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Titanic and premonition

 

I Introduction

  The vivid success of the James Cameron's film relating the mythical epic of the steamship Titanic that we know it sank miserably, after having knocked an iceberg, in the night of 14 to 15 April of 1912, entailing in the death close to 1500 passengers, gives us the opportunity to question ourselves on some strange facts (that one could have qualify of premonitory signs ) that have accompanied this event before adventing in our world of three dimensions. Indeed if we evolve daily in a world where predominate the length, the width, and the height, it would seem that for passing in the fourth dimension, it would be necessary to add the time dimension that we master still very modestly concerning the events of the future. Without diving in the superstition, it is undeniable that some cases of premonition are very disturbing except for the die-hards of the official science that explain all this things by the sacrosanct coincidence.

II The genesis of the affair.

   Let us analyze now some of these facts relating this "affair of the Titanic".

Three strange facts about the Titanic

  Let us choose the two first facts in the Planet encyclopedia published in Aout 1965 that proposes us two promonitory dreams that are being linked to this even:

First dream:

  "Among survivors later heard by a commission of inquiry, an American lady, who every year, made the crossing with her husband and her children, tells us that, when her husband had obtained his tickets for the trip, she was captured with an inexplicable anguish, that increased,as they go along to the approach of the departure. she tried some vain of to persuade its husband of to take an other boat. But all the four embarked however on the Titanic.

  In the course of a night on the steamship, Mrs. X... had a restless dream. She was awakened by a dreadful shock that shook the ship and was followed by comings and goings, and by shouts and calls on board. Scared, she waked her husband who heard nothing. He came up on the deck where all things was calm. The ship continued normally its way by fine weather. then he tells to his woman: "You have made a dream, take of a sleeping pill to calm you."he American woman was not be able to guet rid of the awful presentiment anguished herself , and, the next night, she and her children did not undress. This was the night of the catastrophe, that happened exactly as Mrs X. had dreamt it the day before: A strenous shock against the iceberg, the disarray on board, the boat was sinking.she precipitated up on the deck with her children and they found seats in a lifeboat. Later, they were collected by the Carpathia. She no more seen her husband, who had lost time to dress, and who perishes in the catastrophe.

   In the present case, presentiments preceded the premonitory dream that Mrs. X... had the day before of the wreck. One can explain the fact only that the dream was the exact image of the catastrophe that happened twenty-four hours later. It is difficult to deny that this dream impressed and invite her to take measures of prudence of which she had to be saved with her children.

The Second dream:

  The second premonitory dream, brought by Mr. J. Cannon Middleton and that is attached to the same event, has been, itself also, minutely controlled. The Titanic had to get under way on the 10 April 1912 for its first trip. Mr. Middleton took his seat on March the 20 th.Some time after, he saw in a dream, a gigantic vapor gobbled by waves. All around, the sea was scattered with heads of passengers struggling against waves. The next night, the same scene anguishing appeared to him in dream. When awakening Mr. Middleton, anxious, had was convinced that this dream announced a catastrophe. He told nothing to his family fearing to worry it and not wanting to appear ridiculous by adding faith to a dream. On the 4th of April, Mr Middleton reiceved a business telegram asking him to put off till later his trip, thing whose he was delighted. He told then to his woman and to several friends his famous dream. Three of them recorded this dream and later sent it to the Society for Psychical Research. Mr. Middleton had so told his dream before the catastrophe.his woman certified it verbally and added that it was the first time that her husband had made such a dream. The four certificates were published by the newspaper of the S.P.R.Under the pseudonym of Connor, Mr. Middleton told his adventure in a letter dated from the 19th of April in 1912. he had kept by chance the unused return ticket and proven even the veracity of the receved telegramm . The veracity of his declarations made therefore no doubt.

  One cannot assert that the crossing of the Titanic should had been fatal for Mr.Middleton nevertheless, if he had embarked on the steamer in question, he would have ran great risks. It is also to note that the repetition of this premonitory dream, emphazed its importance." End of the Planete's article

The third fact:

  The third fact be pulled of the review "Lumière dans la Nuit" in the n° 188 of October 1979 under the pen of "Gilbert CORNU". After having presented some details known of the wreck the author explains us:

  "Besides its exceptional size (60, 000 casts) and its great luxury, the Titanic distinguished itself also by its high speed for the period (more of 20 knots), speed partly owed by its three propellers, what was a uncommun solution without being exceptional. It had to offer to its passengers an exceptional security thanks to its strengthened hull and to its 16 tight compartments that made of it, at least on the paper, a unsinkable ship. That seemed so evident that it had been neglected to install on board the allowed number of live-boats (There was only 24), what appeared afterwards a pure madness. We understand now the incredulity that knocked the whole world when the terrible news of the wreck was known and the durable consternation that followed. It is due to this event,that the international conventions on the security of the life in sea were elaborate after conferences of 1929 and 1948.

  What we ignore generally, on the other hand, it is that this wreck had been described 14 years earlier by a unknown writer called Morgan Robertson, and that with precisions better than those of that science-fiction authors have reached to describe the ufos... Here is therefore the detail of this strange affair.

   Mr Morgan Robertson's book is titled:"FUTILITY" . This word has not even need to be translated in french and it is understanded directly and only can evoke the happy fair that did not cease of to reign on board during all the crossing, feast that is directly responsible of the accident. (It is the first coincidence between the book of American fiction and the real event.)

  In the Robertson' s book, it is exactly question of a "transatlantic ship" while the author would have been able to choose all other category of the period ship and yet the Titanic was a transatlantic ship (it is the 2nd coincidence).

  The author gives to his ship a huge length for the period, of 800 feet. The real Titanic was slightly longer with its 882 feet, so 271 meters, but the idea of enormity and the full-size are respect (that gives to us the 3rd coincidence)

  Robertson give to his steamship the oportunity to carry of 3000 passengers though the Titanic transported only 2207, what can allow to the finicky felows to do not accept the coincidence in fact, the difference between the two figures is explained by the fact that the Titanic had not made "the full of passengers" because its crossing was one of a great luxury, but it could to take close to 3000 passengers for its ordinary crossing (this is why, we will accept this 4th coincidence).

  Better, the author has baptized his giant ship the "Titan" of course, this name surprise our spirit, because things are always evident, after they arrive. (But the "Titan" and the "Titanic" give to us a 5th almost perfect coincidence).

   Finally, spooky joke, the shipowners of the Titan as later those of the Titanic considered their ship so unsinkable thanks to the watertight partitions of which they had got for their respective ships. (This unusual solution, maybe unique, on a steamship to the period gives us our 6th coincidence).

  Of course, this first series of "technical correspondence" will not take a lot the reader decision, and with reason, because it is necessary to recognize that these various dispositions could enough easily be imagined by a writer keeping himself up to date of progress of the naval construction of his time, without making intervene a mysterious phenomenon of anticipation, intellectual or other. lt was sufficent to research original solutions envisaged in the design offices and that are on the common place, then to extrapolate the full-size as we past in our days from tankers of 50,000 casts to those of 100,000 then 250,000 to arrive to the current mastodons, real monsters of oceans. (For example, we can quote that the Titan and the Titanic had both, 3 propellers, two checkmates of radio transmission , the first had 24 life-boats and second had only 20) and this was not in any way very original. It is therefore in the continuation of coincidences, those that concern directly circumstances of the wreck, that we can pose the question of a "premonition" of the future event, because so of precisions, as one is going to see it , are difficultly explicable from the exclusively human.

  Robertson imagines indeed that his Titan sinks and gobbles in waves from its first trip, what was exactly the case of Titanic, 14 years later. Although one could again invoke the dramatic senses of the author to explain it , (this 7 th coincidence is also rather much disturbing).

  Then, the Titan, as the Titanic, sink after having knocked an iceberg. Without being a unthinkable accident on the north Atlantic lines, the case was not current to until to imagine it for a first trip. (That leads us to 8th coincidence).

  Let us go on, the Titan is supposed sinking in April. One can difficultly be more exact with the destiny, because the wreck took place in the night of 14 to 15 April, so to near 24 hours , exactly in the middle of the month. (It is the 9 th coincidence then and a very strong one).

  But we are not at the end of our surprises indeed, according to the author, the Titan had to speed along 25 knots at the moment of the wreck, therefore to sail at its maximum speed. It is exactly what did the Titanic that sped along 23 knots, is also at its maximum speed for a first crossing, its machines not being still ground . Is it necessary to quibble for two small knots? It seems that it doesn't, at the stage we have reached! (It is the 10th coincidence between the two cases, the one coming from the fiction and the one coming from the reality.)

  We will not in remain however there since the Robertson's Titan is supposed to sink because its watertight partitions have appeared unusable, what seems paradoxical for a new material . It is nevertheless exactly what happened to the Titanic, the tight partitions did not function and it was impossible to stop the irruption of the water.To imagine tight partitions to bring the drama by their non-functioning is an underhand idea in addition, than that this realizes itself the day of the true wreck is a very curious coincidence indeed! (It is the 11th coincidence).

  On the Titan, the high number of victims is explained by the fact that the engineers had committed the unpardonable fault to judge the life-boats unnecessary on a such ship because of security conditions quite exceptional that had been anticipated. It is for this same reason, we have already told it before, that the Titanic had only 20 life-boats ... a symbolic purely security, neither livebelts in large number, nor rafts of any sort... only the despairing nothingness at the moment of the drama (this the terrible 12 th coincidence).

Is it necessary to push more far and to see a 13 th and last coincidence in the number of victims? The Titan was supposed to gobble with it in the waves the quasi-totality of its 3000 passengers, what was the very logic since it was deprived of all ways of rescue. With the Titanic, the destiny had the elegance of to return this number to approximately 1500 (the exact number could never be specified...), what is honorable but still a lot too much, we are all giving our agreement for this . The difference being in this case from the one to the double, this shows itself too important to lead us clearly in favor of the coincidence on the other hand, the fact that it would be the 13th risk to influence the decision of some readers, each people will be free for his decision by the accepting or no this coincidence.

   If One will be able, should he must understand therefore and explain this real cascades of coincidences that are found together in an alone text, of a same author and that concern an alone and a same event. In addition of each of these coincidences, it is the totality, so homogeneous and without break that is the most disturbing. It is quite incredible and more a reader will not miss to think that it is almost too good to to be true. It is to forget that the true can very well not to be probable and that often the reality exceeds the fiction..." end of the Cornu's article

 

III Conclusion.

  Let us wish then that the success of the film "Titanic of Cameron", will be the opportunity finally for a publisher to exit again the book of Morgan Roberson (that has never, seems me, be translated in French) in order that each people could by itself realise the incredible parallel line that the destiny has erected between the fictitious wreck of the Titan and that very reel unfortunately of the Titanic. Without doubt also, a finicky reseeker, will be able to find again small others concurrent details that would not have been able to be discovered, view the impossibility of to put the hand, here in Guadeloupe on this book?

  As for phenomenon of premonition and the fact that they take their roots, without doubt, in this fourth dimension mentioned above , it no longer remains to us to collect them, for lack of to be able to explain them and finally to take for us into account, from Shakespeare, the famous sentence of Hamlet to Horatio:" There are more of things in the Sky and on Earth, Horatio, that can dream all your philosophy".

  Making out this article on the 29 /07/ 99 and up dating it on the 07/05/2001and also on the 28/11/02.

IDYLLE Fred

fred.idylle@wanadoo.fr

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