Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1912-04-23
STRUGGLES WITH
DEATH PICTURED
Third Officer of Titanic Des.
cribed Scenes Re.
luctantly
COULD NOT SAVE DROWNING
Lookout Testified That There
Were no Night Glasses in
Crows Nest.


to the Senate investigating commit
tee today by Third Officer Herbert
John Pittman of the sunken liner.
No Cries Until Ship Sank.
Chairman Smith of the committee,
pressed Pittman regarding scenes al
ter the sinking of the ship
Il heard no cries of distress until
after the ship went down. he said.
How far away were the cries from
your life boat?'
Several hundred feet, probably,
some of them. I told my men to get
the oars out and pulled toward the
wreck, that we might be able to save
few more. The people in my boat
demurred. They said it would be a
mad idea
! Mad Idea to Help Drowning.
Did any one in your boat urge or
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 mad
idea to go back. that we should add
another forty to the list of drowned.
Then we took in the oars and lay to. u
Didn't Wish to Describe Screams.
j When Pittman yielded to the i'm
portunities of the passengers, he did
not turn back to see, but merely pull
ed in his oars and drifted.
/ Describe the screams
Don't sir, please. I'd rather not
talk about it,"
I'm sorry to press it, but what was
! it like? Were the screams intermit
tent or spasmodic?'
| "It was one long, continuous moan.
The witness said the means and
cries continued an hour and that he
made no effort to go to the rescue.
Made No Effort to Save Drowning.
"You drifted near the drowning peo
pie and made no effort to give them
aid?" asked Senator Smith in sur
prise.
please, sir, don't" pleaded Pitt
man. 81 can't bear to recall it. I wish
we might not discuss the scene.'
81 have no desire to lacerate you,
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.
did you ever hear anything of q
boat known as the Hellig Olav?" sud
denly asked Senator Smith.
S. S. oIav Saw Iceberg.
mo. l didn't. There may be boat
of that name" said Pittman.
The Olav docked at New York
April II, and is reported to have en-
countered an iceberg near where the
Titanic sank 1t has been suggested
that the Olav may have been the boat
whose lights Fourth Officer BoXhal
saw and which he Intellectually tried
to signal with distress rockets.
No Glasses for Lookout.
/ Frederick Fleet, who was the look
out in the crows nest of the Titanic
testified that on Sunday night some
time after 10 O'Clock, he reported
black mass of ice ahead to the officers
on the bridge. How long this was be
fore the collision the lookout coult
not say.
Fleet told the committee that there
i were no lookout glasses in the Titan
ic's crows nest after leaving South
ampton. If he had had glasses, ht
said, he could have seen the icebers
enough sooner to have escaped it.
He said glasses were furnished the
lookout from Belfast to Southamp
ton, where they were taken away.
!. Didn't See Captain on Bridge.
Washington, D. c., April 23-Whel
lookout Fleet this afternoon followed
. Fourth officer Pittman on the stand
he said he was in the crows nest a
the time of the collision.
who was on the bridge Sunda.
, night after you took your place in th'
) crows nest?"
''Mr Murdock and Mr.. Pittman.''
| Was the captain on the bridge?"
/ Il didn't see him."
! Fleet said he took his watch out a
y 10 o'clock. Sailor Lehigh was will
) hinfSin the crows nest. Fleet said tn
men he relieved told him to keep
sharp lockout for small ice.
Kept Sharp Outlook.
: Did you keep a sharp lookout?'
: Eyes, SIR
did you see any ice?"
Eyes, at bells G1:30 p. NO. l re
ported black mass ahead"
"How long before the collision di
: you report ice ahead?"
1--WE no idea"
"About how long?'
Il couldn't say"
Reported Berg to Bridge Promptly.
What did you do when you say
S the iceberg?"
II 81 sounded three bells and the
: telephoned the bridge that there wa
: an iceberg ahead" replied Fleet.
He got prompt response to hi
Iring, he said, and the report was nc