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Everyone’s heard of the Titanic, a British passenger liner operated by the White Star Line which sank on April 15, 1912 after hitting an iceberg. More than 1500 people lost their lives in the disaster. Among them were a railway magnate who was on his way to Ottawa for the grand opening of his company’s first hotel. There was also a large group from a village in Syria, now Lebanon, coming to Ottawa to start new lives.

Charles Melville Hays was born in Rock Island, Illinois on May 16, 1856. He became the General Manager of the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada in 1896 and then president in 1909^[1]. While as General Manager, the company was persuaded by the Canadian Government to build the western portion of a new transcontinental railway across Canada, called the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, along with a series of hotels^[2]. By 1906, plans for one of the hotels were made^[3] and construction began on the Chateau Laurier and new Central Station in 1909.

There was some opposition from the public about the chosen location of the hotel as it would reduce the size of Major’s Hill Park and close off its entrance to Wellington Street^[4]. In fact, one person on city council thought the plan was a bluff and said that the hotel would never be built in the park^[5]. However, the Prime Minister at the time, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, intervened and sold part of the park to Grand Trunk^[6]. In return, the company named the hotel after Laurier.

In March 1912, Hays travelled to London to conduct business for the Grand Trunk. There’s a story that Hays also went to London to purchase furniture for the hotel. However, there is no contemporary evidence of this^[7] and it’s possible the story first appeared in an Ottawa Citizen article in 1987^[8].

It’s also been told that Hays was anxious to return for the opening of the Chateau Laurier on April 26, 1912. Instead, all news articles at the time reported that the hotel would open its doors on May 24, with the first mention of this date on March 9^[9], long before Hays perished on the Titanic.

His original plans were to travel to France to spend Easter with his daughter and son-in-law and catch a different ship from Cherbourg, France.

While in London, he met J. Bruce Ismay, the chairman of the White Star Line, who offered him 1st class passage on the Titanic^[10]. In a letter he wrote on April 1st, he said he was enjoying his time in England and would instead travel back aboard the Titanic. Hays also received word that another daughter of his back in Canada was having a difficult pregnancy and the Titanic was the fastest choice to get home.

Also on board the Titanic as a 1st class passenger was Belgian-born sculptor Paul Chevré. Hays commissioned Chevré to sculpt a bust of Laurier for the hotel. He boarded the ship when it stopped at Cherbourg, France on April 10^[11].

During the voyage, according to one of the survivors Archibald Gracie, Hays, while discussing the various cruise line companies building bigger and more luxurious ships, prophetically said that ”the time will soon come when the greatest and most appalling of all disasters at sea will be the result".^[12] A few hours later, on the evening of April 14, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg. While Chevré made it to a lifeboat and survived the sinking, Hays went down with the ship. One survivor, Major Arthur Peuchen, reported in the Ottawa Citizen that Hays’ last known words were “Good-bye, Peuchen. I feel that the ship will last another eight hours and by that time we shall have assistance".^[10] Hays’ body was recovered on April 26^[13].

Initially, Hays was listed in Ottawa newspapers as a survivor. However, as time went on and there was no contact with Hays, it became clear he had died on the Titanic. It was decided on April 22 that the hotel would still open on May 24 but with no fanfare^[14]. On April 24, in honour of Hays, all trains along all Grand Trunk railway lines across Canada stopped for 5 minutes along with the workers building the Chateau Laurier^[15].

Due to unfinished work, the opening date was pushed and the hotel opened its doors on June 1, 1912^[16]. Chevre’s bust of Laurier was brought across the Atlantic aboard the SS La Bretagne ahead of the Titanic and today it still remains in the front lobby of the hotel. Edson Chamberlain replaced Hays as president of the Grand Trunk Railway. The company later went into receivership and was absorbed by Canadian National Railway.

Elsewhere In 3rd class, a group of 14 people from a village called Kafr Mishki in Syria, now Lebanon, were on their way to Ottawa to start new lives. They made the journey to Cherbourg, France to board the Titanic.

Although all of them originally came from the village, some like Sleiman Attala, Joseph Caram and Mariyam Assaf had lived in Ottawa for years and returned home to bring loved ones back to Canada’s Capital. Sleiman was listed as a journalist and the only one to list his hometown as Ottawa^[17].

Joseph returned to Syria to marry Maria Elias and bring her back to start their lives in Ottawa. Along for the journey were her father and 2 of her brothers.

Mariyam emigrated to Ottawa in 1907 (or 1908) and made enough money to return to the village. On her return to Ottawa aboard the Titanic, she was travelling with her cousin and nephew. Two others in the group were journalists who had emigrated to Canada years before and were on their way back to Ottawa. A mother and daughter were also en route to Ottawa with the group. And finally, the 14th person from the village travelling to Ottawa was an 18 year-old general labourer^[18].

People in 3rd class were the least likely to survive the sinking. Out of the 14 of the group from Syria on board the Titanic’s maiden voyage, only one survived, Mariyam.

Once back in Ottawa, she gave her tearful account of the tragedy, through a translator, to the Ottawa Citizen. She remembered a great confusion as everybody tried to rush on deck and that some of the 3rd class passengers were shot dead by the captain and some of the officers. She was able to get to the 1st class deck where she was pushed into one of the lifeboats. The lifeboat was lowered and safely rowed away. They drifted in the bitterly cold sea for about 6 hours before being picked up by the Carpathia. She was devastated as she knew all the people onboard from the village as they were either family or friends^[18].

Once in Ottawa, Mariyam stayed with her cousin David Shaheen at 155 Broad Street in Lebreton Flats. Over time, she made a small fortune in Ottawa and eventually returned to Kafr Mishki.

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