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The Titanic sets out for sea trials,
April 2, 1912. |
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| The Titanic's first-class reception room. |
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Survivors arrive at the Carpathia, a passenger ship that responded to the Titanic's distress signal.
Images courtesy of the U.S. National Archives and
Records Administration (http://www.archives.gov)
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On that fateful day 95 years ago, when the great unsinkable ship Titanic sunk, it took with it the hopes and dreams of countless Canadians. But how many Montrealers know the toll that the liner's demise had on their fine city?
The Banker's Family and the Dancehall Girl
The Baxters' cabins were among the finest on the ship; but Hélène and her daughter Zette still felt segregated by language. Hélène was further isolated by seasickness, which confined her to her cabin for much of the voyage while her son Quigg, an athletic, debonair bachelor of 24, lived it up in the ship's Café Parisienne.
Partially blinded by a high stick that ended his hockey career, Quigg was returning from Europe with a mysterious dancehall girl named Berthe Mayne. Traveling under the name Mrs. de Villiers, Berthe later revealed they'd planned to marry; something Quigg had neglected to tell his mother.
Hélène was not unaccustomed to scandal. Her husband, "Diamond" Jim Baxter had spent five years in prison for defrauding his own bank of $40,000. He had died soon after his release, leaving Hélène sizable investments in France, Belgium and Switzerland. She commonly travelled to Europe, and visited her money, a couple of times each year.
Just hours before the sinking, Charles had adamantly
declared that the big shipping lines must abandon their
obsession with supremacy over the ocean,
or something very bad would happen.
That fateful night Hélène, still confined to her cabin, demanded to know why they'd stopped mid-ocean. Quigg assured her that all was fine and escorted the women to the lifeboat deck. He left, reappearing shortly with Berthe, and asked his bewildered mother to watch over her.
Quartermaster Robert Hichens, who captained their lifeboat, badgered the women constantly during the ordeal. He even demanded that Hélène give up her silver flask - a farewell gift from Quigg - but Hélène steadfastly refused to part with her only remaining connection to her son.
The Railway Man and the Supreme Court Connection
Charles Hays, wife Clara, daughter Orian and son-in-law Thornton Davidson were also returning on the Titanic. An American by birth, Charles was the celebrated president of Canada's Grand Trunk Railway. It was Charles who had convinced Sir Wilfred Laurier that Canada needed another railway, and who had masterminded its chain of luxury hotels.
Just hours before the sinking, in conversation with friends Charles had adamantly declared that the big shipping lines must abandon their obsession with supremacy over the ocean, or something very bad would happen. But if he believed his premonition had come true, he never let on. After seeing Clara and Orian safely off the ship, Hays went below to pack and wait to be rescued. Some say his untimely death signalled the demise of his railway.
The son of Supreme Court judge Charles Davidson, young Thornton Davidson's drowning was especially hard on his family. Thornton's brother Shirley and Shirley's fiancée Eileen Hingston had drowned only five years earlier in Lac St. Louis, under mysterious circumstances.
A Loss for the Molson Family
Bunking on C deck was Harry Markland Molson, Montréal businessman and patron of many local charities including the Canadian SPCA.
Minutes before the ship sank, Harry was seen on the forward deck, his shoes and socks in hand. Remarkably, this was his third sinking. In 1899, he'd swam away from the Scotsman as it sunk in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. In his second brush with the sea in 1904, he swam ashore when the Canada collided with a collier in the St. Lawrence River. Regretfully this time, hundreds of miles from land, Harry would not be so lucky.
Lanny Boutin is the author of Titanic: the Canadian Connection, which follows some of the over 300 Canadians aboard the Titanic. The book is part of the Amazing Stories series published by Altitude Publishing, and is now available at most fine bookstores.
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