Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1912-04-24

1 OCtIs nave SttH bft tibf.s ss6.I th'S
action of the sailors did not impress
| me.
They seemed to be short OF sailors
around the lifeboats where 1 was. When
came on deck first it seemed to me
that about 100 stokers came up with their
gunny sacks and crowded the deck.
zone of the officers, a splendid man,
drove these men right off the deck He
drove them like sheep.
| when we got to the next boat quar-
termaster and sailor were put in and the
boat was then filled with women. We
called out for more women and some
would not leave their husbands"
| The committee, at 5 =. NJ, took a
/ recess until 10 O'Clock tomorrow morn
/ ing, when Frederick Fleet, the outlook
| of the Titanic, will be recalled to the
/ stand
/ Major Peuchen said that in the life
boat the quartermaster in charge made
/ a woman row while he's held the tiller.
steering for a light which the major
said did not exist so far as he could see.
1.-THE quartermaster refused to turn
about and attempt to pick up survivors, y
said the witness .When we began to
hear signs of the breaking up of the
/ Titanic we heard sort of call for
l help after the whistle; tnen a rumbling
sound. / think the Titanie's lights were
| still on. Then there was an explosion,
then another. Then the lights went out
and then came those dreadful cries. 1t
| frightfully affected all the women in our
boat At the first it was horrible to lis
ten to, but the sounds grew fainter and
/ fainter. / think we were about five
leighths of a mile away"
| He did not see the vessel sink but his
/ theory was that the explosions were
above water caused by the heavy pres
sure when the boat started to dive down
by the head.
| How many explosions were there?'
asked Senator Smith. About three, but
was excited"
Ibid you see the captain after he told
/ you to go below and get through the
window into the lifeboat2" mo, l never
saw him after that"
| did you see him before the accident
II think 1 saw him about Z O'Clock In
one of the companonways."
do you think he was attentive to his
duties?" Eyes. i do"
Major Peuchen said the lifeboat he
was in was equipped with everything
L oOIHS VI tilO RS1so AAS t'Not -
were not sufficiently equipped with
food When he got on the Carpathia
he examined. several lifeboats and
found they had lights. bareback and
/ water.
Did the women row in the boats? p
Yes. and they were very plucky about
it, too. They worked with a WILL One
helped me until she became i'll from
the hard work and was forced to
cease
do you know who those women
were?" Major Peuchen said Miss Z.
A. Norton of Acton Lane. London,
Mrs. Walter Clark of Los Angeles;
Mrs. Lucien B. Smith, Huntington, w.
Va, Mrs. Cavendish, New York; Mrs
Walter Douglas, Minneapolis. and Mr..
and Mrs. G. B. Durham of Denver.
lwere among others in the boat, many
of whom handled oars.
He said the impact was so slight
that some of the passengers were not
awakened. He said no alarm was
sounded. Two young women. he said
Whose stateroom was close to that of
Col. John Jacob Aston. were awaken.
ed by Mrs. Astor, who led them on
deck.
Did you see Mr.. Ismay that night pa
asked Senator Smith. Il think I did.
he was standing on the port side on
the boat deck about an hour after we
lstruek. | did not see him again until
he came aboard the Carpathia."
The major said there was still room
in some boats which left from the
port side and he could not understand
why rIore men were not taken off
3he Carpathia steamed all aroun6
the scene OF the wreck and we did
not see single body" the major said.
1t seems strange to me, as | should
think the life belts would have held
bodies up, dead or alive. for four Of
five hours"
He said he was certain that none
could have lived in the icy water more
than an hour
Several who were on the upturned
boat and were rescued and who had
their feet in the water" he said, kept
themselves alive by clutching eacll
other. Their feet were frozen
| Several senators asked if the fact
that there as no general alarms sound :
ed after the collision might account
pear on the decks in time for the life
boats He thought that probable
Mayor Peuchen told the committee
he thought that if the lookouts ON the
I1tanic had had glasses the shin
might have been saved from the col
hsion.
Did you talk with Fleet, the out
look, who was in your lifeboat?' asked
Senator Smith. Yes. / asked him
what occurred. He said he rang three
bells and then signalleti TO the bridge.
he said he did not get immediate re-
ply from the bridge and / heard after
ard that the bridge officer was not re-
qrired to make a reply. The quarter
! master asked Fleet in the lifeboat ii
he knew who was on the bridge when
he signalled, and Fleet said he didn't :
From what you observed. was
there proper discipline on the part of
the crew in loading the lifeboats?'
"Those of the crew that saw working
In lowering and filling the boats
couldn't have been better, but they
nrra tff. 4 IL,