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Knowing as he did that there was no time to lose,
Andrews set out to do whatever he could to save as many lives as possible.
At first he spent time searching staterooms for passengers to evacuate.
Running into stewardess Annie Robinson on deck A, he told her to put her
lifejacket on. "I thought it rather mean to wear it," she explained.
"Never mind that!" he answered, "Put it on--walk about--let the passengers
see you." When she protested further he told her again, "Put it on! If you
value your life, put it on."
Later on the deck he was seen without a lifejacket, or
even a warm coat. In spite of the cold weather he didn't need the latter;
he would work himself into a sweat that night. "Ladies you must get in at
once!" he cried, moving among the boats. When he came across two women
joking that one boat looked prettier than another, he became exasperated.
"You cannot pick and choose your boat! Don't hesitate, get in at once!
Get in!" One of the people Andrews recognized being hesitant about getting
on a boat was stewardess Mary Sloan, who had earlier learned from Andrews's
friend Dr. O'Loughlin that "things are very bad." He personally ushered her
to collapsible D, the last boat launched from the davits. At this point,
there was not much left to be done. Most of those who would be saved were
now on the lifeboats. For the rest, all that was left was to await the
inevitable. Perhaps they would be killed as the ship broke in two; perhaps
perish in the icy water of the north Atlantic. There was little hope.
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