Titanic Gazette Souvenir Shop

Titanic Gazette Souvenir Shop

Titanic Gazette Souvenir Shop

Friday, October 24, 2008

Will there be another TITANIC?

The novelty of building a Titanic 2 has been thought of, and an Irish Tycoon even announced he wanted to build a Titanic 2 by 2001, but obviously, that never happened. I'd like to see a Titanic 2; it's not like it would be disrespectful of the people that died on the ship. However, I'd like one that would have modern-day engines, capacity of lifeboats, and safety features while not changing the rest of the interior, nor exterior. I'd also like for there not to be separations by class, and giving the passengers full reign of the parts allowed for the passengers. The problem is that people would be reenacting Jack and Rose on the bow, while it's unsafe with it being 30 feet above the water. Maybe passengers shouldn't be allowed at the bow. The bridge could be state of the art design, all the while keeping the 1912 style. The wireless operating room would be a museum, since the communications would be at the bridge. The problem is that building the 882 1/2 feet long vessel is not cheap. The cost of building the ship in 1912 was the equal of 2.1 billion dollars in today's money. Also, the cabins on the ship wouldn't be cheap. The Parlor Suites (the best staterooms on the ship) costed the equal of $100,000 in today's money. The lifeboats would be white and modern, and there would be enough to carry more than the passengers on board. Think about it! The Titanic would finally reach New York and the ship, would regain her former glory. Yes I am dreaming, but it was just a thought. Who knows? maybe someone will rebuild the Titanic one day. Wouldn't it be a sight to see?

Thursday, October 23, 2008

When Weather Changed History

Video

This movie talks about the sinking of the Titanic, as told through accounts. It also goes through the iceberg, and how they're preventing another Titanic disaster.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Being a Man in 1912

In 1912, being a man didn't mean being a guy with a ton of muscles. Being a man meant that you were well dressed and well-mannered. You opened the doors for those behind you, and didn't sit down at the table before you pulled out the chairs, and the ladies were seated. Every gentleman used table-manners, and talked about the most appropriate things in front of women, and other men. The food was eaten in little bites, so that you wouldn't be caught with your mouth full of food. Children, and even teenagers had to use these manners, as taught by their mothers and fathers. When the women were done, the men got up and pulled the seats out for the women. When going out for a ride in the country or going shopping, the men would open and close the doors for the ladies and whenever there was one there, the man would drive. Being like this doesn't mean you act like a snob, but this means that you respect others around you. You can teach your children to open the doors for others, carry things for others, and treating everyone with respect and dignity, as if he or she was a king or queen. This also doesn't mean that you must behave like that in EVERY situation. If you put the rules of a gentleman into practice, you'll be well respected. This also pleases God, respecting and honoring his created people his a great service to him. He said, "Whatsoever you have done to the least of these, you did unto Me."

Friday, October 17, 2008

TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibit

Earlier this year, we went with our church to see a TITANIC artifact exhibit, in downtown, Atlanta. I dressed up in my costume that made me look like an officer on the ship, complete with a hat bearing the White Star logo. We were each given tickets that had the names and info about the passengers on board (I was David John Barton). We different rooms replicated from rooms actually on board the ship along with the bell that was rung when the Fredrick Fleet saw the iceberg. We also saw the tools that built the ship, and some personal affects that the builders owned. We came into a room that was replicated with to look like Southampton Dock. When we entered, there was a room that had personal affects from passengers, like purses, money, cards, and many other things. We even saw the jewelry box with the Duff-Gordon initials. There was also a replica of a 1st and 3rd class cabin . There was a replica of the bridge, that was cool. It had telemotors (that actually went on the stern bridge, since the bow bridge equipment were blown away and possibly destroyed. The we came into a room that had an iceberg that you could touch, in order to feel how cold it was that night. In another room we saw dishes that were in a crate in the cargo hold, but fell out of the ship when she broke apart. The crate dissolved, leaving stacked plates in perfect condition.  We also the side to a deck bench, and a part of the big piece of the hull itself was there too. In the final room, there was perfumes from that a perfume salesman that still had their scent. In the back, was a wall with the list of passengers that were on board separated between who lived, and died. I found out that Barton died.  The experience was pretty good, and in the end, I bought a replica of a 2nd class bowl. It's very beautiful, and rests on my shelf right now, as a prized possession.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Starved on Collapsible B



Collapsible B was the abandoned around 4:00 A.M. by 4th officer Harold Lowe on April 15, 1912. It was capsized, but it saved the lives of 20 men, and 1 woman from the icy waters. After the passengers were placed in another boat, Collapsible B was abandoned, still overturned. On April 17, 1912, the Oceanic came to the wreck-site. There, they found the Collapsible B. However, on top of it were 3 men. Thinking that these men were possibly alive, they got to the men by lifeboat. However, when they got there they found the men dead. They had pieces of cork in their mouths which meant they had tried to eat the lifejackets on them. They were bloated, and disfigured, and unrecognizable. They were able to identify one body, because of initials on his handkerchief. His name was Thomas Beattie. The bodies were buried at sea, and Collapsible B was taken to New York, where it and the other lifeboats disappeared from all records.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

"Not to Minister unto but to Minister"



Annie Clemmer Funk was born on April 12, 1874 in Bally, Pennsylvania. Her parents were devout Mennonites, and her father was even a deacon at Hereford General Conference Mennonite Church. She at first studied to be a teacher at West Chester College, but transferred to Moody Bible College to study the bible. She was a teacher in Chattanooga, Tennessee to blacks for a couple of years, then she taught in New Jersey to the Young woman's Christian Association. In 1906, she decided to be the first Mennonite woman missionary with this statement: "Our Heavenly Father is as near to us on sea as on land. My trust is in him. I have no fear." The mission board agreed to allow her to go to Janjgir, India. Slowly, she learned the Hindi language and in 1907, she opened the first school for girls, in Janjgir. The Mennonite community raised money and got her a bicycle she rode around in India on it with her bible and portable organ. After 6 years of ministering and teaching, she received a telegram saying that her mother was sick. She immediately booked passage on the Haverford and after 3weeks of travel, she reached Southampton, England. However, the ship was canceled due to the coal strike, so she booked passage for the TITANIC as a 2nd class passenger. She celebrated her 38th birthday on April 12, 1912 on the grandest ship in the world. On April 14, 1912, the TITANIC struck an iceberg at 11:30 P.M. She was awoken by a steward just passed midnight, and told to go up on deck. She got into a lifeboat, and then a woman came up and cried, "My children, My children"! There was no more room on the boat, so Annie got up and gave the woman her seat so that she could be with her children. Later, her friends commented,"That's just like her." Annie Funk died in the sinking, and she has two memorials for her. One in her hometown of Pennsylvania, and one in India where Annie Funk Memorial School is standing. Her body was never recovered.

Saturday, October 4, 2008

My Own Ocean Voyage



In 2004, my mother, brothers, and father sailed from Seattle, Washington, to different places in Alaska. Our ship was named the M.S. Amsterdam of the Holland American Line (a branch off of Carnival Line which owns Cunard). When the ship set sail, we didn't even feel the ship moving. The ship was beautiful with a nice staircase, of which had paintings on the landings (like the Grand Staircase on the TITANIC). We had a lifeboat drill around half an hour after we set sail. The lifejackets were bright orange, and they were not very well designed to be strapped to your person, especially in a short period of time. When we ate dinner, the dining room was a nice place with assigned seating, green carpet with elegant designs, and huge windows where we could look out to sea. In the middle of the room, was an opening that looked over the lower level of the dining room. Our cabins weren't very big. They had a double bed in the main room, and the hallway near the entrance had a bathroom and a closet. When-ever we ate breakfast, we ate in a room with a bar. It too had huge windows, and it opened up to the for-castle deck. It kinda reminded me of the Veranda Cafe. There were many decks and once, and I ran down all the decks in the stern and saw the engines. The engines were huge, seeming to tower around two stories. The voyage was nice, and we saw a few mountain goats occasionally. There was an observation platform, where we spent our mornings looking for sea-life. We did see a porpoise. One night, we went to see a magic show in the theatre. On the way there, we went up a nice staircase that had what looked like silver squares on the wall. Beside the stairway was a towering, 3 story clock that had a beautiful mural on the ceiling, surrounding it. The theatre was pretty good, and the magic tricks were all stunning of course. At Glacier Bay, we saw many icebergs and sometimes run over or hit them. Rough weather rocked the ship, and sent large waves across the ship's front decks. There were 5 pools. One was indoors, but the roof could open which let in sunlight. After a week of sailing, we arrived back in Seattle, Washington.