The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-05-28


who regularly took the temperature o.
the water from the sea said: 1t sud
denly became bitter cold and added
that the first order received by him
from Second Officer Lightoller at
o'clock Sunday evening was to take
carpenter and inform him to look to
his fresh water, that it was about to
freeze.
Senator Smith declared that the COM
mand of the officer of the watch to
avert the disaster actually exposed
the most vulnerable part of the Ii
tanic to the ice when the shock came
The Fatal Error.
Distracted by the sudden appear
ance of danger said the speaker, he
sharply turned aside the prov, the part
best prepared to resist collision, eX-
posing ne temple to the blow; at the
turn of the bilge the steel encasement
yielded to glancing blow SO slight
that the impact was not felt in many
parts of the ship, although represent
ing an energy of more than a milllon
foot TONS said to be the equivalent Of
the combined broadsides of 20 of the
largest guns in our battleship nest
fired at the same moment, with bloW
so deadly many of the passengers ana
crew did not even know of the col
lision until tardily advised of the GAN
ger by anxious friends, and even then
such confident assurances of safety as
to arouse no fear.
Senator Smith said that the awful
force of the impact must nave lnoi-
Gated to master and builder that ina
ship was doomed. He commented cal@-
ticalIy upon the failure of the ships
officers Immediately to give general
alarm or to establish some orderly rou-
tine. Concerning the conduct of tina
ships officers, he said:
Conduct of the Officers.
'Haphazard, they rushed by enc an
other, on staircase, and in hallway,
while men of self-control gathered here
and there about the decks, helplessly
staring at one another or giving l.
enlargement to those less courageous
than themselves. Lifeboats were fin
silly adjusted to all and the lifeboats
We're cleared away. and although
strangely insufficient in number. We're
only partially loaded and in all in
stances unprovided with compasses
and only three of them had lamps
They were manned so badly that, in
the absence of prompt relief, hey
would have fallen easy victims to 1ae
advancing ice floe, nearly 80 miles in
width and rising Is feet above the sur
face of the water. Their danger would
have been as great as if they had re-
manned on the deck of the broken hull.
and if the sea had risen these toy tar-
gets with over 700 exhausted people
would have been helplessly tossed
about upon the waves without food or
water.
''One witness swore that two of the
three stewards in her boat admitted
that they had never had an oar in thar
hands before and did not even KIN ox
what the oarlock was for. The life
boats were filled so indifferently and
lowered so quickly that. according to
the uncontradicted evidence, nearly
i
for want of orderly discipline in load
ing the few that were provided. And
yet it is said by some Well-meaning
persons that the best of discipline pre-
vailed If this is discipline what would
have been disorder"
Phillips and Bride.
Tributes to the valor of Phillips and
Bride. the wireless operators on The
Titanic. were paid by Senator Smith.
He said that the final exit of the Fill
lips boy was mot so swift as 70 pre-
vent him from pausing long enough to
pass a cup of water to fainting worn-
an'' The senator showed that had cot
The underpaid wireless operator IN the
Carpathia prepared for bed with his re-
ceiver still on his head the Titanic's
distress signals never would have been
received by the rescue ship.
When the world weeps together
over the common loss" said Senator
Smith, "all nations should take steps
wisely to regulate wireless telegraphy
and see that the operators are fair
ly paid He condemned the reign
of silence" concerning the details of
the disaster and condemned the
failure of the Californian to learn all
about the disaster before the Titanic |
sank, and go to her rescue.
Senator Smith reviewed the testi- |
mony- of Captain Lord, showing that
the Californian came within four
miles of the doomed vessel and that |
he went to his room to lie down while !
signal rockets were being fired.
1.-THE lessons of this hour said SEN
ator Smith in conclusion, "are, indeed. /
fruitless and its precepts illconceived |
if rules of action do not follow hard |
upon the day of reckoning. Obsolete !
and antiquated shipping laws should
no longer encum Der the parliamentary
of any government, and over |
ripe administrative boards should be
pruned of dead branches and less
sterile precepts taught and applied"
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