BEFORE THE COMMITTEE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 98, 25 April 1912, Page 7

BEFORE THE COMMITTEE

LOOK-OUT MAN'S EVIDENCE. WARNINGS OF~BERGS GIVEN. NEW YORK, 24th Apiil. At the resumed fitting of the- Senate Enquiry Committee yesterday, Frederick Fleet gay« evidence that h© was in the aow'fi nest on tha Titanic ftt tho_tim<*.

of the collision, fie had been instructed to look out sharply for ice. He saw a berg and ona large and two small tables as three bells (9.30 p.m.) sounded. He telephoned' to the bridge, and the vessel immediately went to port. The ice got larger as they went along, and when they struck it was about 50ft high. He was not alarmed at the collision, but thought it was a narrow shave. Fleet stated that the look-outs had asked Mr. Lightoller, the first officer, for glasses for the Atlantic voyage. Glasses had been provided at Belfast and Southampton, but Mr. Lightoller said there were none. Fleet expreeeed the opinion that if lookouts had had glasses they would have been able to givo sufficient warning. Fleet said he took charge of a lifeboat containing three men* and twentyfive women. He had orders to pull towards a light off tho Titanic's bow, but failed to find any vessel. At one time he wae abreast of a boat, but it slipped by/ "TITANIC CAN'T SINK. Major Peuchen, of Toronto, a passenger, stated that he inspected the iceberg after the collision, and thought the accident was not serious. Later, while showing Mr. C. M. Hays the iceberg, he noticed the ship's list. Mr. Hays replied, "The Titanic can't sink. Whatever we have struck, she's good for eight or ten hours." Major Peuchen then went to the lifeboats, and was surprised that the sailors were not at their posts. There was a shortage of competent seamen. STOKERS DRIVEN LIKE SHEEP. Thirty-six women were placed in the first lifeboat. A crowd of stokers came ou deck, but an officer pluckily drove them off the deck like sheep, and called for women to fill the second boat. Some refused to leave their husbands. Major Peuchen thought the failure to sound a general alarm accounted for many of the women not coming on deck in time to go in the boate. He had wondered why more men were taken in when the boats were lowered, but Mr. Lightoller said, "We cannot manage a' boat with one seaman." He asked 1 the witness, who ie a yachtsman, to slip down a rope and take an oar in a lifeboat. SIGNAL TO RETURN IGNORED. They rowed away as fast ac possible to escape the suction. Shortly afterwards they heard the Titanic signal the boats to return, but those in the lifeboat did not wish to do so, because the quartermaster said, "It is our liveis against those on tho ship." Protests by married women were ignored. Two explosions followed after they got away. CAUTION WOULD HAVE AVERTED CALAMITY. (Received April 25, 8.10 a.m.) NEW YORK, 25th April. Major Peuchen, did not criticise Captain Smith, but blamed the company's policy and methods. He was convinced that caution would have averted a terrible calamity. "THERE'S NO TIME FOR FOOLING." f Mr. Pitman, third officer of the Titanic, gave evidence that a special look-out was kept for 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." Mr. lemay told him to get the women and children into the boats. Mr. Ismay helped to launch one boat, but remained on the Titanic. When the witness's boat left he expected to be able to bring his passengers aboard again in a few hours. The boat waa not filled because no more women were about when it was lowered. The Titanic settled by the head, then suddenly stood on end and dived straight, down. Four explosion, like big gun "reports, followed. He believed they were caused by bulkheads giving way. There were many cries of distress, and witness ordered his men to get out their oars and pull " towards the wreck, so that they might save a few more, as there were only forty aboard tho boat, which would hold sixty. ' His passengers demurred, saying it was a mad idea, and even the women did not urge him to return. He yielded to the passengers' importunities. HARROWING DETAILS. Pressed by Senator Smith, Mr. Pitman, gave harrowing details. He heard screams, and one long, continuous moan, as if someone was in his death agony. The cries continued for an hour. He had no personal knowledge of the ship mentioned by Mr. Boxliall. Senator Smith suggested it might have been the Danish steamer Hellig Olav, which docked at New York on the 17th and reported having encountered an iceberg near where the Titanic sank. The public were excluded from the enquiry in consequence of frequent interruptions. (Received April 25, 9.10 a.m.) COPENHAGEN, 24th April. The owners of the steamer Hellig Olav affirm, that the vessel was 350 miles westward when the Titanic struck. LONDON, 24th April. The opinion is expressed at , Lloyds that it is possible the officers of the Titanic mistook the reflection of their own lights from a distant iceberg for the lights of an approaching vessel.