27 March 2009

A flask that held hot milk may sell for £60,000

To understand why, you need to know the backstory:

The harrowing story of a father who shinned down a rope to deliver his wife and daughters a flask of hot milk in one of the Titanic’s lifeboats has emerged 97 years after his death.

Arthur West, who was emigrating to Florida with his wife, Ada, and young children, Constance and Barbara, left the flask and returned to the deck of the sinking ship...

Now the flask and an archive, including a first-hand account written by Mrs West, are expected to fetch up to £60,000 at auction. She described how, after her husband returned to meet his fate without a word of complaint, two foreign men leapt into the lifeboat and hid under the skirts of other women passengers before they could be ejected.

More details at the Times online.

2 comments:

  1. Perhaps you meant 'shinnied'?

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  2. Random House Dictionary: Shin (v.t and v.i.) - to climb by holding fast with the hands or arms and legs and drawing oneself up.

    Q.E.D.

    ReplyDelete