TITANIC INQUEST.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCV, Issue 14731, 25 April 1912, Page 5

TITANIC INQUEST.

—-.—* THE AMEBIC AN INQUIRY. . IMPORTANT WITNESSES. A" CEOWS-NEST OBSERVEK. OFFICERS EXAMINED. Tiess Association —By "el.—Copyright Received 9.45 p.m., April 24th. WASHINGTON, April 24. Fredk. Fleet gave evidence that he was in the Crow s Nest at the time of the collision. He had been instructed to look out sharply for ice. He saw one large berg and two small tables, and sounded throe boils and telephoned to the bridge. The vessel immediately went to port. The ice gat larger :.s they went along, and when the ship stiuck it was about fifty feet high. H-.> was not alarmed at the collision, but thought it a narrow shave. The lockouts had asked Mr Lightcller, secondofficer, for glasses for the At'nntie vcyage as glasses had been provided for Belfast and Southampton. Mr LiglitoUcr said theic were none. Fleet opined that if the lookouts had had glasses they would have been able to give sufficient warning. Fleet took charge of a lifeboat containing three mill and twenty-fire women. He had. orders to pull towards a light off the Titanic*s oif-bow, but he failed to find the vessel. At one time he. was abreast of a boat, but it slipped by. A YACHTSMAN'S STORY. Major Peachen, of Toronto, gave evidence that he inspected the iceberg and thought the collision was not serious. Later, when showing Mr Hays, the iceberg, he noticed the ship's list. Mr- Hays replied: "The Titanic can't sink, whatever we hare struck. She is good for oight or ten hours." Major Penchen said he then went to the lifeboats and was surprised that the sailors wore not at their posts. There was a shortage of competent seamen. There were thirty-six women in the first life-boat. A crowd of stokers came on deck and the officer pluekily drove them off the d«Jc like sheep, and called for women to fill the second boat. ' He thought the failure to sound a general alarm accounted for many women not coming on deck intime to go in thb boats. Ho wondered, why more men were taken when they were lowered. Mj lightoller said": "They cannot manage a boat." One seaman asked witness (who is a yachtsman) to slip down a rope and take an oar. The lifeboat was rowed as fast as possible to escape the suction. Shortly afterwards he heard the Titanic signal to return. Those in tha life-boat did not wish to do so,, only because a Quarter-master saidi- '"?* ijj °"r liT « against these on the ship." Married women's protests were ignored. x THE THIRD OFFICER. Mr Pitman, third officer, gave evidence that a special lcok-out was kept lor ice on Sunday. At .first he did not think the collision serious. He met-Mr Ismay, who was in his dressing gown, and said "Hurry, there's no time for fooling." Ho told witness to get women and children into the boats. Mr Tsmay helped to launch one and remained on the Titanic. When witness's boat left he expected to be able to bring the passengers aboard again m a few hours. The boat was not filled because there were no more women about where it was lowered The Titanic settled by the head, and then suddenly stood on end and dived straight down. Four explosions like big guns followed; ho believed they were bulkheads bursting. There were many cries of distress. He ordered the men to get out the oars and pull towards the wTeck to save a few more as there were only fortv aboard the < boat, wliich would hold sixty passengers. They demurred, savin" it was a mr.d idea. Even the women did not urge him to return, and he yielded to th& passengers' importunities. Pressed by Senator Smith ' Mr Pitman gave harrowing details. He said lie heard screams, and one lon~ continuous moan, as . if in death rue cries continued for an hour. Hehad no personal knowledge of the ship mentioned by BoxhaU. Mr Smith suggested that it might have been the Helipad, which'was docked at New York on the 17th and reported having encountered "an ' ice berg near where the Titanic sank. ' the pubhc were excluded from the'' mqw.r m consequence of their interruptions. J I , r . . , NEW Y °HK, April 23. 'r„L ank 1 VICe -P" SI of the .International Mercantile. Marine Company, gave evidence that the collision probably opened five or six watertight compartments. b THE FOURTH OFFICER. Mr Boxshali, the Titanic's fourth' officer, said that the iceberg was dark grey, thirty feet high. After the collision they fired Morse lights to attract a ship which was five miles awav. Uie ship did not answer, though the Titanic signalled, "Come at once. We are sinking.;' He did not know, tie name of the slup. PERTINENT QUESTIONS " LONDON, April 23. The "Daily News" New York correspondent states that tile Senate intends inquiring whether the. Titanic's officers <i-src-ga:ded repeated warnings of the ; presence of icebergs on the Atlantic route; whether it was unavoidable that a hundred women perished; why the ; White Star Company was ignorant of the disaster until evening, though the Baltic and the Olympic knew of the details at noon: why a Marconi official »:rclossc-d to the onerators on the CarpTtua en Thursday, "Say nothing ho-J ycur story for debars in four figures." b ' Th- correspondent adds that there is sonic'talk of a club boveott of the men who left the ship, while women we-eon board, but it Is difficult to cruic.ce .lien when boat after boat was

lowered partly 'filled. Nine out of ten passengers' for an hour and a half believed that the steamer was unsinkaWe, and deliberately refused to enter the earlier boats. The "Times" calls attention to the ignorance of Senator Smith, chairman of t!ie -enquiry, who asked Mr Lightuiler. the second officer, whether t:ie watertight ccmpartnieiits were intended r.s a refuge for passengers. THE BRITISH INQUIRY. WILL COYEII WIDE GROUND. Mr Will Crooks moved the adjournment of the House to call attention to the necessity of the Board of Trade preventing the officers, crew, and passengers of the Titanic dispersing before they had given evidence at the British inquiry. Mr Buxton, President of the Board of Trade, in replying, promised to subpoena all who were iieeeesary, and to subsidise the poorer witnesses. . Lord Mersey, who had. been Appointed Wreck Commissioner, assisted by assessors would, ho said, commence the investigation directly. The Government was a.'co convening a meeting of British companies to consider precautions pending a revision of the law. Upon this assurance Mr Crooks withdraw his motion. Lord Mersey's committee and the Merchant Shipping Advisory Committee meet to discuss matters affecting their reports. Mr Buxton will decide as to the expediency of a further national or international committee or commission. Meanwhile he has ordered affidavits to be obtained from America of cifieerr:, crew, or passengers who are not returning to Eng'and, and who aro able to -rive any useful information referring to the disaster. MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS. The Hoffman children aro sons of a Nice tailor. Their mother asserts that the father kidnapped the children a" month ago and disappeared. Thiity-two raw, frcni the first and second class wero amongst those drowned in the Titanic wreck. No engineers were saved. One hundred bodies have been recovered, among the first to bo identified being the body of Mr Widener, a millionaire. Bills are being introduced into Congress to present gold medals to the captain and crew of the Carpathia, and to give 10.000 dollars apiece to the widows of the Titanic's American mail clerks. The Queen of Norway has given one hundred guineas to tho Lord Mayor's fund, which lias now reached £105,000. Utile r funds in Britain and America total £70,000. If tho freight steamer Lena had been equipped- with wireless she could -have reached the Titanic in time to save those on board. She passed within twenty miles cf the sinking liner. I lie White Star and Cunard . Company state that their captains' standing instructions are to ensure the safety of lives and ship before cons:derihg spe-rd. A steward named Nicholas states hair the men went back to bed three quarters of an hour after the collision. He saw a passenger punching a ball in tho gymnasium. Women had to be coaxed to enter the boats. Mr Peter Daly, a first saloon passenger, states that tho ' captain ran to the railing, calling, "Bring the boats bac.c, they are only half filled." The. opinion is expressed at Llovds that it us passible that tho officers" of the Titanic mistook a reflection of then- own lights from a distant ice- ' uerg for an apVcaeJung ~ sse ]_ A conference of leading shippincompanies, including these in the tral.au trade, infcrr.ied Mr Buxton that the,r had decided to provide boats and rafts for all on board their ves-se-s at th* earliest possible date There were 710 third class passengers on board the Titanic, whereof V>77 wero wonfcn, and 138 third c _=s were eared, whereof 10S are women. Twentv stewardesses were also saved Mrs Thayer indignantly denies a newspaper statement that she said she wild a «uHre_a t_Ks rather ho dead than be Mr Ismay. she state that t'l Z S T P t*° Mr ism *r >■-«*■ hj? fc w° rr,Me , s+ ' niort( ~ *-Wto he* being subjected, and advising mm, to have courage the Waimate Borough Council on Tuesday even no-, nn j +,,. '£," " n ;tlcL_t~' ~nnrm ■ jjl__«—