SOME dates are shorthand for infamy. April 15, 1912, is one: the night when the Titanic sank. It was last century's September 11. Like September 11, disaster came from nowhere; it involved huge loss of life - more than 1,500 people died; and it was a man-made tragedy.

Unlike the twin towers, the Titanic perished not through an act of terrorism, but from a combination of human error and arrogance.

Ninety years ago, there were no television pictures, radio broadcasts or Internet bulletins to flash the news around the globe in an instant. Nevertheless, reports of an event that took place in the middle of the Atlantic 450 miles from Newfoundland did reach the British newspapers remarkably quickly thanks to wireless telegraphy.

In the days before the disaster, the Yorkshire Evening Press had been filled with the debate over the Home Rule Bill. Forty pigs at the York City Asylum farm were slaughtered after an outbreak of swine fever. And a meeting in York's Victoria Hall agreed to take steps to establish a professional football team in the city; the chairman "remarked that it was desirable to get a ground on the Fulford tram route".

In the April 15 issue, the front page advertisements presented the people of York with a choice of animal-inspired entertainment: The Boxing Kangaroo at the Empire, and showing at the Electric Theatre, Fossgate: Attacked By A Lion.

The first report of the fate of the Titanic could be found on an inside page. "Shipping Calamity: World's Largest Liner In Collision" read the headline.

At that time, the news was hopeful. "New York, Monday. A telegram received here from Montreal says that the liner Virginian reports, in a wireless communication, that the liner Titanic, which reported to have been in collision with an iceberg, has requested assistance. The Virginian is hastening to her aid," the story began.

It went on: "An intelligence states that the Virginian arrived alongside the Titanic and is taking passengers and crew on board. It added that it is now assured there will be no loss of life."

This apparently positive outcome did not ameliorate the shock. "This latest shipping disaster, coming so soon after the sinking of the P and O liner Oceana, will cause consternation throughout England," a separate article said.

"The Titanic, a leviathan in every sense of the word, and a luxury leviathan to boot, is the largest ship afloat, and her departure upon her maiden voyage from Southampton to New York was an event marking the latest note of progress in modern shipbuilding."

By the next day, the true scale of the tragedy had emerged. "Today's messages only serve to emphasise how swift and complete has been the cruel fate which has overtaken the White Star leviathan," the Evening Press leader read.

"The Titanic, as a result of the terrible impact with an enormous iceberg, has gone to the bottom and there are, unfortunately, too good grounds for believing that many hundreds of souls have perished."

The trauma was all the more profound as "everything that human skill and ingenuity could suggest had been devised for making the leviathan practically unsinkable".

It had become clear that no other vessel, the Virginian included, was anywhere near the ship when it sank. The Carpathia had arrived many hours later, to find "boats and wreckage only". It had taken 675 survivors on board, mainly women and children, reports suggested, from the total number on the Titanic of 2,358.

Mr Franklin, of the White Star company, feared "there has been serious loss of life", but added: "The Titanic had sufficient lifeboats to take off the whole of the passengers and crew."

By Wednesday, April 17, 1912, the Evening Press was "staggered at the stupendous loss which the wreck has involved". It also honoured the heroism of those who went down with the ship, including the Captain, Edward Smith.

"Already sufficient news has come to hand to show that, in the hour of dire disaster, the true spirit of the Anglo-Saxon race was once again manifested, that it was the men who waited behind to calmly face death in order that the women and children might be saved."

But reports in that edition suggested the heroes had little choice. The US government was launching an inquiry into the number of lifeboats on board the Titanic.

There were "2,358 souls on board. She had lifeboat accommodation for 970 persons. It would have been no more had the ship been full, and if full she would have carried 3,080 persons...

"She had a few collapsible boats - probably half a dozen. A collapsible boat approved by the Board of Trade may be able to carry about 50 persons in calm weather. On the most favourable reckoning the boats could not have carried much more than half the population of the ship."

The first survivors' accounts were by now filtering through. It was a beautiful night, said Robert Davill, of Virginia. "We were surrounded by icebergs, and some of us were on deck enjoying the strange and beautiful scene when the crash came."

Mr Haven, of Indianapolis, said the Titanic struck a glancing blow to the iceberg as it attempted to turn away.

"There were six others at the table with me, and they are all lost. Nobody seemed to realise the danger, and many refused to go into the boats.

"There were 16 ordinary boats and four collapsible boats two of which, I understood, were swamped.

"Several persons died in the boats from exposure, and dropped into the sea before the Carpathia was sighted. The condition of scores of others was terrible, owing to fright, exposure, frozen feet etc.

"The collision took place at 11.45 and the liner went down two and a half hours later. Few people wanted to go in the boats, apparently thinking it a lot of excitement for nothing, but after the last had gone there was some stampeding and I saw hundreds jump.

"Before she sank, the Titanic broke into pieces. The ship's officers tried to stop the men getting into the boats, and one well-known man was pushed back when he attempted to accompany his wife."

The captain of the Carpathia, however, had heard "no such stories" about men being kept back from the lifeboats at gunpoint.

Another survivor, Mrs Dick, told journalists: "As the boat went down, about half past two, I saw the ship's band lined up on the deck. They were playing 'Nearer My God To Thee'."

Robert Davill commented: "Captain Smith stuck to the bridge like a hero, and the behaviour of the crew was perfect."

Among the crew, the Evening Press reported, were two York men: J Foley, 44, a store keeper; and C Stagg, 37, a steward who had since moved to Liverpool.

Updated: 10:51 Monday, April 15, 2002