Titanic ticket belonging to last US survivor auctioned

A ticket for the Titanic's ill-fated voyage that belonged to the last survivor with memories of the disaster sold to a collector from the United States at a British auction Saturday.

Lillian Asplund, who died in 2006 at the age of 99, was 5 years old when the Titanic hit an iceberg and sank during its maiden voyage from England to New York in 1912. Her father and three siblings were among the 1,500 people who died.

She was the last American survivor of the disaster and the last with memories of it. There are at least two alive survivors who had been too young at the time of the sinking to recall their experience.

Asplund's ticket sold for $65,772 auctioneer Andrew Aldridge said.

Another key item sold from Asplund's collection was her father's pocket watch, which reportedly stopped at the exact moment the ship sank.

Aldridge said the hands of the watch were stopped at 2:19 a.m., when Asplund's father Carl fell into the North Atlantic and seconds before the Titanic disappeared beneath the waves.

The watch was bought by a Swedish collector for $61,786, Aldridge said.

He said most of Asplund's collection of 364 items — which included rare photographs of the Titanic and post cards printed to mark the voyage — had been sold at Saturday's auction.

The lots were previously kept at Asplund's home in Massachusetts and have never been seen before in public, he said.

Asplund's parents, Carl and Selma, and their five children were traveling on the Titanic as they headed from their home in Sweden to the U.S. to make a new life in Worcester, Mass., Aldridge said.

Lillian, her youngest sibling, Felix, and their mother, Selma, all survived the sinking

一张“泰坦尼克号”的船票于上周六在英国被一名美国收藏家拍得。这张船票来自最后一位记得那场沉船灾难的幸存者。

这位名叫莉莲•阿斯普隆德的幸存者已于2006年去世，享年99岁，当年那场灾难发生时她只有五岁。1912年，“泰坦尼克号”在从英格兰到纽约的“处女航”途中因撞上冰山而沉没，导致共1500人丧生，莉莲的父亲和三个兄妹也在其中。

莉莲是这场灾难最后一个幸存的美国人，也是最后一个记得这场灾难的当事人。目前，“泰坦尼克号”沉船事故的幸存者中至少还有两人健在，但当时他们都太小，对当时的情形没有任何记忆。

据拍卖商安德鲁•阿尔德里吉介绍，莉莲的那张船票以65772美元的高价拍出。

连同船票一同拍卖的另一件珍贵藏品是莉莲父亲的一块怀表，据说这块表恰好是在“泰坦尼克号”沉没的那一刻停掉的。

据阿尔德里吉介绍，这块怀表的指针停在2点19分，莉莲的父亲就是在此刻坠入北大西洋的，而几秒钟后，“泰坦尼克号”也消失在茫茫大海上。

这块表被瑞典的一位收藏家以61786美元的价格拍得。

据阿尔德里吉介绍，莉莲的大多数藏品都在上周六的拍卖会上被拍出。莉莲共珍藏了364件与“泰坦尼克号”有关的物品，其中包括“泰坦尼克号”的珍贵照片和为纪念“泰坦尼克号”首航而印制的明信片。

他说，之前，这些物品都保存在莉莲马萨诸塞的家中，而且从未被公诸于世。

当年，莉莲跟随父母卡尔和塞尔玛，以及四个兄弟姐妹离开瑞典，一同登上“泰坦尼克号”，准备前往美国马萨诸塞州的伍斯特开始新的生活。而不幸的是，最后只有莉莲和她的小弟弟费利克斯以及母亲塞尔玛逃过了这一劫。