Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1912-05-03

tic grew like lightning in the minds
of the audience, there was concert
ed gasp of horror and all eyes were
fixed unwinkingly upon the witness,
who stared straight ahead of him.
after the ship went down." Pitt
man continued, Il said, Now we will
return and see if We can pick any
one up but the passengers protested
they said it was a mad idea and
would simply mean that forty more
would be drowned told my men to
pull toward the Titanic and they
obeyed, but the passengers dissuaded
me. They said it WAS madness"
did any of the women appeal to
you to return to the ship or go in the
direction of the cries?' Not one"
"Who protested?" Il don't know
who they were"
You really turned to go back to
the ship and were dissuaded by the
passengers" Yes, sir"
Means Heard for Hour.
How many crie~ ne there? Were
they spasmodic or general?'' 1t was
continual moan for an hour; means
of thousand drowning men hung out
over the waters where the Titanic
took her final plunge, as the passen-
gers and crew, sustained by life belts,
fioated in the water and called for
aid. There was a continual moan"
he said, paling under his sea-bronzed
face at the mention of the dirge of
the drowning.
Frankiin's Testimony.
1t was admitted by Vice President
Franklin of the White Star line before
the senatorial investigating commit
tee, that the lines people knew for
six hours that the Titanic had foun-
dered but did not make the informa-
ton public 1t was held back because
regarded as unbelievable in the light
of other statements and the general
impression that the great vessel was
unsuitable.
Mr. Franklin, under oath, denied
sending a message to Representative
Hughes of West Virginia giving assur-
ances that all on board the stricken
ship were safe.
1t never entered the head of any
White Star line official during the
first day of rumor and uncertainty
that there had been any serious loss
of life on the Titanic. The ship was
either supposed to be floating or in
tow for Halifax.
In the opinion of Mr.. Franklin none
of the White Star line officials are re-
sponsible in any way for the disaster
on the Grand Banks. He believed
there had been no carelessness or vio-
lation of British regulations.
No date or time had been fixed for
the arrival of the Titanic in New
York, according to Mr.. Franklin. No
reports of progress were made or ex-
pected
Everything is secondary to safety
in the handling of all White Star line
ships, Mr.. Franklin declared.
BoxhalPs Testimony.
According to Fourth Officer Boxhall.
there was a fire drill and inspection
an hour before the Titanic sailed from
Southampton.
The lifeboats were tested to carry
SIS persons each. The emergency, or
seat boats, could carry from 25 to 80.
and the same number was the capac-
ity of the collapsible life boats. All
efforts to demonstrate that the Off
GERS of the doomed ship were intoxi-
Gated or were negligent of their du-
ties on the night of the disaster
failed. Mr.. Boxhall declared that all
were of temperate habits and attend
ing to their usual duties when the
ship struck.
Two men were in the crows nest
at the time of the accident. Just
little ice was deposited upon the low
er deck as result of the collision
with berg. Ice was not noticed
elsewhere. The Titanic did not strike
squarely bow-on, according to Boxhall.
It was a glancing blow seemingly ef-
fective midway between the bow and