The Thibodaux sentinel. (Thibodaux, La.) 1905-1912, 1912-05-04
GLASSES MIGHT HAVE
SAVED THE Titanic
ooKouT SAYS WITH AID OF
BINOCULARS SHIP MIGHT
HAVE BEEN SAVED.
REFUSED AID TO DROWNING MEN
Third Officer Pittman Says Passen'
GERS in His Boat Prevented His
Returning to Sinking Ship
and Saving Others.

his kingdom, the failure to provide
| binoculars or Eyeglasses for the look
outs on the Titanic was one contrlbut-
| ing cause of that ships loss and with
| il the loss of more than 1900 lives,
Two witnesses before the senate in
vestigating committee Tuesday agreed
on this. They were Frederick Fleet,
a lookout on the liner, and Major Ar
thur Godfrey Peuchen, Canadian man
| ufacturer and yachtsman. who was
among the rescued passengers.
Fleet acknowledged that if he had
! been aided in his observation by
| good glass he probably could have
spied the berg into which the ship
crashed in time to have warned the
bridge to avoid it, Major Peuchen
also testified to the much greater
sweep of vision afforded by binoculars
and as a yachtsman said he believed
| the presence of the iceberg might
have been detected in time to escape
the collision had the lookout men
been so equipped
1t was made to appear that the
blame for being without glasses did
not rest with the lookout men. Fleet
said they had asked for them at
Southampton and were told that there
were none for them One glass would
have served in the crows nest
Herbert j. Pittman. third officer of
the Titanic, told of his failure to turn
back the lifeboat in which he and his
passengers were idly drifting to at
tempt the rescue of others when the
| Titanic went down.
| Shuddering at the recollection, he
said the cries for help made lone long,
continuous moan" The passengers
insisted that to go back to aid would
mean their destruction. he said, SO
that after starting in the direction Of
the cries, he rescinded his orders and
waited for the dawn. Twice he beg
ged to be spared recital OF the facts,
but Senator Smith pressed him.
| j. Bruce lsmay, managing director
of the international Mercantile Ma
rine. and Vice President p A. S.
Franklin of the White Star Line ur-
| gently requested the committee to
permit them to return to New York.
In executive session at the close OF
| the hearing the committee declined
no longer needed.
| The committee decided not to call
any more passenger witnesses until
all the British witnesses had been
heard and also decided to delay other
important business until the Titanic
inquiry has proceeded farther.
Life and Death Struggles.
| Life and death struggles of the tt
tanic's victims reluctantly were pic
tured TO the senate Investigating COM
mittee by Third Officer Herbert John
Pittman of the sunken liner.
Chairman Smith of the committee
pressed Pittman regarding scenes
after the sinking of the ship.
How far away were the cries from
your lifeboat?"
Several hundred yards, probably,
| some of them. told my men to get
! the oars out and pull toward the
wreck, that we might be able to save
a few more The people in my boat
demurred They said it would be a
mad idea
Did anyone in your boat urge or
appeal to you to get back toward the
wreck?"
No; not one"
Did any woman urge you to go
back?"
NO"
"Who demurred-the men with the
oars?"
oh. no; they obeyed my orders,
and all the passengers said it was a
mad idea to go back, that it would
add another forty to the list of drown
ed Then we took in the oars and lay
quiet"
Describe the screams"
1t was one long, continuous moan. "
The witness said the means and
made no effort to go to the rescue.
You drifted near the drowning peo-
pie and made no effort to give them
aid?" asked Senator Smith.
please. sir. DON'T" pleaded Pitt
man. Il can't bear to recall it."
Il have no desire to lacerate your
feelings said Senator Smith, but
we must know whether you drifted
there without offering aid. Answer
that and l shall press you no more. "
Il did. sir" answered the witness.
Fleet then told of the launching of
lifeboat No &, which he and Quarter
master Hickens took charge of until
picked up by the Carpathia. Three
male passengers and about twenty
five women were in the boat.
I'VE had orders to pull for light
off the Titanic's port bow" said Fleet,
but we could not get to her. At one
time she was abreast of us, but she
slipped by"
Were there any other lights ahead
when you were in the crows nest
before the collision or after it,"
mo, sir. We did not see the light
off the port bow until after we were
IN the lifeboat The lookouts that
report of a vessel"
What was the color of the vessel
| you were pulling for?"
White"
ibid you ever hear anything of a
boat known as the Helling Olav?"
| asked Senator Smith.
mo; / did not"
The Oiav locked at New York April
| II. and is reported to have encounter
| ed an iceberg near where the Titanic
sank 1t has been suggested that the
| Olav may have been the boat whose
| which he Intellectually tried to signal
| with distress rockets