Newark evening star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1909-1916, 1912-04-24
rrhe man in eharEe Of that lIteooat

was lost"
The Board of Trade capacity o.
sixty-fve to a lifeboat meant capacity
on the water. The witness agreed thai
fifty was a fair capacity for lowering,
Senator Smith asked il Boxhall. the
fourth officer, OF the second Officer
filled their boats properly when they
Sent away as small a number as
twenty-five in a boat.
"weli, now, that's another matter"
he said; ITS all a question of personal
opinion"
What happened to lifeboat No. {
after being put OFF,"
ut went away. sir: that's all
| know"
"Pitman said yesterday that he oc-
cupied No. 5 iifeboat and that it had
about thirty-hve people. He could
have gone after more and saved them
then when ne heard those cries for
help
Many sailors Can't Row.
mo, sir" said the witness. Let me
explain. Major Peuchen said yester-
day the sailors couldn't row. Now, a
sailor is not a boatnan. A sailor may
neved touch an oar. That's the reason
why so many sailors couldn't row.
is that the reason boats weren't
loaded TO capacity
"0h, no, sir"
"HVell, why wasn't BoxhalI's boat
properly loaded"'
II don't know. I wasn't in position
to know, sir"
You were in position to tell IsmaS
10 go to help"
"Oh, yes, because he was interior
ing with my work"
did you find any fault with the
boat?''
NO"
Or with the menu
with the men TO the extent that
l said they weren't boatmen."
Senator Smith again suggested that
it was the reason the boas weren't
filled. The witness dissented. ES-
planning why inexperienced passengers
were put to mar the boats he said it
was because there was no time TO pick
a crew Of known ability 60 handle q
boat.
You are leaving the impression that
the men who took part in the drill be-
fore leaving Southampton were not
available OF the time of the disaster.
Is that what you mean
mo, sir; we only had sixteen men
in the drill. and we had nineteen boats.
Not enough of those men to go
around"
The Titanic had actually twenty life
boats. but the witness explained THAI
it vas found difficult TO launch one OF
them. 1t couldn't be righted in time
~ - 90 IA nc IL rraa a cola n QihlH
boat, he said.
"As q matter of face, wasn't there an
ordinary iifeboat that you couldn't
.launch?"
mo, sir" denied the witness.
"My Impression is that Lightoller,
second officer, said So remarked Sena-
tor Smith.
Tn expenditure of $50 by the White
Star line-the cost OF a pair of marine
binoculars-would have saved 1885
lives on the Titanic and also that ship.
But the White star people failed TO
heed the request for powerful glasses
which would have sighted the iceberg
which sent the Titanic to the bottom,
according to the evidence before the
Senate committee, which continued to-
day its investigation of the disaster.
This evidence was given yesterday
by Frederick Fleet, the lookout in the
crows nest of the Titanic. 1t was
Fleet who first sighted the iceberg.
In his testimony, as TO the company's
neglect, he said:
t'They told us there wouldn't be any
glasses. II we had them we could
have seen the berg quite a bit sooner
time enough TO have cleared it
Then, too, evidence has been pro-
duced to show that not fewer than
three hundred lives were sacrificed by
failure to fill the lifeboats and by the
wanton heartlessness of those who
commanded them and who refused to
return to the scene OF the wreck in
order to take on more. One, at least.
deliberately disobeyed the orders OF the
commanding officer, because, he said,
TITS u lives; not theirs
The witness took refuge in the state
ment that he was not in charge; that
First Officer Murdoch was the respon-
sible man.
I'VE are not having an easy time
with you,'' said Senator Smith, be
cause you are not willing to answer.
Are you ready to admit that when the
order was given to lower away the
lifeboats there were not boatmen
enough available to man tl1em?"
mo, there weren't finally replied
the witness.
Lowe added that it was difficult to
get enough passengers for the boats he
lowered.
Ibid you see families separated" he
was asked.
Eyes, sir, / did. Not when boats 3
and 5 were being lofered. Everything
was orderly then and quiet"
"Who selected the passengers for 8
and 50"
mfr. Murdoch. ] aided him. We
simply took the first women at hand.
There was a procession to both sides of
the boat. Only little knots at either
end. I shouted Women and children
1rst!' We took them, regardless OF
class or nationality"
ibid der1ur at going in?"
81 don't remember about that exact
boat. Often I called out during the
evening, One more woman, two NOR
women, or three as the case might
be. They would come forward. Ofice1
Murdoch would say when there was
enough"
did you see Isnay when you were
filing the second boat?'
II did; he was standing there. 1 re-
member seeing him in the glare Of the
rockets"
Lifeboat No. 8, Lowe testified, was
about equally filed with men and
women. He didn't know II the mer
--A-~ - IT. IL