TITANIC INQUIRY.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVII, Issue XLVII, 21 May 1912, Page 5

TITANIC INQUIRY.

THE DUFF-GORDONS' EVIDENCE. DENIAL OF BRIBERY. (Press Association. —Cop£atdili.,y (Received Mav 21, 9.39 a.m.) LONDO;N, May 20. Sir Cosmo Duff : Jordort testified that his wife and her secretary refused to leave him. and that no other passengers were visible when he entered the boat. He heard no suggestion that they should return and pick up victims, and the possibility of saving anyone did not occur to him. He denied promising to pay £5 to the sailors or having anything- to do with the direction of the boat. Lady Duff-Gordon gave evidence that she did not remoiriber expressing a fear that the boat H'otild sfraiTffi if fcheV returned. Fireman Collins testified thjit rid suggestion was made for the boat to retiii'ri. (Received Mav 21. 10.40 a.m.) LONDON, May 20. Lady Duff-Gordon denied the major portion of the story cabled allegedly giving an account by her of the wreck. She said that the story was largely the work of an American interviewer. Mr, Lightoller, second officer, testified to receiving a warning of the presence of ice. He calculated that the Titanic would reach the danger zoile .it nine, i>ut another officer calculated ii o'clock. The night was clear enough during his watch to see any berg likely to do damage. In view of Lady Duff-Gordon's evidence, it is interesting to recall the story referred to, and denied, which was cabled on the Sunday following the disaster. It was as follows : "I was asleep when the crash occurred, but had been previously wStchirlg the fields of ice. Ah officer pointed oiit one apparently 100 ft. high arid several miles loilg. "I was awakened by a loilg grinding, and aroused Cosmo (my husband) ,and he ran to investigate. He returned and said that we had hit a big berg. "We adjusted preservers and went on deck. "There was no excitement. "The ship listed lightly, but nobody dreamed she Could sirik. "There was little alarm even when the officers came Tunning and announcing that women and children must go to the boats, this being thought an ordinary precaution. "Our boat was the twelfth or thirteenth launched, and contained five stokers, two Americans named Solomon and Sengel. two sailors, Cosmo and myself, and Miss Frank, who is an English girl. "Numbers of men standing near joked with us because wo were going out on the ocean, saying 'You'd get your detfth of cold amid the ice.' "We cruised around for two hours, and suddenly saw the Titanic give a. curious shiver.

"There were no lights on the ship except a few lanterns. "We heard several pistol shots and great screaming from the decks. "The Titanir-'s stern was lifted in the air by a tremendous explosion. There was another explosion, and the whole forward part went under and the stern rose a hundred feet iike an enormous black finger against the sky. Little figure* hun t r to the point of the finger an<l then dropped into the water. "The screaming was agonising. I never heard such a continued chorus of utter agony. "A minute or two later the Titanic's stern slowly disappeared, as though a creat hand was pushing- it giently under the waves. "As she sank the screaming of the poor souls aboard seemed to grow louder. "We were about, two hundred yards away, and watched her ■go down slowly, almost peacefully. "For a moment there was an awful silence, then front the. water where the Titanic had been there arose a. bedlam of shrieks and cries of men and women clinging to the wreckage in icy water. Tt was at least an hour before the awful chorus of shrieks ceased, gradually dvinsr into a moan of despair. "The very last cry was a man's. 'My God, my God.' he cried, monotonously, in a dull hopeless way. "There was one iceberg, possibly the one the Titanic struck, which seemed to pursue us. The rowers made frantic effort s to get past. "At last morning, caroe. On one side of us were icefloes and ,big bergs, while on the other we were horrified to see a school of tremendous whales. "We then caught sight of the Carpa thia in the distance, heading- straight for us. We were too numbed with cold and horror to utter a sound. "There were more than fifty women who lost their husbands, including fifteen brides. "The gloom on |h© 'Carpathia w-as ghastly. "I buried myself in a cabin and did not come on deck till New York was reached."