Complex sentence: During the rush for the lifeboats he noticed that priority had been given to a second class passenger, and questioning the captain later, he found that as they were both Freemasons they were bound by oath to show such preference in times of peril.
Split into simpler sentences: During the rush for the lifeboats he noticed that priority had been given to a second class passenger. Questioning the captain later, he found that as they were both Freemasons they had sworn an oath to show such preference to each other in times of peril.