Dr. Washington Dodge's New York Tribune Account

Dr. Washington Dodge

First-class passenger

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Dr. Washington Dodge, Assessor of San Francisco, who, with his wife and son, Washington, jr., were among those saved in the Titanic disaster, said he saw an officer of the vessel shoot and kill two men who were first cabin passengers as they tried to crowd into a lifeboat when they had been ordered to stand back.

"The the officer," said Dr. Dodge, "turned the pistol on himself and fired, dropping dead on the deck."

There were others who were shot, he said.

When Titanic sank, Dr. Dodge said, he saw Colonel John Jacob Astor and Major Archibald Butt on the deck, and Captain Smith was on the bridge.

He said there was no panic when the boat first struck, although the impact was terrible.

Mrs. Isidor Straus could have been saved, he declared, but she refused to leave her husband.

Dr. Dodge had this to say of his experience:

"My wife and son were taken off in one of the first boats to be lowered. I was only one of three men separated from his family to again be reunited on the Carpathia.

"Although there was no panic when the ship first struck, there was afterward. How I came to be in a lifeboat was when a boat had all but its complement, and mostly women, the calls of the officers for other women brought none, and I was pushed into the boat along with my steward. We both used oars.

"The Titanic was in a field of ice and going at a good rate of speed when she hit, which was at 11:40 p.m. when many passengers, especially the women, were in bed.

"There was a rush on deck. I peered over the starboard side of the ship, on which side she struck, near the bow.

"The officers reassured the passengers, all of whom put on life preservers. Many of the women were in their nightclothes. The passengers were told the boat would not sink for many hours.

"When, however, it was seen there was imminent danger, the boats were lowered. 'Women first' was the order. Captain Smith gave orders from the bridge.

"The men were made to stand back. The officers drew their pistols when a number of the men made a rush for the boats, and then I saw two killed and the officer who killed them end his own life.

"Those persons who remained on the boat did not believe she would sink before help came, but at 2:20 the Titanic careened and went down, bow first, her lights dying out as she sank. I saw Colonel Astor and Major Archibald Butt standing on the deck as she went down."

Dr. Dodge said that some of the lifeboats leaked, the one in which his wife and son were placed was so filled with water that many of the thinly clad women were forced to sit in the icy water.

Those in the boats were instructed to get a certain distance from the liner. The terrible swirl as she sank could be distinctly heard.

Bruce Ismay, Dr. Dodge said, got into one of the last boats. There was a panic about that time, and many women were jumping into the water.

Four or five persons were buried at sea, Dr. Dodge said, one or two of whom were of the crew, and who died in the lifeboats in the presence of the women. They were taken aboard the Carpathia. Some of the women became unconscious from shock and exposure.