LONDON: A rusty key, which enabled the Titanic's crew to try to rescue hundreds of mail bags from the sinking ship, is expected to fetch more than £50,000 at an upcoming auction, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The key was for the door of a staff stairwell which was opened so that the crew could start unloading the mail from the bowels of the ship.
It belonged to Edmund Stone, a first-class bedroom steward, who perished when the Titanic sunk. The brass tag on the key is engraved 'SERVICE FORd 'E' DECK'.
At a US Senate inquiry into the disaster, Henry Etches, a steward on the ship, told how he had met Stone on the stairwell after the ship hit the iceberg.
When he asked Stone the time, the first-class bedroom steward replied: "Never mind that; there is something else for you to do."
Etches was then encouraged to help other staff unload hundreds of mail bags, some of them already wet from the sea water, from the post office and mail room below E deck.
Eventually, however, attempts to rescue the mail failed and all of the bags were lost when the ship went down.
However, by using his key to unlock the door to the stairwell, Stone may have enabled passengers and crew to use the exit to go on deck and get into lifeboats.
The key and other artefacts were recovered when Stone's dead body was recovered from the water.
The key was for the door of a staff stairwell which was opened so that the crew could start unloading the mail from the bowels of the ship.
It belonged to Edmund Stone, a first-class bedroom steward, who perished when the Titanic sunk. The brass tag on the key is engraved 'SERVICE FORd 'E' DECK'.
At a US Senate inquiry into the disaster, Henry Etches, a steward on the ship, told how he had met Stone on the stairwell after the ship hit the iceberg.
When he asked Stone the time, the first-class bedroom steward replied: "Never mind that; there is something else for you to do."
Etches was then encouraged to help other staff unload hundreds of mail bags, some of them already wet from the sea water, from the post office and mail room below E deck.
Eventually, however, attempts to rescue the mail failed and all of the bags were lost when the ship went down.
However, by using his key to unlock the door to the stairwell, Stone may have enabled passengers and crew to use the exit to go on deck and get into lifeboats.
The key and other artefacts were recovered when Stone's dead body was recovered from the water.
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