Survivor of Titanic Locates in Sydney

Oscar Hedman, who located in Sidney, recently was born in Sweden and after four years apprenticeship in a hospital set sail for America in the year 1903. It was his intention at that time to finish his college and hospital work in this country but upon his arrival here, being young, he wanted to see the west and coming out to the western part of No. Dak., engaged in the real estate business in Bowman County, N. D.

After five years in the real estate business he went back to Sweden for a visit with his folks with the intention of taking up his drugless healing profession upon his return to this country.

On the 12 day of May, 1912 he started from Southampton, England, bound for America on the well known, ill fated steamer, "Titanic."

At the beginning of the journey everything went so lovely that no one could imagine that this floating palace could ever go down with destruction and death of 2,000 lives. Mr. Hedman says, "I will always remember the 14th of May two days after sailing; the sea was calm, and everybody aboard was enjoying themselves, some at dancing, others at bathing in the swimming pool and others at various amusements and everybody apparently having forgotten we were in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. About 12 o'clock at night we got a call to come up on deck, and being unusual we tried to find out the reason. Some said we were on a sand bar, others said we had hit an iceberg. The steamer at that time was gradually sinking. My room mate, a boy from Minneapolis, said we must go to our room and get our life preservers, but when we got to our room we could not get into it for it was already filled with water and before we could get back to the stairway the water was up to our shoulders. Then by the time we got up on the dining deck orders were given to close the water tight doors between the dining deck and upper deck. My room mate and I were the last ones to get thru this door, crawling on our hands and our knees as the heavy mechanically operated door gradually closed, hundreds of people below with no possible means of getting up to the upper deck. We could hear their screams for about ten minutes until the inrushing water ended their misery. After these water tight doors were closed the steamer did not sink much for a short while. At this time we saw the light of another steamer to which our captain signalled with rockets, but the light from the other steamer finally disappeared. The sky was clear and the wind cold and it looked like icebergs all around us.

It was plainly noticed that the Titanic was gradually sinking. Then orders were given to lower the life boats, "Women and children first, no man can enter," was the command.

Now comes the scene of the untold story. No man can describe what or all that took place. There was a terrible panic. The officers rushed the women and children into the life boats, holding back the panic stricken crowd with guns.

When the last life boat was lowered the scene became almost unbelievable, some became crazy, some committed suicide, the screams anad outcry for help could have been heard for miles on the ocean. My friend came rushing toward me a revolver in his hand saying, "This is more than I can stand, we must die anyway, let us die together. What do you say?" I took his revolver, throwed it in the ocean and said, "Let us fight for our lives, like men upon the battle field, I would rather die fighting than to be a coward."

At this time the water was coming upon the upper deck, and so we took off our coats and started swimming away from the boat.

I bumped into a dead man with a life belt on and by clinging to him I was able to be held up.

The Titanic was standing almost on straight endwise, in the water.

Hundreds of people were in the water screaming for help, but the life boats were loaded to capacity, and could not take any more.

At this time the steamer sank with four terrific explosions. It felt like my head was bursting at the time of the explosions, and no doubt these explosions killed hundreds of people who were nearer to the boat than I was.

Dead bodies were floating all around me in the water. One life boat was only a short distance from me and they asked me if I could row a boat, and I said, "Yes I can," and they came and took me in because this boat was in need of one man, to row. The women were crying, praying and pleading for help. The wind was rising; the waves were getting larger and the boat commenced to take in water. No one seemed to know what to do, so we finally decided to row around in a circle to see if a steamer would come to rescue us. For about four hours we continued to circle around near the sunken vessel.

We were about to give up when a light was sighted, which came nearer and nearer until we could plainly see it was a steamer. Then everybody started to get the water out of the boat and help to row toward the steamer.

After getting aboard the steamer Carpathia we started to dry our clothes and we felt like the battle was won. I doubt if one of the surviving members is able to give an accurate account of all that happened during those minutes – yes, hours – of misery, for words cannot describe it.

We would like to thank Wolfric Rogers for contributing this article. If you would like to contribute a primary source to Titanic Archive, please contact us.