Rare Titanic letter offers insight into life on doomed ship
A rare letter written on-board the Titanic recently went up for auction, giving a glimpse of what life was like on the historic ship.
According to auction house Henry Aldridge & Son, the letter was written by Second Class passenger and survivor Kate Buss.
The letter, written on April 10, 1912, is addressed to her brother Percy James and was in response to a letter she had received from him while on the historic ship.
“I’ve been quite alright — but now feel dead tired and more fit for bed than anything,” Ms Buss wrote.
“Have to go to dinner-tea in half an hour.”
The letter reveals more about everyday life on the Titanic, which sank on April 15, killing 1503 passengers.
“Mr Peters spent about an hour on the vessel and they might easily have spent another without waste of time,” Ms Buss wrote.
“The first class apartments are really magnificent and unless you had first seen them you would think the second class were the same.”
Ms Buss said the ship had not yet reached Cherbourg, France, but the mail had cleared.
“I think I’d best try and get some postcards of the vessel,” she wrote.
She also said that the passenger she was sharing her stateroom with had not yet turned up. She was also told by two clergymen sitting opposite her at the table to eat a good lunch.
Ms Buss finished her letter by informing her brother that she was putting her letter in the post.
“Must clear and have a wash now,” she wrote. “Will pop this in the [mail] in case I’m sea sick tomorrow. PW brought a box of chocolates — shouldn’t wonder if I’m like Jim Buss and get it the other way. Give my love to all enquirers — must go. Much love, Kate.”
Ms Buss was travelling to America to marry her fiancé Samuel Willis.
She survived the Titanic sinking when the Carpathia picked her up along with 705 other passengers.
Kate Buss and Samuel Willis married on May 11 as planned.
She passed away on July 12, 1972 at the age of 96.
Image credit: Henry Aldridge & Son