"I did not know the Thayer family well," declared Mr.
Barkworth, "but I had met young Thayer, a clear-cut chap,
and his father on the trip. The lad and I struggled in the
water for several hours endeavoring to hold afloat by grabbing
to the sides and end of an overturned life-boat. Now and
again we lost our grip and fell back into the water. I did
not recognize young Thayer in the darkness, as we struggled
for our lives, but I did recall having met him before when
we were picked up by a life-boat. We were saved by the
merest chance, because the survivors on a life-boat that
rescued us hesitated in doing so, it seemed, fearing perhaps
that additional burdens would swamp the frail craft.

"I considered my fur overcoat helped to keep me afloat.
I had a life preserver over it, under my arms, but it would
not have held me up so well out of the water but for the
coat. The fur of the coat seemed not to get wet through,
and retained a certain amount of air that added to buoyance.
I shall never part with it.

"The testimony of J. Bruce Ismay, managing director of
the White Star Line, that he had not heard explosions before
the Titanic settled, indicates that he must have gotten some
distance from her in his life-boat. There were three distinct
explosions and the ship broke in the center. The bow settled
headlong first, and the stern last. I was looking toward
her from the raft to which young Thayer and I had clung."