April 13, 1912 was the last full day day before the Titanic struck the iceberg. What did the New York Sun report?

Yesterday there was a report of embezzlement at the First National Bank of Berlin in Utica, New York. Today, the paper reports that the alleged embezzler Frank T. Arnold is dying, with no hope for survival. (Apparently, he was “blackmailed” by letters which contained nothing that would reflect poorly on him, and he attributed his high standard of living to investment of funds his wife had earned as a notable singer!)

Maybe more interesting is the case of ten-month-old Ruth Fleischman who the paper reports was snatched from her baby carriage by an Annie Boyorsky, who had been through several surgeries and seemed to not be right in the head. Something that surprises me about old newspapers is how they would report actual addresses! This article says exactly where little Ruth’s parents live!

The murder of a rich man (George E. Marsh) in Massachusetts also warrants front-page news in this New York newspaper.

For those more interested in romance and/or the sea, here’s a story, though it doesn’t sound very plausible to me.

COUNTESS FROM THE STEERAGE

Bursotti Started Here for an Heiress, but Fell in Love.

Elvira Pizzani, a pretty Neapolitan, arrived yesterday in the steerage of the Sicula-Americana steamship San Giorgio with her mother, who sent to Italy to bring her here, and a young Italian who says he is the Count Gustavo Bursotti and that he originally intended to marry some wealthy American girl. The Count was in the cabin when the San Giorgio sailed from Naples, but the magnetism of the little Neapolitan drew him down to the steerage. The rule of the ship is that steerage passengers must not come to the cabin, but the cabin passengers may go to the steerage. So for more than two weeks, the Count slept in the cabin and lived in the steerage, especially on moonlit nights.

How the Count came to first notice Elvira is told differently by different romancers. One said that her “mantilla” was blown from her shoulders by a brisk wind and that it flew to the upper deck and was caught by the Count, who took it down to Elvira. Another story was that the Count had been fascinated by the beauty of Elvira and went down to the steerage to seek an introduction and that just then the ship rolled heavily and Elvira, who was standing near the rail, started to go over it when the gallant Count caught her in his strong right arm and saved her.

However they got introduced, the Count showed that he was an honorable and ardent lover and asked Elvira to be his wife. She consented and then, so it is said, a jewelier who chanced to be aboard fashioned one of the Count’s several rings into an engagement ring to fit Elvira’s finger. The mother gave her consent and before the whole ship’s company the Count said the little Neapolitan was the girl for him and to anywhere with all the American heiresses!

But the Count felt a bit blue when they sent the little girl to Ellis Island with her mother and refused to let him go along. He landed and got there later, in time to see the sweetheart released in charge of her father, who is in business here. The Count said that he had come here on a “little commissiona” and that after he was through with it he would go back to Naples with his bride.

The San Giorgio was just 6,392 tons (the Titanic exceeded 46,000 tons!). Looks like a pretty humble ship to me. In November 1910, her third-class passengers traveling to New York had to be quarantined due to a suspected cholera outbreak. In light of those concerns, I’m kind of surprised that the cabin-class/first-class passengers were allowed to go to the steerage section (if in fact they could), but who knows.