Canada - 50 Cent R.M.S. Titanic 2012 coin

Unprecedented Luxury, Unparalleled Calamity: The Tragedy of RMS Titanic

Early evening, April 14, 1912: Major Arthur Peuchen of Toronto, having just returned to his well-appointed cabin, C-104, after a midday swim, peels a ripe orange as he looks over the gifts he collected for his wife and children while in Europe. He examines a lovely pearl pin he found in France for Margaret and sits gracefully in the mahogany armchair by the bed, recalling that he will be dining with his friend, Harry Markland Molson, this evening. It was Peuchen himself who persuaded Molson to sail home aboard the newly launched steamship. Unbeknownst to Peuchen, by morning, the luxury that surrounds him-and the companion he admires-will lie beneath the sea. Peuchen will be among the lucky few to escape with their lives.

Outside in the hall, railroad magnate Charles Melville Hays, president of Canada's Grand Trunk railways, shakes hands with his friend, American Colonel Archibald Gracie. Hays and his first-class companions will discuss 'progress' and the growing opulence and speed of travel. To while away the hours as he makes his way to Ottawa for the grand opening of the sumptuous Chateau Laurier hotel, Hays will sip cognac and speculate with his companions about hubris and disaster. By morning, he and they will be gone.

But for now, outside the painted glass windows and mother-of-pearl-encrusted interiors that surround them, the setting sun greets these men and women on their relentless journey westward aboard RMS Titanic.

Notable Beginnings
The Titanic's ill-fated life began with great fanfare in 1908, when the White Star Company announced its plans to beat all previous records in shipbuilding with a cross-Atlantic steamship unmatched in passenger capacity, luxury, and reliability. Completed in February 1912 and captained by White Star Line admiral Captain E. J. Smith, the 270-metre vessel was longer than four city blocks, more than 53 metres tall, weighed more than 45,000 tons, and comprised ten decks and numerous compartments divided into fifteen bulkheads. Its massive steel bulk was held together by more than 3 million rivets

An Ocean-Bound Paradise of Ease and Comfort
The Titanic's first-class passengers were among Western society's wealthiest and most notable citizens. Along with Peuchen, Molson, Hays, and Baxter, prominent first-class Canadians like the aptly named Fortune family of Winnipeg-one of the country's wealthiest families-travelled with successful 37 year-old Winnipeg realtor Thomson Beatty and his best friend, Thomas McCaffry-president of Winnipeg's Union Bank.

The Titanic's design had introduced unprecedented indulgences in sea travel for all of its guests. For first-class travellers, these included elegant public rooms as well as a salt-water swimming pool, Turkish baths, squash and racquetball courts, and a gymnasium that featured an electric horse and electric camel, rowing machines, and more-all supervised by professional instructors. First-class accommodations included suites and cabins richly decorated in painstakingly researched period styles.

The second-class passenger list included tourists, academics, clergy, and middle-class families like the Mallet family of Montreal. The Mallets and their fellow second-class travellers would have enjoyed accommodations and services that exceeded those available in first class on other vessels.

Third-class travel on the Titanic, although much less lavish than that of the first and second classes, would nevertheless have been quite comfortable. These 'steerage' passengers were primarily immigrants starting new lives in Canada and the United States. Tragically, the passenger list included many large families traveling together to their new home who would never reach their destination.

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