Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-07-30
EXONERATED
IN TITANIC PROBE
British Court Clears Him and
Duff Gordon of Blame
in Disaster.
Continued from First Pase.)

llC pa0oCAA5QAog ahJ SA -
improper conduct.
The Judgment recommends more
waertight compartments in sea-going
ships, the provision of lifeboats for
all on board and more efficient drills
of the crew as well as a better look
out.
Lord Mersey's judgment is a formal
legal document giving the history Of
the oyage and of the disaster, while
the findings and recommendations of
the court extend to great length.
Much of the judgment is highly tech
meal. In it there was no argument
and no direct reference to the in
quiry by the committee of the United
States Senate under the chairman
ship of Senator William Alden Smith.
Ship Well onicered.
The most important findings of the
court were that the Titanic was suff;-
GENTLY and efficiently officered and
manned, and complied with all the
regulations of the British merchant
shipping act regarding safety, but
that the arrangements for manning
and launching the ~lifeboats in an
emergency were insufficient and that
no drill had been held. The i%nstruc-
lions for the voyage given prior to
sailing WERE. in the opinion of the
court, adequate, but having regard
to subsequent events, they would
have been better if reference had been
made to the course to be adopted in
the event of the vessel reaching the
region of ice"
T., ,r;aur - ~ faa4 {hot ~, f1a |
night of the act the moon was not
shining, there vas no wind and very
little swell on the sea, and especially
in view of the high speed with which
the Titanic al steaming, an extra
lookout should, in the courts opinion.
have been placed in the stem of the
boat and a sharp watch kept by the
officers on both sides of the bridge.
Regard Speed Excessive.
The judgment did not consider
binoculars necessary as a rule.
Searchlights, however, might be serv-
iceable; but the evidence given be-
fore the court was insufficient to per-
nit of a precise answer. The speed 1
of twenty-five knots was regarded by
the court as excessive.
The seriousness of the disaster
was realized by the officers within
fifteen or twenty minutes of the
crash and proper discipline main
tanned, according to the view of the
court. The apparatus for lowering
the boats was in good order and the
lowering had been properly man.
aged. but some of the lifeboats
were undermined and improperly
equipped. Eight of the boats were
not filled when they left the sinking
vessel, because the passengers did
realize their danger. and the Of
ficers, who were uncertain of the
strength and capacity of the small
boats, had intended to complete their
loading after they We're launched.
No Discrimination Shown.
The disproportion of the passen-
gers of the different classes among
those saved vas Tue to the fact that
many of those in the third class
were foreigners and to the position
of their quarters There had, in the
courts opinion. been no discrimina-
ton.
Only a small proportion of the
crew had been saved because the
attended ito their duties until
the last moment.
The court recommends that the
n raft accommodations on
seagoing vessels be based on the
of persons carried instead of
the tonnage of the ship, and that
they be sufficient for all on board.
The court thinks changes may be
=. AL ,s-. A-I +.n4 - 49, 1
boats carried by ships. and in the
methods of slowing and launching
them. Possibly it may be necessary
to reserve n or more of the decks
for the carrying of boats INT the
drilling of the crew.
The court recommends hat the life
boats be provided with signaling APP
paratus, with a compass and with
and that the number each
boat is intended to carry should be
marked.
Exonerates Ismay and Duff-Gorden.
Lord Mersey said it was not the
business of the court to inquire into
attacks on the moral conduct Of Sir
Cosmo Duff-Gordon and J.. Bruce Is
may. but silence on the part of the
hilSIl Dt iSullueISlDOu Tie
continued:
1.-THE very gross charge against Sir
Cosmo Duff-Gordon that he bribed
the boatmen to row ava from
drowning people is unfounded. l do
not believe the men in the boat were
deferred from making an attempt 70
rescue others by any act of Sir
Duff-Gordon. At the same
time I think if he had encouraged
the men TO return to where the IT,
tanic had ~foundered they probably
would have made an effort to do so
and could have saved some lives.
THE attack on J.. Bruce Ismay,"
the judge. resolved itself
into The suggestion that. occupying
the position of managing director of
the line, some moral duty was i'm
posed upon him to wait on board
until the vessel foundered. I do not
agree. Mr.. Ismay, after assisting
many of the passengers. found the
last a on the s~tarboard side of the
Titanic actually being lowered. No
other people were there at the time.
There was room for him and he
jumped in. Had he not done so he
would merely have added one more
life to the number lost"