Dear Bird:

In the Providence of God it has come to Emma and myself to be of assistance to our fellow men and women in the greatest "Tragedy of the Seas" and Bird it was a tragedy.

The horror of it all was appalling. Monday morning April 15 about four o'clock Emma awoke me and said the boat had stopped and that there was considerable moving about. I put my head out the cabin door and was told by a steward that "the White Star Steamer Titanic is in distress". Dressing and going down on deck we learned that, about midnight our ship received a wireless and immediately changed her course steaming 58 miles to the position of the Titanic arriving about four o'clock and it was the stopping of the ship that awoke Emma. Nothing was to be seen however and it was supposed the Titanic had gone down with all on board, but soon appeared out of the "Dark of the Dawn" first one boat and the other 18 in all, loaded with men, women & children & babies, most of them scantily clothed, some of the ladies in evening dress, and the night bitterly cold, the boats were attracted by the rockets we were sending up, and were received without any "fuss or frather" or confusion, owing to the marvelous discipline always prevailing on a Cunarder, in fact there was so little noise that I had to awake Mr. Weidman and his cabin mate and their room was not fifteen feet from where the rescued were coming aboard. Upon arrival of seventh or eighth boat I surrendered our cabin and we bunked with Mr.& Mrs. Reynolds during the voyage to New York, and it was soon filled with four men who were in very bad shape.

By about nine o'clock all boats in sight having been cared for and the Lyland Liner Californian steaming up we left her cruising in the vicinity and started for New York with our load of sorrow and woe and misery. We were over 1100 miles out and they were long, long days, we passed our time being mostly occupied with the poor unfortunates.

There is an incident of what we were up against. I remarked to Mr. Weidman "that Englishman in my room is in bad shape. I'm going to get a doctor for him"; immediately a young women lying on a lounge raised her head and said, "I wonder if it is my husband", no madam he is a single man was my reply. Just think Bird of the hope and despair of that one moment, and there were about 150 made widows on board and the fatherless & motherless and mothers without sons to the end of the chapter. All talk about the shrieks of women ringing through our ship, which you have probably read in the papers, is the worst rot, if you had seen the fortitude with which they bore their sufferings and woe you would be prouder than ever of your sex.

Most of the statements in the New York papers are of like untruth, caused by our Captain refusing to let the reporters aboard at the lightship. On fifth boat was a sailor from the Titanic, who I saw shake hands with one of our sailors and pointing to an iceberg said "that is the one that did it". It was immense, estimated by a Civil Engineer as 180 ft in height. You have no doubt seen Pictures in the magazines of rescue parties in the polar seas. Well that is the best description of the scene I can give you. In the background was in immense ice floe with berg after berg, which had not broken loose, and other bergs floating around, our ship standing off the floe and the boats approaching from the direction of the floe. I think this a perfect picture of the scene. The ice floe was immense. We steamed 52 miles to get away and around it and it extended in the other direction beyond the horizon, in fact in the New York papers some Captain reported it as 100 miles in length. We gave away many things until I was down to the underclothing I have on. The sea was calm all the way to New York. All that died of the rescued were buried at sea 4 in number.

As you know from the papers we left New York again Apr. l9th and thus far have had clear weather. We should be at Gibraltar Apr 29. We have no definite plans beyond that, as we have not decided how long we will remain in Spain. Emma has been remarkably well except the effect of the strain we have been under. It took almost everyone two or three days to get over that.

The crew was called together Monday and thanked by the Captain for their good work. They certainly were entitled to it and appreciated his thanks as one of them said to me afterwards "he is proud of us ain't he". He sure had reason to be. Later a picture of the officers was taken on the forward deck.

We have music by the orchestra every evening at nine and at dinner and lunch. One night instead of music. Senor Jose Mardoner First Baritone Boston Opera Co, gave us several numbers. I don't know of anything more to interest you. Address c/o American Express Co 546 Haymarket London England. Emma joins with me in love to you all.

Yours

Luke Hoyt