THE TITANIC SINKING

                                     Titanic Connection to Nova Scotia

            I somehow always thought about the sinking of the Titanic as being very far away, but it actually sank northeast of Nova Scotia, Canada.      

            The site of the sinking had already become a debris field when the cable laying ship, Mackay Bennett, under contract to the White Star Lines, arrived on the scene. Survivors had already been picked up by the Olympia and taken to New York.

            The ship arrived with a couple hundred body bags and gallons of embalming fluid. Bodies were picked up and numbered in sequence. Some were identified, but many were not. There was much controversy regarding whether to bring the bodies ashore or to bury them at sea.

            It is said that the recovery of a little boy was the determining factor for the crew of the Mackay Bennett to decide that the bodies would be taken ashore in Halifax. The bodies were taken to the ice rink where they were placed on the ice to be kept cool. A total of 212 bodies were recovered.

Body number 4 was a little boy about two years old who became known as “orphan boy”. It is documented that a young mother, named Alma Paulson, was on her way to meet her husband in Chicago, as he had become successful enough to send for her. She and her four small children were berthed in the lower part of the ship. Alma ignored the first warning bells because she thought it was a drill or not serious.

As time went on she heard a commotion in the passageway and when checking she could see water covering the passageway. She then took her children up on deck only to learn that all the lifeboats were already in the water. She gathered her children around her and to keep them calm while she played her harmonica. She and all the children drowned. Her body was identified, and it was thought that “orphan boy” was her small son, so he was buried in the grave at her feet. However, recent DNA testing has proved that the boy was not related to her, so he is again “orphan boy”

            A special burial service was held at St. John’s Church in Halifax. The Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish cemeteries all accommodated the bodies of their faith. I’m not sure how that determination was made for the unidentified bodies.

            On my visit to the Protestant cemetery I learned that the White Star Line put the same size stone on every grave regardless of the class of passage. The stones, set with a slight curve, simulate the shape of a ship. Some families of identified passengers have erected a more elaborate headstone for their loved one, but none was ostentatious. It was a sobering visit.