TITANIC INQUIRY.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 182, 31 July 1912, Page 5

TITANIC INQUIRY.

RECOMMENDATIONS OF LORD

MERSEY.

BOATS FOR ALL ON BOARD.

■WATERTIGHT DECKS AND

BULKHEADS.

THE BALTIC'S ICE WARNING.

BRIBERY CHARGE DISPROVED.

(By Cable.—Press Association.—

fßeceived 9.15 ajn.)

LONDON, July 30. Lord Mersey (President of the Board of Inquiry into the loss of thc Titanic), in his report, says that the gross charge that Sir Cosmo Duff-Gordon bribed the sailors of the boat in which they escaped was unfounded.

The third-class passengers were not unfairly treated. It was irregular for Captain Smith to give Mr. J. Bn:oe Ismay the Baltic's message relative to the presence of ice, and it was improper for Mr. Ismay to retain it. The incident, however, did not influence the navigation of the vessel. He regretted that some of the i Titanie's lifeboats did not attempt to save life, particularly No. 1. He condemned the practice of running at full speed through ice regions at night. The Board of Trade should remind shipmasters that it is a misdemeanour not to go to the assistance of a vessel in distress. The report recommends an international conference on longitudinal and vertical bulkheads, and also watertight bulkheads on each side of the ship, watertight decks above the water line, and searchlights. It recommends that lifeboats and rafts be provided according to the persons carried, not to the tonnage, more frequent boat, fire, and watertight door drills, a police system on all ships to. secure obedience, and that wireless operator* bo on duty night and day. Lord 'Mersey declares that the disaster was due to excessive speed. The boat arrangements were improper and insufficient. Captain Smith was grievously mistaken but was not negligent. No moral duty was imposed on Mr. Ismay 'to await the sinking of the ! Titanic. I The steamer Californian saw the emkj ing vessel's lights and could have saved j many. STEAMER COLLIDES WITH BERG. BEACHES POST SAFELY. (Received 11.20 ajn.) ST. JOHN , (Newfoundland), July 30. The British steamer 'Manchester Invention has arrived here. She collided in a dense fog -with a submerged iceberg. Her fore compartments -were pierced and the deck cargo had to be jettisoned.