Summary
28 April 2014
The last letter to be written on the ill-fated Titanic has sold for 拢119,000 at auction.
It was written by survivors Esther Hart and her young daughter hours before the ship hit an iceberg and sank in 1912.
Reporter:
Duncan Kennedy
Titanic memorabilia is big business at auction houses
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Report
Esther Hart sat down with her seven-year-old daughter Eva to write the letter just eight hours or so before the Titanic hit the iceberg. It was for her mother in London. And in it Mrs Hart wrote that they were enjoying what she called "the wonderful journey".
She said they were likely to arrive in New York early because of the speed at which the ship was travelling.
The letter ended up in the coat pocket of her husband Benjamin and only survived because he gave her the coat to keep warm. He died along with more than 1,500 others.
Titanic memorabilia continues to be big business. A menu on the day of the disaster was recently sold for 拢76,000 whilst a violin, played as the ship sank, went for 拢900,000.
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Vocabulary
- or so
approximately; more or less
- hit
(here) crashed into
- likely
probably
- survived
stayed alive after nearly dying because of an accident or illness
- memorabilia
objects which people collect because they are related to a particular place, person or event
- big business
financial activites which generate a lot of money
