Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters Part 46

(Signed) "THE WHITE STAR LINE. "

TELEGRAM A MYSTERY

"I ask you," continued the senator, "whether you know about the sending of that telegram, by whom it was authorized and from whom it was sent?"

"I do not, sir," said Franklin. "Since it was mentioned at the Waldorf Sat.u.r.day we have had the entire pa.s.senger staff examined and we cannot find out."

Asked when he first knew that the t.i.tanic had sunk, Franklin said he first knew it about 6.27 P.M., Monday.

Mr. Franklin then produced a thick package of telegrams which he had received in relation to the disaster.

"About twenty minutes of two on Monday morning," said he, "I was awakened by a telephone bell, and was called by a reporter for some paper who informed me that the t.i.tanic had met with an accident and was sinking. I asked him where he got the information. He told me that it had come by wireless from the steamship Virginian, which had been appealed to by the t.i.tanic for aid."

Mr. Franklin said he called up the White Star docks, but they had no information, and he then appealed to the a.s.sociated Press, and there was read to him a dispatch from Cape Race advising him of the accident.

"I asked the a.s.sociated Press," said Mr. Franklin, "not to send out the dispatch until we had more detailed information, in order to avoid causing unnecessary alarm. I was told, however, that the story already had been sent."

The rea.s.suring statements sent out by the line in the early hours of the disaster next were made the subject of inquiry.

"Tell the committee on what you based those statements," directed Senator Smith.

"We based them on reports and rumors received at Cape Race by individuals and by the newspapers. They were rumors, and we could not place our finger on anything authentic."

FIRST DEFINITE NEWS

"At 6.20 or 6.30 Monday evening," Mr. Franklin continued, "a message was received telling the fateful news that the Carpathia reached the t.i.tanic and found nothing but boats and wreckage; that the t.i.tanic had foundered at 2.20 A.M. in 41.16 north, 50.14 west; that the Carpathia picked up all the boats and had on board about 675 t.i.tanic survivors--pa.s.sengers and crew.

"It was such a terrible shock that it took me several moments to think what to do. Then I went downstairs to the reporters, I began to read the message, holding it high in my hand. I had read only to the second line, which said that the t.i.tanic had sunk, when there was not a reporter left--they were so anxious to get to the telephones.

SAFETY EQUIPMENT

"The t.i.tanic's equipment was in excess of the law," said the witness.

"It carried its clearance in the shape of a certificate from the British Board of Trade. I might say that no vessel can leave a British port without a certificate that it is equipped to care for human lives aboard in case of accident. It is the law."

"Do you know of anyone, any officer or man or any official, whom you deem could be held responsible for the accident and its attendant loss of life?"

"Positively not. No one thought such an accident could happen. It was undreamed of. I think it would be absurd to try to hold some individual responsible. Every precaution was taken; that the precautions were of no avail is a source of the deepest sorrow. But the accident was unavoidable."

FOURTH OFFICER TESTIFIES

J. B. Boxhall, the fourth officer, was then questioned.

"Were there any drills or any inspection before the t.i.tanic sailed?" he was asked.

"Both," said the witness. "The men were mustered and the life-boats lowered in the presence of the inspectors from the Board of Trade."

"How many boats were lowered?"

"Just two, sir."

"One on each side of the ship?"

"No, sir. They were both on the same side. We were lying in dock."

The witness said he did not know whether the lowering tackle ran free or not on that occasion.

"In lowering the life-boats at the test, did the gear work satisfactorily?"

"So far as I know."

In lowering a life-boat, he said, first the boat has to be cleared, chocks knocked down and the boat hangs free. Then the davits are screwed out to the ship's side and the boat lowered.

At the time of the tests all officers of the t.i.tanic were present.

Boxhall said that under the weather conditions experienced at the time of the collision the life-boats were supposed to carry sixty-five persons. Under the regulations of the British Board of Trade, in addition to the oars, there were in the boats water breakers, water dippers, bread, bailers, mast and sail and lights and a supply of oil.

All of these supplies, said Boxhall, were in the boats when the t.i.tanic left Belfast. He could not say whether they were in when the vessel left Southampton.

"Now," repeated Senator Smith, "suppose the weather was clear and the sky unruffled, as it was at the time of the disaster, how many would the boat hold?"

"Really, I don't know. It would depend largely upon the people who were to enter. If they did as they were told I believe each boat could accommodate sixty-five persons."

Boxhall testified to the sobriety and good habits of his superior and brother officers.

NO TRACE OF DAMAGE INSIDE

Boxhall said he went down to the steerage, inspected all the decks in the vicinity of where the ship had struck, found no traces of any damage and went directly to the bridge and so reported.

CARPENTER FOUND LEAKS

"The captain ordered me to send a carpenter to sound the ship, but I found a carpenter coming up with the announcement that the ship was taking water. In the mail room I found mail sacks floating about while the clerks were at work. I went to the bridge and reported, and the captain ordered the life-boats to be made ready."

Boxhall testified that at Captain Smith's orders he took word of the ship's position to the wireless operators.

"What position was that?"

"Forty-one forty-six north, fifty fourteen west."

"Was that the last position taken?"

"Yes, the t.i.tanic stood not far from there when she sank."

After that Boxhall went back to the life-boats, where there were many men and women. He said they had been provided with life-belts.