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Fiction Archive. People who died on the Titanic but could have changed the world The Diary of William Steed

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He first introduced the interview genre into journalism, taking it from General Gordon in 1884. Stead was noted for his energetic public relations work and brilliant news presentation. He is also credited with the modern journalistic technique of creating news events rather than simply reporting them, as demonstrated by the case of Eliza Armstrong.

The Case of Eliza Armstrong

In 1885 Stead embarked on a "crusade" against child prostitution, publishing a series of articles entitled "Maiden Sacrifice in Modern Babylon" ( The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon) . To demonstrate the truth of his discoveries, he arranged the "purchase" of the chimney sweep's 13-year-old daughter, Eliza Armstrong.

Despite the demonstration, Stead was sentenced to three months in prison on the grounds that he had failed to obtain his father's permission to "purchase" the first time.

Further career

In 1886 Stead launched a campaign against Sir Charles Dilke, 2nd Baronet, over his nominal exoneration in the Crawford scandal. The campaign ultimately contributed to Dilk's misguided attempt to clear his reputation and his subsequent destruction.

After leaving "Pall Mall" Stead founded the monthly "Review of Reviews"(1890), and his rich energy and light pen were used in the field of advanced journalism of the humanitarian type.

He started a cheap reprint ( "Penny Poets", "Classics of Prose" etc.), conducted by a spiritualistic organ called "Border region"(1893-1897), in which he gave full play to his interest in psychic research; and became a supporter of the peace movement and many other movements, popular and unpopular.

For all his unpopularity and all the suspicions about his methods, his strong character, Stead remained in public and private life. During the Boer War, Stead criticized the government for its violence. Stead also published a number of popular publications: "The Truth about Russia" (1888), "Christ has come to Chicago!"(1894) and "From Mrs. Booth" (1900) .

Stead was a pacifist and peace activist who approved "United States of Europe" And "The Highest Court of Justice among Nations", but still preferred to use force in defense of the law.

Spiritualism

Stead claimed to have received a message from the spirit world through automatic writing. The contacting spirit was believed to be the late Julia Ames, an American moderate reformer and journalist, whom he met shortly before her death in 1890. In 1909 Stead founded "Julia's Office", where those who wished could receive information from the world of spirits from a group of mediums. After Stead's death in 1912, a group of followers founded a spiritualist organization in Chicago, Illinois, called the William Stead Memorial Center.

On board the Titanic

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Notes

(English) . Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
(English) . Ask Jeeves Encyclopedia. - article from EnWiki. Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
(English) . encyclopedia titanica. Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
, p. 369.
, p. 367-378.
(English) . Sue Young Histories: Biographies of Homeopaths (10 December 2009). Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
The Last Will and Testament of Cecil John Rhodes / Ed. by W. T. Stead. - London: Review of Reviews Office, 1902.
Wood-Lamont S.(English) . The W.T. Steady Resource Site. Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
Stead W. T.(English) // The Review of Reviews for Australasia. - 1912. - Fasc. August. - P. 609-620.(written in 1901; published posthumously).
. Answers.com. Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
A Night to Remember, Walter Lord

Literature

Pearsell R. The Worm in the Bud: The World of Victorian Sexuality. - 1969.

Passage characterizing Stead, William Thomas

“Give the prisoner here,” Denisop said quietly, not taking his eyes off the French.
The Cossack got off his horse, took the boy off and walked up to Denisov with him. Denisov, pointing to the French, asked what kind of troops they were. The boy, putting his chilled hands in his pockets and raising his eyebrows, looked at Denisov in fear and, despite the visible desire to say everything he knew, was confused in his answers and only confirmed what Denisov was asking. Denisov, frowning, turned away from him and turned to the esaul, telling him his thoughts.
Petya, turning his head with quick movements, looked back at the drummer, then at Denisov, then at the esaul, then at the French in the village and on the road, trying not to miss anything important.
“Pg” is coming, not “pg” Dolokhov is coming, we must bg”at!.. Eh? - said Denisov, his eyes flashing cheerfully.
“The place is convenient,” said the esaul.
“We’ll send the infantry down through the swamps,” Denisov continued, “they’ll crawl up to the garden; you will come with the Cossacks from there,” Denisov pointed to the forest behind the village, “and I will come from here, with my ganders. And along the road...
“It won’t be a hollow—it’s a quagmire,” said the esaul. - You’ll get stuck in your horses, you need to go around to the left...
While they were talking in a low voice in this way, below, in the ravine from the pond, one shot clicked, smoke turned white, then another, and a friendly, seemingly cheerful cry was heard from hundreds of French voices who were on the half-mountain. In the first minute, both Denisov and the esaul moved back. They were so close that it seemed to them that they were the cause of these shots and screams. But the shots and screams did not apply to them. Below, through the swamps, a man in something red was running. Apparently he was being shot at and shouted at by the French.
“After all, this is our Tikhon,” said the esaul.
- He! they are!
“What a rogue,” Denisov said.
- He will go away! - Esaul said, narrowing his eyes.
The man they called Tikhon, running up to the river, splashed into it so that splashes flew, and, hiding for a moment, all black from the water, he got out on all fours and ran on. The French running after him stopped.
“Well, he’s clever,” said the esaul.
- What a beast! – Denisov said with the same expression of annoyance. - And what has he been doing so far?
- Who is this? – Petya asked.
- This is our plastun. I sent him to take the tongue.
“Oh, yes,” Petya said from Denisov’s first word, nodding his head as if he understood everything, although he absolutely did not understand a single word.
Tikhon Shcherbaty was one of the most necessary people in the party. He was a man from Pokrovskoye near Gzhat. When, at the beginning of his actions, Denisov came to Pokrovskoye and, as always, calling the headman, asked what they knew about the French, the headman answered, as all the headmen answered, as if defending themselves, that they didn’t know anything, to know they don't know. But when Denisov explained to them that his goal was to beat the French, and when he asked if the French had wandered in, the headman said that there were definitely marauders, but that in their village only one Tishka Shcherbaty was involved in these matters. Denisov ordered Tikhon to be called to him and, praising him for his activities, said a few words in front of the headman about the loyalty to the Tsar and the Fatherland and the hatred of the French that the sons of the Fatherland should observe.
“We don’t do anything bad to the French,” said Tikhon, apparently timid at Denisov’s words. “That’s the only way we fooled around with the guys.” They must have beaten about two dozen Miroders, otherwise we didn’t do anything bad... - The next day, when Denisov, completely forgetting about this guy, left Pokrovsky, he was informed that Tikhon had attached himself to the party and asked to be left with it. Denisov ordered to leave him.
Tikhon, who at first corrected the menial work of laying fires, delivering water, skinning horses, etc., soon showed greater willingness and ability for guerrilla warfare. He went out at night to hunt for prey and each time brought with him French clothes and weapons, and when he was ordered, he also brought prisoners. Denisov dismissed Tikhon from work, began to take him with him on travels and enrolled him in the Cossacks.
Tikhon did not like to ride and always walked, never falling behind the cavalry. His weapons were a blunderbuss, which he wore more for fun, a pike and an ax, which he wielded like a wolf wields his teeth, equally easily picking out fleas from his fur and biting through thick bones. Tikhon equally faithfully, with all his might, split logs with an ax and, taking the ax by the butt, used it to cut out thin pegs and cut out spoons. In Denisov's party, Tikhon occupied his special, exclusive place. When it was necessary to do something especially difficult and disgusting - turn a cart over in the mud with your shoulder, pull a horse out of a swamp by the tail, skin it, climb into the very middle of the French, walk fifty miles a day - everyone pointed, laughing, at Tikhon.
“What the hell is he doing, you big gelding,” they said about him.
Once, the Frenchman whom Tikhon was taking shot at him with a pistol and hit him in the flesh of his back. This wound, for which Tikhon was treated only with vodka, internally and externally, was the subject of the funniest jokes in the entire detachment and jokes to which Tikhon willingly succumbed.
- What, brother, won’t you? Is Ali crooked? - the Cossacks laughed at him, and Tikhon, deliberately crouching and making faces, pretending that he was angry, scolded the French with the most ridiculous curses. This incident had only the influence on Tikhon that after his wound he rarely brought prisoners.
Tikhon was the most useful and brave man in the party. No one else discovered cases of attack, no one else took him and beat the French; and as a result of this, he was the jester of all the Cossacks and hussars and he himself willingly succumbed to this rank. Now Tikhon was sent by Denisov, at night, to Shamshevo in order to take the tongue. But, either because he was not satisfied with just the Frenchman, or because he slept through the night, during the day he climbed into the bushes, into the very middle of the French and, as Denisov saw from Mount Denisov, was discovered by them.

After talking a little more time with the esaul about tomorrow's attack, which now, looking at the proximity of the French, Denisov seemed to have finally decided, he turned his horse and rode back.
“Well, damn, now let’s go dry off,” he said to Petya.
Approaching the forest guardhouse, Denisov stopped, peering into the forest. Through the forest, between the trees, he walked with large, easy steps. long legs, with long dangling arms, a man in a jacket, bast shoes and a Kazan hat, with a gun over his shoulder and an ax in his belt. Seeing Denisov, this man hastily threw something into the bush and, taking off his wet hat with its drooping brim, approached the boss. It was Tikhon. His face, pitted with smallpox and wrinkles, with small, narrow eyes, shone with self-satisfied gaiety. He raised his head high and, as if holding back laughter, stared at Denisov.
“Well, where did it fall?” Denisov said.
- Where had you been? “I followed the French,” Tikhon answered boldly and hastily in a hoarse but melodious bass.
- Why did you climb during the day? Cattle! Well, didn't you take it?..

William Thomas Stead, chaskor.ru

100 years ago the Titanic sank. Among the dead was William Thomas Stead(1849-1912). He was a prominent figure in English journalism And political life at the turn of the two centuries in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras. His career began very early. Only 22 years old (1871) he was already the editor of the provincial newspaper Northern Echo, which he managed to make influential, and ten years later he edited the Pall Mall Gazette in London (today it is called the Evening Standard; its owner is now Russian tycoon A. Lebedev, in which there is some strange coincidence, as will be seen from what follows). Ten years later, Stead created the monthly Review of Reviews. This was a unique initiative of high quality journalism.

Stead was not just a major professional innovator and, in essence, one of the fathers of modern journalism. He was a political campaigner, that is, an agitator, an activist with a very strong moralistic overtone - philanthropist, do-gooder(do-gooder).

Stead was and prophet of the coming hegemony of the press How fourth estate, putting forward an aggressive project "the power of journalism" and fought all his life for the independence of the press as an important element of the system of social control. By conviction, he was a radical liberal and, as we would say now, a fighter for “human rights.” He also professed humanistic pacifism and was an enthusiastic progressive. He was characterized by a specific Anglo-Saxon "liberal-imperialism"(now we would say “globalism”), because he saw in England and America the “locomotive” of world progress. Such beliefs, combined with his humble origins, prevented Stead from engaging in parliamentary politics in England at that time. Undoubtedly, journalism for him was the arena where he realized his political temperament and passion for social design(detractors would say “project work”).

Stead led several important moral and political campaigns back in the 19th century. In 1876 he drew attention to Turkish atrocities in the Balkans. Then he took the side of Irish autonomy (Home Rule). In the 1980s, Stead campaigned against trafficking in women. To prove that such a thing exists, he decided on a provocation: he bought a girl, went to trial and went to prison for it. This episode perhaps best demonstrates Stead's temperament and professional obsession. Even later, Stead turns out to be an ardent opponent of the Boer War, and then becomes one of the first active “peace fighters.”

Concerned about the growing tensions in Europe, Stead tried to establish mutual understanding between the English and German publics, engaging in what would now be called “public diplomacy.” Death found him in the midst of this activity. Always striving to be at the center of events and everyone's attention, Stead found himself aboard the Titanic during its fateful voyage in 1912 and died with it.
Stead was also involved in Russian affairs. It all started when, as a teenager, he found himself in the service of the Russian consul (in Newcastle). Then he made a close acquaintance with Olga Alekseevna Novikova (née Kireeva), who ran an influential salon in London. Novikova was a persistent promoter of the Pan-Slavist cause in Europe and attracted the still young Stead to Russophilia.
During the Balkan crisis of 1876, Disraeli pursued an anti-Russian policy. His rival, the Liberal leader Gladstone, changed this orientation, thanks in no small part to the persuasion of Olga Novikova and a noisy press campaign orchestrated by Stead.

The Case of Eliza Armstrong

Despite the demonstration, Stead was sentenced to three months in prison on the grounds that he had failed to obtain his father's permission to "purchase" the first time.

Further career

After leaving "Pall Mall" Stead founded the monthly "Review of Reviews"(1890), and his rich energy and light pen were used in the field of advanced journalism of the humanitarian type.

Stead was a pacifist and peace activist who approved "United States of Europe" And "The Highest Court of Justice among Nations", but still preferred to use force in defense of the law.

Spiritualism

On board the Titanic

Write a review of the article "Stead, William Thomas"

Notes

(English) . Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
(English) . Ask Jeeves Encyclopedia. - article from EnWiki. Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
(English) . encyclopedia titanica. Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
, p. 369.
, p. 367-378.
(English) . Sue Young Histories: Biographies of Homeopaths (10 December 2009). Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
The Last Will and Testament of Cecil John Rhodes / Ed. by W. T. Stead. - London: Review of Reviews Office, 1902.
Wood-Lamont S.(English) . The W.T. Steady Resource Site. Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
Stead W. T.(English) // The Review of Reviews for Australasia. - 1912. - Fasc. August. - P. 609-620.(written in 1901; published posthumously).
. Answers.com. Retrieved April 15, 2012. .
A Night to Remember, Walter Lord

Literature

Pearsell R. The Worm in the Bud: The World of Victorian Sexuality. - 1969.

Passage characterizing Stead, William Thomas

Suddenly a thin, out of breath boy ran into the hall. He clearly came straight from the street, as steam was pouring out of his wide smile.
- Madam, Madam! They were saved!!! Dear Esclarmonde, there is a fire on the mountain!..

Esclarmonde jumped up, about to run, but her body turned out to be weaker than the poor thing could have imagined... She collapsed straight into her father's arms. Raymond de Pereil picked up his feather-light daughter in his arms and ran out the door... And there, gathered on the top of Montsegur, stood all the inhabitants of the castle. And all eyes looked only in one direction - to where a huge fire was burning on the snowy peak of Mount Bidorta!.. Which meant that the four fugitives had reached the desired point!!! Her brave husband and newborn son escaped the brutal clutches of the Inquisition and could happily continue their lives.
Now everything was in order. All was good. She knew that she would go to the fire calmly, since the people dearest to her were alive. And she was truly pleased - fate took pity on her, allowing her to find out... Allowing her to calmly go to her death.
At sunrise, all the Perfect and Believing Cathars gathered in the Temple of the Sun to enjoy its warmth for the last time before leaving for eternity. The people were exhausted, cold and hungry, but they were all smiling... The most important thing was accomplished - the descendant of Golden Maria and Radomir lived, and there was hope that one fine day one of his distant great-grandchildren would rebuild this monstrously unfair world, and no one will have to suffer anymore. The first ray of sunlight lit up in the narrow window!.. It merged with the second, third... And in the very center of the tower a golden pillar lit up. It expanded more and more, covering everyone standing in it, until the entire surrounding space was completely immersed in a golden glow.

It was farewell... Montsegur said goodbye to them, tenderly seeing them off to another life...
And at this time, below, at the foot of the mountain, a huge terrible fire was taking shape. Or rather, a whole structure in the form of a wooden platform, on which thick pillars “flaunted”...
More than two hundred Paragons began to solemnly and slowly descend the slippery and very steep stone path. The morning was windy and cold. The sun peeked out from behind the clouds only for a short moment... to finally caress its beloved children, its Cathars going to their deaths... And again leaden clouds crawled across the sky. It was gray and uninviting. And to strangers. Everything around was frozen. The drizzling air soaked thin clothes with moisture. The heels of those walking froze, sliding on wet stones... The last snow was still showing off on Mount Montsegur.

Below, a small man, brutalized by the cold, hoarsely yelled at the crusaders, ordering them to cut down more trees and drag them into the fire. For some reason the flame did not flare up, but the little man wanted it to blaze to the very heavens!.. He deserved it, he waited for it for ten long months, and now it has happened! Just yesterday he dreamed of returning home quickly. But anger and hatred for the damned Cathars took over, and now he wanted only one thing - to see how the last Perfects would finally burn. These last Children of the Devil!.. And only when all that is left of them is a pile of hot ashes, will he calmly go home. This little man was the seneschal of the city of Carcassonne. His name was Hugues des Arcis. He acted on behalf of His Majesty, King of France, Philip Augustus.
The Cathars were already descending much lower. Now they moved between two sullen, armed columns. The crusaders were silent, gloomily watching the procession of thin, emaciated people, whose faces for some reason shone with an unearthly, incomprehensible delight. This scared the guards. And this was, in their opinion, abnormal. These people were going to their death. And they couldn't smile. There was something alarming and incomprehensible in their behavior, which made the guards want to get away from here quickly and far away, but their duties did not allow them - they had to resign themselves.
The piercing wind blew through the thin, damp clothes of the Perfects, causing them to shudder and, naturally, huddle closer to each other, which was immediately stopped by the guards, who pushed them to move alone.
First in this terrible funeral procession was Esclarmonde. Her long hair, fluttering in the wind, covered her thin figure with a silk cloak... The dress on the poor thing hung, being incredibly wide. But Esclarmonde walked, holding her beautiful head high and... smiling. As if she was going to her great happiness, and not to a terrible, inhuman death. Her thoughts wandered far, far away, beyond the high snowy mountains, where the people dearest to her were - her husband, and her little newborn son... She knew that Svetozar would watch Montsegur, she knew that he would see the flames when they mercilessly devour her body, and she really wanted to look fearless and strong... She wanted to be worthy of him... Her mother followed her, she was also calm. Only from pain for her beloved girl did bitter tears well up in her eyes from time to time. But the wind caught them and immediately dried them, preventing them from rolling down their thin cheeks.
The mournful column moved in complete silence. They had already reached the site where a huge fire was raging. It was still burning only in the middle, apparently waiting for living flesh to be tied to the pillars, which would burn cheerfully and quickly, despite the cloudy, windy weather. Despite people's pain...
Esclarmonde slipped on a bump, but her mother caught her, preventing her from falling. They represented a very mournful couple, mother and daughter... Thin and frozen, they walked straight, proudly carrying their naked heads, despite the cold, despite fatigue, despite fear... They wanted to look confident and strong in front of the executioners. They wanted to be courageous and not give up, as their husband and father looked at them...
Raymond de Pereil remained to live. He did not go to the fire with the others. He stayed to help those left behind who had no one to protect them. He was the owner of the castle, a lord who was responsible for all these people with honor and word. Raymond de Pereil had no right to die so easily. But in order to live, he had to renounce everything that he sincerely believed in for so many years. It was worse than a fire. It was a lie. But the Cathars did not lie... Never, under any circumstances, at any price, no matter how high it turned out to be. Therefore, for him, life ended now, with everyone... Because his soul was dying. And what remains for later will not be him. It will be just a living body, but his heart will go with his family - with his brave girl and with his beloved, faithful wife...

The same one stopped in front of the Cathars little man, Hugues de Arcy. Impatiently marking time, apparently wanting to finish as quickly as possible, he began the selection in a hoarse, cracked voice...
- What is your name?
“Esclarmonde de Pereil,” came the answer.
- Hugues de Arcy, acting on behalf of the King of France. You are accused of heresy in Qatar. You know, in accordance with our agreement, which you accepted 15 days ago, in order to be free and save your life, you must renounce your faith and sincerely swear allegiance to the Roman faith catholic church. You must say: “I renounce my religion and accept the Catholic religion!”

Official page of the writer

William Stead - father
Isabella Jobson – mother
Emma Lucy Wilson - wife

British journalist, editor and writer, public figure and a big fan of Esperanto. He was one of the pioneers of investigative journalism and a likely contender for the 1912 Nobel Peace Prize. Steed was also one of only four writers—John Jacob Astor IV, Jacques Heath Futrelle, Francis Davis Millet, and William Thomas Stead—to have published fantastic works by those who perished on the infamous Titanic liner. Born in Embelton (Great Britain) in the family of a Congregational minister, who personally taught his son until he was 12 years old. He attended Silcoates School for another two years, but was soon apprenticed to a trading office in Newcastle upon Tyne. The young man was passionate about journalism, publishing articles in the Northern Echo newspaper from 1870, and in April 1871 he became its editor. In 1873, he married Emma Lucy Wilson, who gave her husband six children. When he was thirty years old, in 1880 he went to London, where, under John Morley, he became assistant editor of the Pall Mall Gazette (when Morley was elected to Parliament in 1883, Steed became editor of the newspaper). Distinguished by his energetic public relations work and brilliant news presentation, he became the "inventor" of the interview, first interviewing General Gordon (1833-1885) in January 1884. He is also credited with pioneering the modern journalistic technique of creating news events rather than simply informing them.

This is clearly proven by his journalistic article “A Maiden Tribute to Modern Babylon” (1885), in which Steed entered into a “crusade” against child prostitution and, in order to demonstrate the truth of his discoveries, he arranged the “purchase” of the 13-year-old daughter of a chimney sweep, Eliza Armstrong. (Eliza Armstrong). The reaction to this article was unprecedented public outrage at the topic that had opened, as well as the author being sentenced to three months in prison on the grounds that he allegedly could not obtain his father’s permission to “purchase” the first time. However, later, precisely thanks to this publication, amendments to the criminal law were adopted to raise the age for the acquisition of minors from 12 to 16 years. To commemorate the passage of such legislation, Steed traveled by train from Wimbledon to Waterloo every year on 10 November wearing prison clothes. In 1890, a year after leaving the Pall Mall Gazette, he founded and edited the publication The Review of Reviews, and from 1893-97 edited the journal on psychic phenomena, Borderland. During the Boer War, Steed criticized the government's violence and produced a number of popular publications. And in 1888, he published the article “The Truth about Russia,” which was the result of his two-month trip around the country during his reign Alexandra III, which the author called the happiest in life. " It is useless to evaluate the Tsar or the Cossacks from the point of view of English or American democracy“, he then advised the West. And he added: “ Russia has neither Alps nor a constitution" William Thomas Steed was a man of incredibly varied interests and views. Despite being a pacifist and peace activist who endorsed the "United States of Europe" and the "High Court of Justice among Nations", he still preferred the use of force in defense of the law. In parallel with his social activities, he studied Esperanto and participated in seances. In his opinion, he received messages from the spirit world through automatic writing. His spirit contact was the late Julia Ames, an American journalist whom he met shortly before her death in 1890. And it was so serious that in 1909 Steed even founded Julia's Bureau, where those who wished could receive information from the world of spirits from a group of mediums. Two journalistic novels by W. T. Steed can also be classified as fiction In one of them, “If Christ Comes to Chicago!” (1894) the author presents his utopian view of belief, and in another, “Blastus, Chamberlain to the King: From the Annual Review of Reviews for 1896” (1895) depicts a political utopia of the near future, the second half of which takes place in 1900.

In 1903, he published the story "The Despised Sex", written in the form of a report, where the first guest from the fictional matriarchal African country of Xanthia describes Great Britain to his queen Dione, who imagines it as a distant lost world. Also in his literary baggage there is a fantastic story “Photographing Invisible Beings”, which was published in 1920 under the abbreviated name Um. T. Stead (Wm.T. Stead). Steed boarded the Titanic for a visit to the United States to attend the peace convention at Carnegie Hall at the request of President William Howard Taft. After the ship collided with an iceberg, he helped put women and children into lifeboats. Eventually, Steed went into the smoking room, where he was last seen reading a book in a chair. If we accept this as a fact, then he obviously died by falling into the fault that formed between the third and fourth pipe (this is where the smoking lounge was located). Steed's body was never found. Interestingly, on March 22, 1886, William Thomas Steed published a fictional novella entitled “How the Mail Steamer Went Down in the Mid-Atlantic, by a Survivor.” It is about an unnamed ship that collides with another ship in the waters of the Atlantic Ocean, but due to a shortage of lifeboats, many passengers die. " This is exactly what can and will happen if liners go to sea with few boats“, the author summarized at the end. And in 1892, in his journal Review of Reviews, he published another fictional story about the collision of a White Star Line ship sailing “from the Old World to the New” with an iceberg. The surviving passengers were rescued by the Majestic ship, on which a clairvoyant was traveling, who pointed out to the captain the disaster that had occurred.

Author's works

Books

1888 – Truth about Russia. – ed. Cassell & Company, 1888. – 492 p. (P)
1896 - The Rajah's Sapphire. - published by Ward, Lock and Bowden (London), 1896 (p) - [On the cover of the book only the name of his co-author M. P. Shiel is indicated]
1894 – If Christ Comes to Chicago! (If Christ Came to Chicago!: A Plea for the Union of All Who Love in the Service of All Who Suffer). – ed. Laird & Lee (Chicago), 1894 (p)
1895 - Blastus, the King's Chamberlain: Being the Review of Reviews Annual for 1896. - The Review of Reviews (London), 1895 ( P)
1898 - Blastus the King's Chamberlain: A Political Romance. - Grant Richards (London), 1898 (p)
1900 – Mrs. Booth of the Salvation Army. – ed. "James Nisbet & Co" (London), 1900. – 248 p. (P)
1902 – The Americanization of the World: The Trend of the Twentieth Century. – ed. "Horace Markley", 1902. – 460 p. (P)
1903 – The Despised Sex: The Letters of Callicrates to Dione, Queen of the Xanthians, Concerning England and the English, Anno Domini 1902. – ed. "Grant Richards" (London), 1903 (p)
Stories
1886 – How the Mail Steamer went Down in the Mid Atlantic, by a Survivor // Pall Mall Gazette, 1886, March 22 – p.
1892 – From the Old World to the New: [Excerpt from the story] // Review of Reviews magazine, 1892, December – pp. 7-8, 39-50
1920 – Photographing Invisible Beings // anthology “The Best Psychic Stories” / Ed. Joseph Lewis French. – ed. "Boni & Liveright", 1920 – p.105-125
Journalism
1870 – Indiscriminate Charity // Northern Echo newspaper, 1870, February 7 – p.
1870 – Democracy and Christianity // Northern Echo newspaper, 1870, October 14 – p.
1871 – Bishop Frazer on the Social Evil // Northern Echo newspaper, 1871, October 27 – p.
1872 – A Painful Subject // Northern Echo newspaper, 1872, October 23 – p.
1873 – Mrs. Cotton // Northern Echo newspaper, 1873, March 24 – p.
1874 – The Executions // newspaper “Northern Echo”, 1874, January 5 – p.
1875 – The Repeal of the Contagious Diseases Acts // Northern Echo newspaper, 1875, June 21 – p.
1876 – Our Policy in the East // Northern Echo newspaper, 1876, June 24 – p.
1876 – The War // newspaper “Northern Echo”, 1876, July 5 – p.
1876 – England and the Eastern Insurgents // Northern Echo newspaper, 1876, July 13 – p.
1876 – North Country Members & the CD Acts // Northern Echo newspaper, 1876, July 18 – p.
1883 – Isn’t it time? (Is it not Time?) // newspaper “Pall Mall Gazette”, 1883, October 16 – p.
1883 – “Rejected London” – where to start? (“Outcast London” - Where to Begin?) // Pall Mall Gazette, 1883, October 23 – p.
1884 – Chinese Gordon for the Soudan // Pall Mall Gazette, 1884, January 9 – p.
1884 – In Memory of General Gordon (In Memoriam) // newspaper “Pall Mall Gazette”, 1884, February 11 – p.
1884 – How much truth is there about the Navy? (What is the Truth About the Navy?) // Pall Mall Gazette, 1884, September 15 – p.
1884 – A Startling Revelation // Pall Mall Gazette, 1884, September 18 – p.
1884 – Who is responsible for the navy? (Who is Responsible for the Navy?) // Pall Mall Gazette, 1884, September 26 - p.
1884 – The Responsibility for the Navy // Pall Mall Gazette, 1884, September 30 – p.
1885 – New program Tory (The New Tory Programme) // newspaper “Pall Mall Gazette”, 1885, July 4 – p.
1885 – A good start(A Good Start) // Pall Mall Gazette, 1885, July 7 – p.
1885 – “The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon” // Pall Mall Gazette, 1885, July 9 – p.
1885 – Judgment by Default // Northern Echo newspaper, 1885, July 15 – p.
1886 – The right to vote “Against Confidence” (A Vote of “No Confidence”) // Pall Mall Gazette, 1886, June 5 – p.
1888 – Murder as an Advertisement // Pall Mall Gazette, 1888, September 19 – p.
1888 – Who is Responsible // Pall Mall Gazette, 1888, October 8 – p.
1888 – The Police and the Criminals of London // Pall Mall Gazette, 1888, October 8 – p. , October 9 – p.
1888 – Can we save the children? (Can We Save the Children?) // Pall Mall Gazette, 1888, October 9 – p.
1890 – Presentation (Programme) // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1890, January – p.14
1890 – To All English-Speaking Folk // Review of Reviews magazine, 1890, January – pp. 15-20
1890 - Mark Twain's New Book // Review of Reviews magazine, 1890, February - pp. 144-156
1891 – Madame Olga Novikoff // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1891, February – p.123-136
1891 – How to Become Journalism // Review of Reviews magazine, 1891, February – p.149
1891 – Madame Annie Besant // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1891, October – p.349-367
1891 – My Experience with Phrenology // “Review of Reviews” magazine, 1891, November – p.600
1892 – Mr. Gladstone // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1892, April – p.345-362, May – p.453-466
1892 – Steadism: A National Danger // Review of Reviews magazine, 1892, June – p.571
1892 – “The Pall Mall Gazette” // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1892, July – p.47
1892 – Young Women in Journalism // Review of Reviews magazine, 1892, October – p.373
1892 – Was Mrs. Maybrick really tortured to death? (Ought Mrs. Maybrick be Tortured to Death?) // Review of Reviews magazine, 1892, October – p.390-396
1893 - W. T. Stead's Novel on the Chicago Exhibition // Review of Reviews magazine, 1893, January - p.
1893 – Jay Gould // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1893, February – p.
1893 – Internal solution next session? (Home Rule Next Session?) // Daily Paper newspaper, 1893, October 4 – p.3
1893 – An English Bible is needed! (Wanted, an English Bible!) // newspaper “Daily Paper”, 1893, October 4 – p.25-26
1893 – The Homily for the Day // newspaper “Daily Paper”, 1893, October 4 – p.12
1893 – An Offer of ВЈ100,000 to my Readers // Review of Reviews magazine, 1893, October – p.347-349
1893 – “Daily Paper” (The Daily Paper) // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1893, November – p.461-462
1894 – Disappearance of the “Daily Paper” (Exit the Daily Paper) // Review of Reviews magazine, 1894, January – p.3
1894 – A North Country Worthy // Review of Reviews magazine, 1894, July – pp. 5-8
1895 – The Conviction of Oscar Wilde // Review of Reviews magazine, 1895, June – p.491-492
1896 - Mr. Gladstone at Eighty-Six // McClure’s Magazine, 1896, August - p.195-207
1897 – Mark Twain // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1897, August – p.123-133
1897 – Hymns That Have Helped // McClure’s Magazine, 1897, December – p.172-179
1899 – The Cape to Cairo Railway // McClure’s Magazine, 1899, August – p.320-333
1900 – The Very Latest Goldfield in the Arctic Circle // “Review of Reviews” magazine, 1900, October – p.
1902 – Our Death Camps in South Africa // Review of Reviews magazine, 1902, January – p.8
1902 – Royal money in the modern world (The Money Kings of the Modern World) // The Saturday Evening Post magazine, 1902, December 13 – pp. 3-4, December 27 – pp. 8-9; 1903, January 3 – p.3-5, January 17 – p.13-14, January 31 – p.3-4, February 21 – p.4-5, March 21 – p.8-9, April 4 – p.8-9
1903 – Leopold of the Congo // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1903, July – p.
1904 – The Romance of Princess Radziwill // magazine “The Saturday Evening Post”, 1904, January 23 – pp. 1-2
1904 – South Africa After the War // The Saturday Evening Post magazine, 1904, July 9 – p.1-2, July 23 – p.3-4, August 6 – p.15- August 16, 27 – p.13-14, October 1 – p.13-15, November 5 – p.13-15
1905 – Member of Parliament Winston Churchill, the future man of England (Winston Churchill, M.P., England’s Coming Man) // Tom Watson’s Magazine, 1905, July – p.59-60
1905 – Should King Leopold be hanged? (Ought King Leopold to Be Hanged?) // Review of Reviews magazine, 1905, September - p.
1905 – John Redmond, Member of Parliament // Tom Watson’s Magazine, 1905, September – p.294-295
1905 – Russia and Her Rulers // magazine “The Saturday Evening Post”, 1905, December 16 – p.1-2, December 23 – p.13-14, December 30 – p.1-2
1906 – Indecisive Nicholas: The Secret of the Collapse (Nicholas the Irresolute: The Secret of the Collapse) // The Saturday Evening Post magazine, 1906, January 13 – pp. 1-2
1906 – The United States of Muscovy // magazine “The Saturday Evening Post”, 1906, January 27 – p.13-15
1906 - John Burns of Battersea // The Saturday Evening Post magazine, 1906, February 24 - p.10-11
1906 – The Revolution of the Century // The Saturday Evening Post magazine, 1906, March 31 – p.8-9
1906 – The Protest of the Women in the Lobby // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1906, November – p.458-460
1907 - The Coming Parliament of Man: as Seen from the Capitals of Europe // The Saturday Evening Post magazine, 1907, March 9 - pp. 5-6, March 30 - p. .6-7, April 13 – p.17-18, May 4 – p.10-11, June 1 – p.18-20
1908 – W. Randolph Hearst // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1908, October – pp. 327-338
1909 – A Newspaper of the Future the Future) // Cassell’s Magazine, 1909, March – p.354-357
1909 – “Julia’s Bureau”: An attempt to get closer to the next world (Julia’s Bureau: An Attempt to Bridge the Grave) // “Review of Reviews” magazine, 1909, May – p.433
1909 – The Love Ideals of a Suffragette by Claire de Pratz // Review of Reviews magazine, 1909, May – p.468-469
1910 - Women's March on June 18th (The Woman's Procession of June 18th) // Review of Reviews magazine, 1910, June - p.506
1910 – Six days work week(A Six Days" Working Week) // magazine "Review of Reviews", 1910, June - p.509
1910 – George V: King of the British Dominions beyond the Sea // Review of Reviews magazine, 1910, June – p.511-523
1910 – Florence Nightingale // Review of Reviews magazine, 1910, September – p.222-223
1910 – The Chancellor of the Exchequer at Criccieth // Review of Reviews magazine, 1910, September – p.227-232
1911 – Why I Believe in King George // “Everybody’s Weekly” magazine, 1911, April 15 – p.207-208
1911 – Women’s suffrage in power (Woman’s Suffrage in the Ascendant) // Review of Reviews magazine, 1911, July – pp. 18-19
1911 – The Psychology of Women // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1911, July – p.55
1912 – Men and Religion Forward Movement // magazine “Review of Reviews”, 1912, April – p.
1912 – The Great Pacifist: an Autobiographical Character Sketch // Review of Reviews magazine, 1912, August – p.609-620

In 1898, Morgan Robertson published a book entitled “The Vanity or the Fall of the Titan” about the death of the giant ship Titan in the North Atlantic when it collided with an iceberg. This ship was the most incredibly huge and far surpassed all ships built before it. The author described it as a beautiful liner in size, displacement and engine power extremely close to the Titanic, which sank 14 years later. It even coincides with the fact that there are only enough lifeboats on board for a third of the passengers.

What is the story with this book - is it reality or myth? Did the author of the novel surprisingly accurately describe the ship itself, its name and the circumstances of its death?

I spent half an hour carefully reading and flipping through this book.

What can I tell you about her? Firstly, I am very sorry for the time spent on this certainly very weak “novel”, which at best lasts for a thin brochure of 24 pages in large font with heart-warming pictures, and secondly... remember the joke?

“Tell me, is it true that Abramovich won a million in the lottery?

“True, but not Abramovich, but Rabinovich, not in the lottery, but in cards, not a million, but ten rubles, and he didn’t win, but lost...”

Under this title, the book was published precisely in 1912, and before that its title was “Vanity” and was dedicated to the story of a fallen sailor who eventually became a hero. The death of the ship is indeed one of the key scenes, but, perhaps, still not the main one. It was in the 1912 edition that the Titan's performance approached the real Titanic's performance. The author simply made the necessary changes to the text and changed the title of the book AFTER the real disaster.

There is a wonderful moment in the “novel” - raising the sails (?!) on the Titan in order to speed up its speed as much as possible. No less exciting is the description of the sinking of the ship. "Titan" at full speed (about 50 km per hour) completely flies onto a gently sloping iceberg without damaging the ship's hull! Then it falls on its side and the huge steam engines, falling off their fastenings, ram and break through the side. The ship slides off the iceberg and... immediately sinks almost instantly. Miraculously, the captain, first mate, seven sailors and one passenger manage to escape on one single (!) boat.

Now you can decide for yourself how similar the story of the ship’s sinking is to the real sinking of the Titanic. Yes, the best part is that main character with a child (of course, the daughter of the same rescued passenger, who in turn turns out to be the hero’s former lover) find themselves on an iceberg, where an impudent polar bear wants to feast on the defenseless child. The main character, in a brutal battle, manages to not only scratch the beast with a knife with a blade as long as twelve centimeters, but also heroically kill him.

What about the name, you ask? The author predicted the name almost exactly, being wrong by only two measly letters!

Hmm.. You say two letters, a surprisingly accurate prediction. What if I told you that long before the novel, in 1880, an article appeared in newspapers about the death of the ship Titania, which was sailing from England to the USA and died in a collision with an iceberg? The difference is only one letter! Only this is no longer a prediction, but a real fact. The ship with that name actually died under such circumstances.

Life sometimes gives rise to a bunch of amazing coincidences, which in themselves are neither predictions nor mystical prophecies.

Why this story about coincidences?

You will understand after my story about one of the passengers from the first class of the Titanic.

No, he is not a millionaire or a rich man. Journalist William Thomas Steed. One of many who did not act as heroes, but simply helped women and children get into boats. He didn’t ask or beg, he didn’t shove crumpled banknotes into the officer’s jacket with trembling hands.

According to all the laws of the genre, he simply had to survive in order to tell the truth about the last hours of the Titanic. William Steed was a pioneer of investigative journalism, where the journalist himself is no longer just a person writing detachedly about something, but actively taking part in events.

Absolutely fearless, unperturbed, he always said that he was not destined to die in his own bed. “I will either be lynched by the “heroes” I expose, or I will drown.” It’s strange, why was Steed so afraid of drowning? We'll come back to this a little later.

The “heroes” of the journalist’s revelations were the most different people- from brothel owners to the very top of the English political establishment. So he ruined the career and brought Sir Charles Dilke to ruin, and yet he was one of the main contenders for the post of the next Prime Minister of Great Britain.

William Steed's career included a prison sentence for kidnapping a child. As part of a journalistic investigation into child prostitution (in enlightened England, girls were allowed to sell their bodies from the age of 13!), he bought the virginity of a thirteen-year-old girl from her father for just 5 pounds through intermediaries, a brothel owner who had found a delicacy in the form of an untouched girl for the voluptuous gentleman . It was precisely the fact that he took the girl away from her father that was interpreted as a kidnapping. As a result, Steed received three months in prison, and the English public received a deafeningly shameful slap in the face in the form of a series of shocking articles exposing an entire industry of trafficking in girls.

William Steed was the first in the history of journalism to introduce such a concept as an interview. Before him, this genre did not exist at all! Among those he interviewed was the emperor and autocrat of all Rus', Emperor Alexander III.

How did the famous journalist end up on the Titanic? He was personally invited to the United States by President William Howard Taft for the International Peace Congress.

That fateful evening at dinner in the restaurant, Steed was, as always, the center of attention - he joked a lot, told entertaining stories and tales, including about the curse of an ancient Egyptian mummy. After some good wine and a cigar, he went to bed and came out on deck about twelve at night after colliding with the iceberg. The journalist was one of the few who immediately understood the seriousness of the situation and persuaded the women to board the boats. He even gave his life jacket to one of the passengers.

How exactly William Steed died is unknown. One of the witnesses said that just before the end he went into the smoking lounge to quietly smoke the last cigar.

So what about coincidences, premonitions and predestination?

In 1886, William Thomas Steed published the story “How the Mail Steamer Sank in the Mid-Atlantic. A survivor's story." It told in the first person about the wreck of the ship in cold waters, when there were only 400 people in lifeboats with 916 on board. How the officers stopped the panic and tried to land the women and children first, but the list of the ship became threatening and the half-empty boats left the ship, leaving 700 people to die. Those who rushed after the boats and ended up in the water died, the main character remained on the sinking ship.

How did he survive? But he didn’t survive... don’t laugh, the author simply takes a break and informs the readers that the story is fictitious, it shows what can actually happen in such a situation.

Is this not enough for you? Well, get more. In 1892, the journalist wrote another story, “From the Old World to the New.” In it, the author travels on a White Star Line campaign ship, and in the North Atlantic they pick up boats from another ship that died... in a collision with an iceberg.

Coincidences, predictions, premonitions... But is it really that important?

It is much more important to simply remain human when a maddened crowd storms the last boats...

“To the brave men - all who died in the sinking of the Titanic on April 15, 1912. They gave their lives so that women and children could save theirs. Built by the Women of America."

“To young and old, poor and rich, ignorant and learned, to all who nobly gave their lives to save women and children.”

Inscription on the Titanic Memorial (1931). Washington. The photo above shows the monument itself.

Diagnostics and diseases. Medicines from A to Z

Fiction Archive. People who died on the Titanic but could have changed the world The Diary of William Steed

The Case of Eliza Armstrong

Further career

Spiritualism

On board the Titanic

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Passage characterizing Stead, William Thomas

The Case of Eliza Armstrong

Further career

Spiritualism

On board the Titanic

Write a review of the article "Stead, William Thomas"

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Literature

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Passage characterizing Stead, William Thomas

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Why this story about coincidences?