How Values Change

“It was just after ten o'clock on the night of April 14, 1912 that the Titanic, the largest vessel then afloat, crashed in mid-Atlantic into an iceberg and four hours later went to the bottom. Much has been written of all that took place in those four hours. Survivors spoke of the calm heroism of the captain, the officers, and the crew. They told also of the cour­age of the bandmaster, who played Nearer, My God, to Thee,' while he struggled into his life belt, and they said that many women, who could have been rescued, refused the offer, preferring to drown with their husbands.

“They told another story also, less courageous but more curious than any of these.

“A certain woman, who had been allotted a place in one of the boats, asked if she might run back to her stateroom, and she was given three minutes to go. She hurried along the corridors already tilting at a dangerous angle, and crossed the saloon. Money and costly gems littered the floor. Some who snatched at their jewelry spilt it as they ran. In her own stateroom she saw her treasures waiting to be picked up. She saw — and took no heed. Snatching at three oranges which she knew to be there, she took her place in the boat.

“That little incident is instructive. An hour before, it would have seemed incredible to that woman that she could have preferred a crate of oranges to one small diamond, but Death boarded the Titanic and, with one blast of his awful breath, all values were transformed. Precious things became worthless: worthless things became precious. Oranges were more than diamonds."