Westerville Learns the Fate of the Titanic, 1912

Those of us who remember the explosion of the space shuttle Challenger in 1986 will also remember the constant reiteration of the disaster on television. Those few minutes of the vehicle disintegrating in a clear sky were played and replayed so often that there was a minor outcry over whether this excess was ghoulish. But many (myself included) did not get to see the film for hours. That was in the pre-Internet days; not everything was there for the asking, at a moment’s notice.

One of the big news stories of 1912 was the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15. A well known story that has become part of our common past, the Titanic was on its maiden voyage from England to New York when it sideswiped an iceberg and sank two hours later. Even today it stands as one of the worst losses of life in a single incident; 1500 people died, with roughly 700 survivors saved using a woefully small number of lifeboats. From the outset, the Titanic story has come to us in songs, motion pictures, books, plays, and other media.1

The story of the Titanic has become legendary, but how did legends travel in the early twentieth century? There is no succinct answer. When the horrifying news reached the (then) sleepy village of Westerville, some of the news was spread by the newspaper wire services. Wire services still exist, of course, but are no longer the only source of news they once were. Some other Westerville residents discussed the tragedy through the postal service, which also remains to this day, but now has many competitors. Let us see how these media told the story.

Westerville’s newspaper, the Public Opinion, announced the loss of the Titanic on the Thursday following the sinking (April 18). Despite there being no electronic communication, that seems to be a fairly quick relay of the news. At the time, the weekly Public Opinion gave its front page to local news, meaning there were no blazing, front page headlines. “Titanic Lies at Bottom of Ocean; Thirteen Hundred Go With Wreck” were the headlines, but not on the front page. The two succeeding issues kept the story in play, before the excitement settled.2

The Otterbein Aegis, a monthly, also mentioned the disaster. The Aegis repeated a story which has become part of Otterbein folklore. John R. King (class of 1894) and his wife Zella were missionaries in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and had tickets for the Titanic on a return trip to the States. Fortunately for the Otterbein alums, they did not make it to the ship in time. A lucky escape!3

The Aegis had time to reflect in ways that daily papers could not. In the November, 1912, issue, Otterbein senior Ila Bates won the Russell Prize for oratory with her peroration Mockeries and Realities. Bates used the Titanic tragedy as the centerpiece for a reflection on wealth and greed. She blamed the many wealthy passengers, and society as a whole, for forgetting God and idolizing money. Whether one agrees with her conclusion or not, the speech gives us clues to the mindset of the reading public.4

In postally-relayed letters the news was less immediate but more thoughtful. Two letters from the files of Otterbein president Walter G. Clippinger. One was a letter from Hamilton Holt, editor of the nationally prominent magazine, The Independent. In the letter dated April 27, Holt complained that a recent visit to Westerville had kept him from being in New York, where “I could have been of some use here in the office on account of the ‘Titanic’ disaster.”5

A somewhat more poignant letter from Clippinger to a colleague at Syracuse University ends with what is an understandable statement: The awful disaster of the Titanic makes one dread foreign travel.6

Clippinger had staff and friends in Europe at the time. There was no getting them home except by another ocean liner. If the “unsinkable” Titanic could be lost one one cold Atlantic night, who was to say that any overseas travel was- or is- absolutely safe?

1 Walter Lord, A Night to Remember (1955), passim.

2 Westerville Public Opinion, April 18, 1912

3 Otterbein Aegis, May 1912.

4 Otterbein Aegis, November 1912

5 Hamilton Holt to Walter G. Clippinger, April 27, 1912. Otterbein University Archives, Clippinger, Box 60, file 2. 6 Clippinger to H. C. Flick, April 17, 1912. Ibid.