Miss Evelyn Norbury Wild,
Second Cabin Passenger
Evelyn Wild and her sister Agnes were
from Paterson, New Jersey, United States. They traveled together on
Lusitania in second cabin; their cabin was D 89. When the ship
was torpedoed on 7 May, Evelyn and Agnes were having lunch in the second
cabin dining saloon. Evelyn remembered that she and her sister had
"hesistated in our seats about three minutes," and by the time they finally
moved, the crowd from the dining room was already at the stairs. Seeing
that there were 200 or so passengers trying to ascend the stairs to the boat
deck, Agnes said to Evelyn, "Evelyn, keep quiet; we will go the back way."
The sisters took the stairs farther astern up to C deck and joined the
main staircase again to reach the boat deck. Evelyn noted that not
very many people who had struggled on the main staircase the deck below were
coming with them. When the sisters reached the open deck, they found
themselves on the starboard side of Lusitania, as Evelyn recalled
that they were on "the side nearest the water."
Lifeboat 21 was in front of them, covered, and on the deck. Apparently,
the list was not severe enough to swing the boat over the water. The
sisters noted that no members of the crew were preparing that boat for lowering,
in fact, Evelyn recalled that "there was no one on our side of the boat
as the time I and my sister were there."
"It is no use standing here." Agnes said to Evelyn, "we shall not get any
help here."
Evelyn and Agnes then rushed forward through the gate onto the saloon class
decks, staying on Lusitania's starboard side. Evelyn held onto
the railing the whole time, but Agnes lost her footing and "rolled the whole
length of the deck." Evelyn was wondering how she was going to be
able to help her sister back up to her feet when a member of the crew helped
her up, saying, "Oh, I will help you."
The crewman proceeded to help the sisters into a starboard boat. While
the sisters were inside the lifeboat, the crew waited for the boat to be
filled before lowering it. With them were a some stewards and a few
sailors. Evelyn recalled that there had not been anyone to lower the
boat after they were inside, but after a while, two men, who Evelyn believed
were firemen, worked the ropes to lower the boat. One of the ropes
worked and the other, which did not, had to be cut by a saloon class passenger.
The boat was seaworthy.
While she was in the boat, a passenger handed Evelyn a lifebelt, but did
not have enough for Agnes. Evelyn recalled that she was the only one
with a lifebelt, and no lifebelts had been made available on deck. She
testified at the Mersey Inquiry, where her name was recorded as "Eveline
Wild."
Evelyn passed away at age 60 on 12 February 1950 in Paterson, New Jersey.
Her sister Agnes followed a few months after. Both sisters are
buried in Mt. Laurel Cemetery in New Jersey.
Contributors:
Paul Latimer
Michael Poirier
References:
Minutes of Evidence as given at the Mersey Inquiry.
[Back to Second Cabin Manifest] [Lusitania Resource Home]