there were 50 or 60 aboard it."

"We must have been in the rowboat for six or seven hours, and when news had come that a ship was approaching it was indeed a blessing. The sea had remained calm throughout the night, but at daybreak it began to grow rough. As the row boats were brought up alongside the Carpathia, each survivor was hoisted aboard the vessel by having a liferope placed around their waists. On being pulled aboard the Carpathia I received several bumps that I shall not forget in a hurry. My head and body are still sore, and I fear that it will be some time before I begin to feel as well again as I did on the morning I left Queenstown."

"After being taken aboard the Carpathia I was put to bed and remained there until the ship reached dock in New York city, when I was conveyed to St. Vincent's hospital, from which place I came to this city, in company with my brother-in-law, Monday night."

Miss Jermyn said that the only means of keeping warm in the lifeboat was through the aid of a life jacket, which she procured on the Titanic shortly after it had struck the berg. In her lifeboat the plug was missing, and in order to keep the water from coming in, one of the women, who was fortunate enough to have a pair of stockings on, took them off and stuffed up the opening.

This morning Miss Jermyn was quite homesick and said she wouldn't mind going back to her old home in County Cork, but feels that she will become used to America and learn to like the place, as have hundreds of others from the old country.