The Unsinkable Ship
I always thought the Titanic sank far
away, but it actually sank northeast of Nova Scotia, Canada. The site had
already become a debris field when the
cable laying ship Mackay Bennett, under contract to the White
Star Lines, arrived on the scene from Halifax. Survivors had already been
picked up by the Olympia and taken to
New York.
As bodies were picked up, they were
numbered in sequence, and when possible identified. There was controversy
whether to take 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 212
bodies would be taken to Halifax.
Body number four, a little boy about two
years old became known as ‘orphan boy’. It is documented that a young mother,
named Alma Paulson, with her four small children was on her way to Chicago to
meet her husband. Berthed in the lower part of the ship, Alma ignored the first
warning bells thinking it was a drill and not serious.
Hearing a commotion outside her cabin she
learned water covered the passageway. She arrived on deck with her children too
late. All lifeboats were already in the water. Alma gathered her children
around her and played the harmonica to keep them calm. Tragically they all drowned. She 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 was a Finnish lad and not
related to her. I do not know if ‘orphan boy’ has ever been identified.
In Halifax, a special burial service was
held at St John’s Church. The Protestant, Catholic and Jewish cemeteries all
accommodated the bodies of their faith. At the Protestant cemetery the White
Star Line put the same size stone on every grave, regardless of the class of
passage. The stones set in a slight curve simulates the shape of a ship. It was
very moving to stand by the memorials and wonder what untold stories they held.
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