Polite as a Mexican

Manuel Uruchurtu Ramírez, was a prominent attorney and close confidante of Ramon Corral, the former Vice-President.  Representing “los catrines” — the reactionaries and supporters of the old regime — Uruchurtu was elected to the Chamber of Deputies in the special election of 1911.  In the spring of  1912, he traveled to France to consult with the exiled Corral, and may have met with Don Porfirio.  Corral’s son-in-law, Guillermo Obregón, then chair of the Chamber of Deputies “Gran Comisión” (the Chamber’s ruling body), had traveled separately to France to consult with the former Vice-President.  They were probably up to no good (most of Corral’s cronies were), but Uruchurtu would be completely forgotten today if it wasn’t for a display of those old-fashioned manners Mexicans are known for.

Uruchurtu and Obregón both needed to return to Mexico.   For whatever reason, Uruchurtu needed to get home sooner than Obregón, so the two switched tickets for the return voyage from Cherbourg to New York.  You can figure out the rest…

Elizabeth Ramsdel Nye, a thirty-year old second-class passenger on the same ship as Uruchurtu lived to the age of  81, because the only Mexican aboard the Titanic

had the opportunity to take a seat in lifeboat 11 but that, as the boat was about to be lowered, he noticed an English lady of the Second Class standing by the bulwark. She pleaded to be let into the boat, because her husband and little child were awaiting her. He stood up and offered his place to her, only asking her to visit his wife at Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico.

Mrs. Nye, who settled in the United States, did visit Xalapa and Uruchurtu’s widow in 1924.

A recent study from Uppsala University, breaking down survival rates during shipwrecks by gender, suggests that it’s every man for himself (and women and children last) when a great ship goes down.

British ships have the worst record according to the study, but maybe that’s because few Mexicans travel on British ships.

(La Opinion, Encyclopedia Titanic)