The Detroit times., 1912-05-28


Captain smith knew the sea and his
clear eye and steady hand had OTTER
guided his ship through danss,ous ~
paths For 40 years storms sought w
vain 10 veN him CT menace MS crett
But once before In all his honorapis
career was his pride humbled OF hls
vessel maimed Each new auNahean s :
type of ship built hy his company Was
handed over TO him as reward TOT
faithful services and as an evidence
OF confidence In his skill. STRONG OF
lib. intent OF purpose, pure IN Shal
acter, dauntless as sailor shoulu pe,
he walked the deck of mis- malesus
structure as master OF her Keel, titahl'
| though she was Ills tndinerenSe ~
danger was one OF the direct anu son
traGeTy, while his own willlngness tu
die was the eNpiating evidence OF hls
fitness To live. Those OF us VINO knew
him well-not in anger, but IN soI
lrow-hle one specific charge against
him. oveFconfidence and neglect 70
heed the oft-repeated warnings OF hls
friends. but in his horrible dlsmaE
when mis- brain was anrs win noh -
manly bearing and his tender soliei :
tudC for the safety OF women ana III
tie children. some traces OF nus lolty
spirit when dark clouds lowered al,
about him and angry elements stripped
him OF his command. His devotion 10
his craft, even as IL wrlthed ana TWIST
4 ed and struggled for mastery over us
| foe. Gained the fears OF many OF the
stricken multitude who hung upon his
words, lending dignity 10 parting
scene as inspiring as IL Is beautiful 10
! remember.
The mystery OF his Indifference 10
J danger. when other and less preteh-
tious vessels doubled their lookout or
stopped their engines, inds no reason
able hypothesis In conjecture or spec
ulation; science in shipbuilding was
supposed TO have attained perfection
and TO have spoken her last word
mastery Of the ocean had at last been
achieved: but oyerconhdence seems 20
have dul)ed the faculties usually SO
alert. With the atmosphere Literally
charged with warning signals and
/ wireless messages registering their
/ last appeal the stokers in the engine
room fed their fires with fresh fuel
I registering I'm that dangerous place
her fastest speed
IL is not a pleasant duty TO criticize
/ the conduct or comment upon the
shortcomings of others. but the plain
| truth should be told. Captain LORD
| OF the steamship Californian, SAILING
1 from London TO Boston, who stopped
! his ship in the same vicinity where
the Titanic is supposed TO have met
! with the accident, passed two large
icebergs at $3.50 p. m, Sunday evening
April IA at 7:I5 he 'y'passed one, large
| iceberg and two more In sight 10 the
! southwark" Because OF ice he stopped
| his snip for the night In latitude az de-
grees 70 myinutes y, Longitude 90 der
| grees ! minutes w. and at lo'oe
\ (ship's time and $40 New York time
| he sent a wireless message TO the IL
tanic. telling them he was y"stoppeo
and surrounded py ice, Inc t !lshu,
up," that he was busy Captain
| Lord stated that from the position We
! stopped in TO the position In when the
| Titanic is supposed 70 nave MT lhs
4 nd 4
| south. 10 west, and he says this was
the last communication he had with
the Titanic. He also says. we doubled
the lookout from the crew, put a man
on the forecastle head--that Is, righl
at the bow OF the ship-and l was or
the bridge myself with an officer un'
| I'll nalf past 10. which 1 would no.
have been under ordinary conditions;
He thus admits extraordinary conui-
/ tdions. and that ne received report:
of icebergs GROWERS, and Held ice -
degrees north from 40 degrees 81 min
utes west from Captain Barr, OF the
! while the steamship New Amsterdam
/ reported 10 him several days peIore
that they had seen field ice y'extend-
| ing as far TO the northwest as horizon
is visible"
/ He also admits that the morning
I after this accident he was pracu-
cally surrounded by icebergs the lars-
est from 100 TO $50 feet high and from
4
water" He admits that the officer on
watch on the steamship Californian
| saw some signals and that when he
| 1.-THE captainD came on the bridge AZ
half past 10 he said: VI pointed ou'
TO the officer that l though l saw q
light coming along and IL was q mos,
I peculiar light" He also said that he
went below and told the engineer to
saw these signals. and then said:
There is steamer comying. Let US
go TO the wireless and see what the
news is.'y He says he met the oper-
ator coming"y and said: DO you
Piled THE Titanic" And the cap
tain said: Il gave him instructions TO
let the Titanic know" which he did
and found that II was the Iltanlc' al
though the captain said: This Is not
the Titanic: there il no doutb about IL.
He then says. she camye and lay. at
half past H. alongside OF us until.
suppose. a quarter past !, within four
miles of us We could see everything
on her quit distinctly; see her lights.
We signaled her at half past IL, with
the Morse lamp. She did not take the
! slightest notice OF IL. That was be-
tween half past IL and 20 minutes 10
liz We signaled frer again at 10 min
, utes past r. half past H. quarter
20 /. and l o'clock with a very power
| full Morse lamp. which you can see
about 10 miles"
He further says that when the Sec
A
ond officer came on the bridge at ~
! o'clock or 10 minutes past IL, / told
him 10 watch that steamer which was
stopped | pointed out the ice TO him.
told him We were surrounded by ice,
| To watch the steamer. that she did not
/ get closer TO her. At 20 minutes TO
| / whistled up the speaking tube ana
asked IL she was getting any nearer.
| He said, NO; she is not taking any
notice OF US SO / said. i VIII go and
and lie down a Bit At a quarter past
| / he said. i think she has nred a
| rocket and, continuing, she did not
answer the Morse lamp, and she mas
commenced to 20 away from us 1
then said. Call her up and let me know
! at once what her name is So he put
the whistle back. and, apparently, he
Captain Lord then says. Rockets are
used as signals OF distress and can
| NOT be mistaken" He does not believe
| that he could have seen the Titanic
More signals, but Is not quite so doubt
| ful about being unable TO see rockets
that distance.
Most of the witnesses OF the Ill
fated vessel before the committee saw
plainly the light, which Captain Lord
hours after the accident, while the
captain and some Of the officers OF tho
Titanic directed the lifeboats TO pull
! for that light and return with the
empty boats TO the side or the ship.
Ernest Gill, member OF the crew
of the Californian. says that he came
on deck from the engine room al
fl:'S6 ships time, and just before the
accident that fatal Sunday evening
starboard side "the lights OF a very
Ia.ga ataauer about 10 miles away,