Titanic: Young Survivors (10 True Tales) (Ten True Tales)

by Allan Zullo

behind with their two younger siblings. The pack also included Albert Rice, ten, and his brother George, eight. They were on their way to Spokane, Washington, with their mother, Margaret, and their three younger brothers, Eric, seven, Arthur, four, and Eugene, two. The boys’ father, William, had been a machinist on the Great Northern Railway. In 1910, just four months after Eugene’s birth, William was crushed

hoping to find a job in the expanding

were Thomas Theobald, a coworker of Frank’s who was eager to seek his fortune in the United States, and teenager Alfred Rush, a family friend who planned to live with his older brother in Detroit. Willie and his group gathered each morning in search of fun — and a little innocent mischief. They played in the open areas forward on D Deck and aft on B Deck. They chased each other on companionways and in passageways. And more than once they were kicked out of the men’s smoking lounge and certain areas that were off-limits to third-class passengers. The boys devised various games of skill and daring. How high could they climb a crane? How far could they tightrope-walk across a cable without falling? Who could scale a ladder with one hand the fastest? Who could stand the longest on one leg on a bollard? If anyone was known as the daredevil, it was Frankie. He accepted most any challenge — and sometimes suffered the consequences. Take Sunday evening, for instance, when Frankie and his mother arrived in the dining saloon while everyone else was eating. “Why are you so late?” Willie asked Frankie. “Because of you.” “Me? What did I do?” “You triple-dared me to go hand-over-hand on that real high cable, so I had to do it and I got grease all over my hands. I couldn’t get it off. My mum was furious and had to get some kind of special soap and then she made me scrub my hands over and over — at least five times.” Willie laughed and said, “That’s what you get for showing off.” “Laugh al...