RMS Titanic, Cork from Life Belt Salvaged by Passengers of the RMS Carpathia 

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Jun 10, 2016 - Jun 11, 2016

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• Lot Description
  RMS Titanic, Cork from Life Belt Salvaged by Passengers of the RMS Carpathia 
  
  Piece of cork, 3.5 x 3 x 1.5 in., with tag mounted on one side, labeled S.S. Titanic April 15, 1912, saved by H.M.S. Carpathia passenger, Louis Ogden.
  
  RMS Carpathia Passengers Augusta and Louis M. Ogden,
  Exceptional Collection of Photographs, Medals, Correspondence and More Related to the Titanic Rescue
  
  Lots 229-234
  
  Louis M. Ogden (1867-1946) was a member of the Tuxedo Park, NY elite. According to family lore he was one of Griswold Lorillard’s rebellious young friends who wore Lorillard’s father’s scandalous, modified “tailless” black jackets (the tuxedo) to The Tuxedo Club’s first annual Autumn Ball. Ogden was a Columbia graduate and lawyer. Later, he became Vice President and Director of the Ogden Lumber Co. and Director of the East River Mill & Lumber Co.
  
  Like many enormously wealthy men, he traveled the world to exhilarating and exotic locations. In 1901, he and his wife Augusta visited Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Uruguay and the Argentine Republic. He then went on an expedition along the eastern slope of the Andes into Bolivia, traveling 500 miles by mule. He spent considerable time among the Indians, such as the Matacos, Chiriquanos, and Tobas, on the western edge of the "Gran Chaco." In 1904, Ogden made two visits to Cuba.
  
  In 1911, Ogden bought a new camera for his next world tour through Algiers, the Sahara, Spain, Italy, Argentina, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Greece, and Austria. In the middle of his excursion, a surprising and unplanned event occurred—a rescue!
  
  On a clear, April morning in 1912, aboard the RMS Carpathia, Ogden rushed to his quarters to retrieve his new camera. On the horizon, several lifeboats appeared carrying Titanic survivors. Ogden photographed the oncoming emergency boats No. 1, 6, and 14, and listed the names of several lifeboat passengers in his photograph album (Lot 229), which included: The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Quartermaster Robert Hichens, and 5th Officer Harold Lowe. As the Carpathia traveled to the site of the wreck, Ogden expected to see scores of bodies; however, only a sea of cork pieces, an overturned lifeboat, and a few chairs remained. He photographed the desolate scene with the icebergs floating ominously in the distance. He also captured a scene involving Hoisting Titanic boats on board, as well as at least 2 views of the SS Californian in the distance, which was a British Leyland Line steamship best known for its inaction during the sinking of the Titanic despite being the closest ship in the area.
  
  Curious about the sea of cork and lack of remains at the site of the Titanic disaster, Ogden grabbed a few pieces of floating debris and “cut up” some of the Titanic life belts, which contained “a poor quality cork” (April 20, 1912). This small piece of cork is one of the samples that Ogden collected during the rescue.
  
  In reference to the life belts he saw, Ogden wrote to another passenger, Dr. Frank Blackmarr:
  
  “The bodies that were picked up a week later were found floating with belts properly adjusted. In these circumstances is it not fair to assume that the belts were constructed with improper materials which, becoming water- logged, allowed the bearers to sink only to arise later owing to natural causes?” (Paris Herald, August 11, 1912).
  
  Roughly 1,526 people died but various ships recovered only several hundred bodies. Contrary to Blackmarr and Ogden’s claims, several seamen aboard the lifeboats reported that there were scores of bodies surrounding them before their rescue. Seaman Frank O. Evans testified during the British Inquiry, “I was afraid to look over the sides because it might break my nerves down.” Seaman Joseph Scarrot said, “There were more bodies than there was wreckage . . . We made sail and sailed back to take our other boats in tow that could not manage themselves at all. We made sail then, but just as we were getting clear of the wreckage we sighted the ‘Carpathia's’ lights” (http://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-where-were-the-bodies.html). Scholars say most of the people who died were probably in life jackets and a storm scattered the bobbing corpses, sweeping them far to sea in a line 50 miles long. By daylight, the storm cleared and most of the bodies might have disappeared, which could explain why Blackmarr and Ogden saw so few human remains.
  
  Provenance: Descended Directly in the Family of RMS Carpathia Passengers Augusta and Louis M. Ogden

  Condition

  Very good
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