The Logan Republican. [volume] (Logan, Utah) 1902-1924, 1912-05-25
SMITH PLACES BLAME FOR OCEAN
HORROR. CHARGES OF |NC0M-
Potency IN THE MANAGEMENT
Scathns Report Prepared by the Michigan Senator The
Titanic Disaster Which Will be Presented Early
In The Coming Week "'.

through which water was pouring a.
such a rate that she sank seventy fes'
within a very few hours.
1t is noted that the weather was
clear and perfect, the sea being calm,
with no swell-condition that would
have been ideal for the saving of al
hands ON board had there been but
adequate life saving apparatus and
adequate sailors to man them. But al.
though there was room in the LIE
boats for 1916 persons. the report says
but 704 persons were put into theln,
owing to the disorganized and disord.
erly condition of the crew. Twelve
persons were afterward taken out
the water.
Special stress Is laid on the utter
failure of the junior officers, who were
among the first to leave the ship, to
make any effort whatever to rescue
many of those in the water, for whom
room might easily have beer found IN
the lifeboats
The report riddles the assertion Of
many members Of re crew that the
sudden drop IN the temperature whiah
w" noted ard testified to ty almost
every witness placed under examina
fern uas M ,vorni,t,, ,,f - a,pr,o,iI
OF ice.
Officer Lightoller sneered when ask
cd If the sudden cold was not an indi-
cation, but he refused to say what
such indications consisted of.
Concerning the llfeboats 1t is re-
ported that none of them had com
passes, only three had lights all
we're insufficlently manned and none
OF them by sailors. The indifference
of such officers and warrant officers
as did get into the boats, to the cries
of distress is caustically commented
upon.
In the general criticism of the cen
duct of the crew and the insufficiency
Of the llfesaving apparatus, comment
is made on the statement of the look
outs that had they been provided with
marine glasses they could have sight
ed the iceberg much earlier; in time,
in fact, TO have avoided the frightful
collision. When the collision came
the effort to avoid it by the offic ors,
working for many minutes only on
the tele phone warnings which came
from the crows nest, served only to
expose the weakest part of the yes
sell The bilges pierced by the berg
were the least braced of any part OF
the structure, while at the point in the
bows of the ship which struck, the
watertigat compartments were the
largest, thus admitting into a few
compartments water enough to sink
the vessel, which, as the report points
out, had been described as practically
unsuitable and the last word in ina.
rine construct on"
Going into he matter of tests OF
the vessels, matters which were rig.
orously required in battleships, the
report emphasizes their utter lack.
No sufficient tests were made of the
boilers, which were fired almost rs
soon as the vessel left the construc.
tors yards at Belfast and kept In
operation almost continuously TO the
time of the initial voyage.
No proper tests were made of the
gearing OF the watertight DOORS, ap
! arently, before the voyage. 1t was
pointed out by one expert witness
that no tests whatever Of these doors
we're made on the voyage at any time
There We're no tests of the life say.
ing apparatus after the voyage began
and not a single drill during its prog
rcss. The crew was never sent to lts
stations-despite the testimony of one
witness who said that he had seen
one drill take place. This testimo iy
had been previously disputed by that
OF half a dozen of the officers, whose