Blessing in Disguise
Part 1 - In the series ‘ Blessing in disguise you will read about some lucky people who narrowly missed death .
Sometimes something unpleasant might happen to us which makes us unhappy in the beginning . But the same unhappy thing ends up in a surprisingly unexpected and pleasant happening . This happened to some people who were supposed to be on the ‘ Titanic ‘ on 11 April 1912 or in the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001 when the two planes hit the WTC north and south towers but they were lucky to skip that ill-fated 9/11 tragedy .
First in the series the first part is about the ‘ Titanic ‘ . Here are some of such people who missed The Titanic which sank resulting in 1503 deaths .
1 . Theodore Dreiser - Dreiser was a famous American author who was supposed to sail on the Titanic on 11 April 1912 but his publisher requested and persuaded him to travel by an alternate cheaper liner . So he traveled by another ship named ‘ Kroonland ‘ and was lucky to have survived the Titanic disaster.
2. Henry Clay Frick , J.P.Morgan and Hoarce Harding -Frick was a business associate and fellow non-passenger of Famous banker J.P.Morgan .They were in Italy and they had booked suits on the Titanic . Frick could not travel as his wife had sprained her ankle and was admitted in a hospital in Italy . . Morgan also could not sail due to his business needs overseas . The booking was assumed by Hoarce but he too along with his wife sailed earlier by another Cunard ship ‘ Maoretania ‘ . Thus all were lucky to evade death .
3. Edgar Selwyn - Edgar was a Broadway and Hollywood producer and founder of Goldwyn Pictures . He had to overstay in England to review a draft of his close friend’s novel . He canceled his Titanic booking and this proved to be lucky for him. .
4 .Guglielmo Marconi - Marconi as we know was an Italian nobel laureate in physics in 1906 for his wireless radio invention.. He was offered a free ticket on Titanic .But he didn’t travel on Titanic, rather he was on another ship Lusitania three days before Titanic departure . As told by his daughter Degna Marconi wanted to accompany his stenographer onboard for some urgent paperwork . Thus Marconi too could fortunately survive.
But Marconi’s radio did SOS messages to nearby ships to render all possible help to passengers of the sinking Titanic.
5 . Baron Moritz von Bethmann - Baron was a famous German banker - Baron and his companions were planning to sail on The Titanic . But firstly they didn’t want to wait till 11th April 1912 and also they were in disagreement on which ship to sail. They decided to settle by flipping a coin . The coin was not in favor of the Titanic. This way it proved to be a blessing in disguise for them.
6 . Norah Callaghan and AnnieJordan- Norah and Annie were Irish villagers . Both had tickets to board the Titanic But Annie Jordan developed rashes which prevented her from boarding the ship. Norah also preferred to travel the next day on another ship named Celtic. 14 villagers boarded the ship but 11 of them died . Norah and Annie were fortunate to evade the tragedy .
7 . Rev. J.S.Holden - The Vicar of St. Paul’s Church in Portman Sq. London had booked tickets for himself and wife for the Titanic's maiden voyage . But one day before sailing his wife fell ill. Though Rev. Holden was to address a Christian Congress at Carnegie Hall , New York on 20th April 1912 , he preferred to cancel the tickets and remain with his wife. This decision saved the couple . He kept the envelope of the ticket with him as a memory .
8. Milton Snavely Hershey - Hershey is famous American for his Hershey chocolates . Though Heshey and his wife had booked tickets for the Titanic , Hershey had to travel earlier by another ship, Amerika , due to business compulsions . However Amerika was one of the ships to warn Titanic of the huge iceberg ahead which unfortunately Titanic could not steer away .
9 . John R. Mott - Mott was an influential evangelist and longtime YMCA ( Young Men Christian Association ) and later on winner of a Nobel Peace Prize . He and his colleague were offered free tickets on the Titanic but Mott preferred to sail on a smaller liner ‘ Lapland.’ This proved to be a blessing in disguise for them.
10 . Alfred Gwynne Vanderbilt - Alfred was an American businessman and a member of Vanderbilt family and a sportsman. He was scheduled to return to the USA from a trip to Europe . He canceled his Titanic so late that some newspapers accounted for him for being on board the Titanic . But he was another lucky man to escape death .
11. Robert Bacon - Bacon was U.S. ambassador to France .He had booked tickets for himself and wife aboard the Titanic .But their departure was delayed due to late arrival of the new ambassador . Thus Bacon and wife failed to sail on the Titanic but were lucky enough to escape death .
Contd.
