Collecting : Aftermath of sinking

Arrival of Carpathia in New York

London newsboy Ned Parfett with news of the disaster.

Carpathia took three days to reach New York after leaving the scene of the disaster. Her journey was slowed by pack ice, fog, thunderstorms and rough seas.^[161] She was, however, able to pass news to the outside world by wireless about what had happened. The initial reports were confused, leading the American press to report erroneously on 15 April that Titanic was being towed to port by the SS Virginian.^[162]
Later that day, confirmation came through that Titanic had been lost and that most of her passengers and crew had died.^[163] The news attracted crowds of people to the White Star Line's offices in London, New York, Montreal,^[164] Southampton,^[165] Liverpool and Belfast.^[166] It hit hardest in Southampton, whose people suffered the greatest losses from the sinking.^[167] Four out of every five crew members came from this town.^[168]^[n]
Carpathia docked at 9:30 p.m. on 18 April at New York's Pier 54 and was greeted by some 40,000 people waiting at the quayside in heavy rain.^[171] Immediate relief in the form of clothing and transportation to shelters was provided by the Women's Relief Committee, the Travelers Aid Society of New York, and the Council of Jewish Women, among other organisations.^[172] Many of Titanic's surviving passengers did not linger in New York but headed onwards immediately to relatives' homes. Some of the wealthier survivors chartered private trains to take them home, and the Pennsylvania Railroad laid on a special train free of charge to take survivors to Philadelphia. Titanic's 214 surviving crew members were taken to the Red Star Line's steamer SS Lapland, where they were accommodated in passenger cabins.^[173]
Carpathia was hurriedly restocked with food and provisions before resuming her journey to Fiume, Austria-Hungary. Her crew were given a bonus of a month's wages by Cunard as a reward for their actions, and some of Titanic's passengers joined together to give them an additional bonus of nearly £900 (£80,361 today), divided among the crew members.^[174]
The ship's arrival in New York led to a frenzy of press interest, with newspapers competing to be the first to report the survivors' stories. Some reporters bribed their way aboard the pilot boat New York, which guided Carpathia into harbour, and one even managed to get onto Carpathia before she docked.^[175] Crowds gathered outside newspaper offices to see the latest reports being posted in the windows or on billboards.^[176] It took another four days for a complete list of casualties to be compiled and released, adding to the agony of relatives waiting for news of those who had been aboard Titanic.^[o]