Profiles In Manners and Public Displays of Social Graces

John Jacob Astor IV

In remembrance of the 100 year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic, I chose to recognize John Jacob Astor IV. He was said to be the wealthiest man on the Titanic, but it also seems he had a generous heart as well. Not only did he give up his place on  the lifeboat next to his wife to make room for someone else, he took drastic measures to save the life of a fourteen year old boy who was not allowed to board a life boat. The now defunct Warsaw Times newspaper dated April 20, 1912 gives this account:

"Captain Chase F. Crain, U.S.A., one of Carpathia’s passengers, said that one of  the survivors, a boy fourteen years of age, told him that he owed his life to Colonel Astor. The boy’s story, as repeated by Captain Crain, was that when he tried to get into a lifeboat the sailors pushed him back with: “You’re not a girl.”

Colonel Astor, the boy said, happened to be near, saw this and picking up from the deck a girls hat, jammed it on the boys head and watching his chance pushed him into the boat with the women."

Heroic acts that save someones life  in my humble opinion are of far more importance than any social protocols that are violated in the process.

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