| Notes |
- Elmer Zebley Taylor is buried with his first wife, Juliet Cummins Wright
Taylor, at St. Peter's Episcopal Cemetery, North Main Street, Smyrna,
Kent County, Delaware.
Juliet is the wife who accompanied him on the Titanic voyage.
Fortunately, both of them survived. There is no mention of the Titanic
on their grave marker.
Article which appeared in The Smyrna Times, Wednesday, April 24, 1912:
SMYRNIAN TELLS OF HIS EXPERIENCE on "TITANIC"
-------
ELMER Z. TAYLOR GIVES GRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF THE DISASTER
___
Joins His Wife in a Life Boat, Never Realizing the Ship Would Sink --
Smyrna Contingent Greets Them
Mr. and Mrs. H. D. Boyer, Mr. Joseph H. Wright, Mrs. C. E. Rowland,
of this town; Mr. Edgar Wright, Philadelphia, and Mr. and Mrs. Gove S.
Taylor, of New York, composed the Smyrna contingent who saw the Steamer
Carpathia land with the Titanic survivors late Friday night and welcomed
home and safety Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Z. Taylor, the only Smyrnians who were
on the ill-fated ship. All succeeded in getting passes to the wharf. The
scene at the wharf, the big crowd assembled and the anxious suspense of
it all will linger long in their memory. Mrs. George W. Taylor, mother
of Elmer Z. Taylor, and Mrs Joseph H. Wright went as far as Philadelphia,
where they spent Sunday with the Taylors. Mrs. Tayor (sic) bore up well
from the awful, nerve-racking exposure and fatigue. She was but lightly
clad when she left the sinking ship. Fortunately Mr. Taylor had time to
dress and wore his overcoat. The coat during their five hours wait in
the life boat proved a great comfort to Mrs. Taylor. All of their
baggage was lost. After a few days' stay in New York, they went to their
home, 4130 Penngrove Street, Philadelphia, and will visit Smyrna shortly.
Death Roll Mounts up to Over 1600
Daily newspapers have been full of the horror of the Titanic
accident which foundered in mid-ocean on the night of April 14th, after
collision with an ice berg. Further revision of the lists, after the
Carpathia arrived in port showed that only 705 persons were saved. This
makes the death roll 1635, including some half dozen who died from
exposure. Of those who reached New York, one-fourth were in hospitals
Friday night, and many more under care of private physicians. The utter
needlessness of the disaster was established in all of the testimony
given before the United States Senate Investigation Committee. The
Titanic's officers knew early Sunday evening that there was ice ahead.
They discussed it and figured that they would be approaching the field
about eleven o'clock. Yet Captain Smith was not on the bridge when the
ship struck a half hour before midnight, and the huge liner was driving
ahead at the rate of 21 to 23 knots an hour. This reckless speed was the
prime cause of the horror, while the sacrifice of more than two-thirds of
those aboard was due to the fact that for those 1600 human beings there
were no lifeboats or lifecrafts Although few of the stories of survivors
agree in details there is abuundant (sic) testimony of the gallant
courage of men who refused to live while women and children were to be
saved.
Elmer Taylor Gives Vivid Description
The Philadelphia North American of Saturday gave a graphic
description after an interview with Mr. Elmer Z. Taylor. The latter,
after giving praise to Managing Director J. Bruce Ismay for his courage
and cool headedness in the manner in which he assisted the passengers to
escape, goes on to tell of his personal experiences. 'I was in our
stateroom asleep when the crash came, ' said Mr. Taylor. 'My wife was
reading. The jar awakened me, but it seemed very slight. Mrs. Tayor
(sic) was thrown forward and explained to me that she thought the boat
had climbed up on something. Of course the engines stopped almost
instantly, and more out of idle curiosity then anything else, I dressed
and went on deck. There was no confusion, although a few bits of ice
could be seen scattered about. In the smoking room several games of
cards were in progress, the players not enough interested in the fact
that the ship had stopped to go on deck.'
Was Confident Liner was Safest Place
'I returned to my stateroom and found my wife dressing, and
presently a steward came and told us that while there was no danger
everyone was ordered to don life preservers and go on deck. I fastened
one around Mrs. Taylor and carelessly carrying one for myself, we went to
the boat deck. At the time I thought I would not put mine on. It made
me look too fat, but the officers insisted. Shrotly after our arrival on
deck I noticed that the ship listed a trifle, and with this realization
came that perhaps the damage was more serious than I at first supposed.
Then came the order to take to the boats. Mr. Ismay was standing near
and I assisted him in loading the first two boats with women. The third
boat was not near full when all the latter we accommodated, and the third
officer ordered 'men in.' That is how I happened to leave the wreck so
early. The fact of the matter is both myself and the other men who were
in the boat were rather angry at being forced to remain out in the cold
in an open boat for a few hours, as we thought, and then have to be
hauled aboard the liner again. I can frankly say that had it not been
for the insistence of my wife I should have remained on the ship,
believing it the safest place. It was approximately thirty minutes after
the first crash when the third boat went over the side, and the danger
soon became apparent. The portholes along the vessel's side were just
even with the water, and we could see how she was listing. From that
moment the horror of the Titanic's fate gripped us We realized that she
was sinking. As we pulled away from the ship we could occasionally hear
a bulkhead give way with a noise like a slight explosion. The night was
pitch dark, although the sea was as smooth as velvet. From our boat the
Titanic was a beautiful sight--a blaze of light from bow to stern--yet we
could not help realizing how rapidly the icy sea was claiming her for
its own.'
Watched Titanic go Down
Three-quarters of an hour later the lights went out and the vessel's
doom was sealed. Everyone realized it. While we could see only the dim
outline of the hulk in the darkness, we could see it settling. Sunddenly
(sic) it lunged forward, settled back, and a tremendous explosion
occurred. The ship broke directly in the middle, the bow sinking almost
instantly, the stern settling quietly beneath the waves with scarcely a
ripple. The cries of pain and despair of the victims, as they struck the
water after the stern sunk will linger in my memory forever. The sound
defies description as the unfortunate men and women struggled in the
ice-cold water. It continued for what seemed an interminable length of
time, and then came a ghostly quiet. We were left alone--a handful at
the mercy of the wintry ocean. There was no demonstration among the
women in our boat as the liner disappeared from sight. They were
remarkably calm and collected, assisting each other in everyway,
uncomplaining. Every eye was gazing over the vast expanse of ocean in
hope that something might be sighted. The treatment afforded us aboard
the rescue ship was most gracious, officers, crew and passengers alike,
doing everything in their power to make us comfortable and lift the
burden of our sorrow. A number of the men passengers on the Cunard liner
gave up their state rooms and berths to the women from the Titanic.
Clothing was furnished and the kitchens kept running day and night to
provide food for the sufferers." Mr. Tayor (sic), who is a mechanical
engineer, estimates the speed at which the Titanic was traveling when it
struck the berg at 22.75 knots per hour. He said: "Saturday we traveled
546 knots in twenty-four hours and at that speed the giant engines of the
ships were making seventy-five revolutions per minute. Just before
dropping off to sleep Sunday night, I took out my watch and timed the
revolutions. They were identical with the day before."
Submitted on 30 Oct 2000 by Marlene Koutoufaris,CMS 1849. Entered from GEDCOM.
|
1864 - 1949 (84 years)
d. 22 Aug 1910 (Age 74 years)