“Mrs Charles A Hellwig was hostess at a tea in honor of Miss Ruth Waller, a Honolulu girl who will leave shortly for England where she will be married to Hugh Clegg, a wealthy manufacturer.”
“Miss Waller has been abroad for the last six years studying music and languages and returned to California to spend the winter with her parents and took a house in Central avenue, Alameda. The wedding will take place in London.” (Hawaiian Star, January 27, 1912)
“At a pretty home ceremony, witnessed by half a hundred relatives and close friends, Miss Ruth Waller of Alameda became the bride of John Hugh Clegg of England … The bride was given in marriage by her father Gilbert Waller … formerly prominent residents of Honolulu.”
“The Royal Hawaiian Quintette furnished the wedding music, and Miss Gladys Kaighin, a friend of the bride, sang several appropriate songs prior to the ceremony. An elaborate wedding supper followed. The bride’s table was decked in pink roses and pink shaded candles, with water colored name cards of cupids and miniature brides marking places for fifteen.”
“The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gilbert Waller of Central avenue, formerly prominent residents of Honolulu, and is well-known in the social circles of the Encinal City. She is charming, accomplished, a talented violinist.”
“She met Clegg when studying music in Leipsic. Clegg is a wealthy English merchant, and their wedding trip will include a tour of the world. On March 1 they will sail for Honolulu, from there to Australia and India, eventually reaching London, their future home.”
“The ceremony was originally set for the 14th, but was hastened on account of the imperative departure today of the bride’s father for Honolulu, necessitated by business affairs.” (Hawaiian Star, March 11, 1912)
Their travels did not go as planned …
“Clegg and his bride (had) expected to return on the Titanic. Clegg’s business delayed his return and he was unable to sail on the Titanic. He probably owes his life and the life of his bride to this press of business.”
“Clegg was personally acquainted with Captain Smith, the commander of the ill-fated Titanic. Smith was in command of the Olympic on the voyage to Liverpool, leaving the Olympic at the end of that trip to take over the Titanic.” (Hawaiian Star, June 1, 1912)
“(I)n the cold, dark, early morning hours of 15 April 1912, the new and magnificent White Star liner RMS Titanic sank after colliding with an iceberg, approximately 365 nautical miles east-northeast of the Newfoundland coast.”
“The ship, en route to New York on her maiden voyage, was at the time the largest passenger liner in the world, but certainly not the fastest.”
“Although touted as nearly unsinkable by many, the great ship foundered some two hours and forty minutes after striking an iceberg, sending her approximately two and a half miles down to the bottom of the North Atlantic.”
“The loss of life was horrific and, for many, totally unnecessary and was the greatest maritime disaster of the time. No one was ever held accountable for the negligence, gross negligence, or criminal acts that resulted in the needless deaths of this tragedy.” (Paton; The Final Board of Inquiry)
For context, in 1912, “In England, Winston Churchill announced that the Royal Navy would be enlarged and the British War Staff is established. Scott’s Antarctic expedition reached the South Pole only to discover that Amundsen had arrived there first. Coal miners throughout England went on strike and the Titanic commenced her sea trials in Belfast Lough on 2 April 1912.”
“The Royal Air Force was formed and England informed Germany that it would aid France in the event of attack by Germany. The clouds of war were already forming.”
“In other maritime news three unrelated sea disasters took place. The SS Kichemuru sank in a violent storm off the coast of Japan with a loss of 1,000 lives, the Spanish SS Principe de Asturias sank with 500 dead, and two steamships collided on the Nile resulting in 200 deaths.”
“The Titanic left Southampton for Cherbourg on 10 April and later commenced her maiden transatlantic voyage from Queenstown (now Cobb), Ireland, to New York. The Titanic subsequently sank on 15 April at 0227, approximately 365 nautical miles off the Newfoundland coast, with great loss of life.”
“In the United States the first lady, Mrs. Taft, planted the first cherry tree in Washington, D.C. The Dixie Cup was invented and U.S. Marines invaded Nicaragua and re-invaded Cuba. The Beverly Hills Hotel opened.”
“This is the backdrop against which the world, while still at peace, witnessed the worst maritime disaster it had ever experienced. It was a loss that was suffered by not only immigrants and middle-class professionals but by the elite of high society and wealth on both sides of the Atlantic as well.” (Paton; The Final Board of Inquiry)
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