The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1912-04-24

day night or Sunday morning, when
Mr.. Boxhall put it on the chart" Pit
man replied. The witness said he did
not talk with Boxhall, Murdoch, Lowe
or the captain regarding the proxim-
ity of the Titanic to ice. Pitman said
he saw no ice on Sunday. The fact
that the temperature was lower, he
said, would not indicate the presence
of ice.
Senator Smith suggested that the
proximity of ice was indicated IN a
number of ways, such as the erect on
the sky, the change n temperature,
the CLINT of sun or moonlight upon
them. The witness said virtually the
only way to discover the proximity OF
icebergs was to see them. senator
Smith sought to make the witness ad-
nit there we're other indications, but
Pitman declared they had never been
demonstrated. Senator Smith asked
Pitman If he knew that the tempera-
| ture tests of the water were made
every two hours on the THAMES voy-
age from Southampton. Yes SIT; II
was the CUSTOM" he replied. II
was more than a custom, was IL not
Wasn't it an attempt to discover the
nearness of ice?" was asked.
mot that | know of, sir"
did you see the quartermaster on
the Titanic test the water?"
mo. but saw him preparing to do
| it several times"
you say the fourth officer reported
ice Saturday night and marked 1t on
the chart with a cross" continued the
senator" Was this mark on the chart
on or near the ships course|
"As near as l recollect it was north
of our course"
Asked again about the iceberg
warnings, Pitman said he did hear
about Second Officer Lightoller's
warning to Murdoch about ice on the
shin. 1--WE talked about it among
ourselves Sunday night. Lightoller
remarked that we should be IN the
vicinity of ice about his watch.
The witness said that he left his
cabin about 1850 Sunday night Just
after the collision.
There was very little impact" he
said. Il was half asleep and half
awake and wondered sleepily where
we were anchoring. | walked out on
deck after three or four minutes and
said nothing Then | returned, light
ed my pipe and dressed leisurely, Tor
il was near time for my watch. Just
as ! finished dressing Mr.. Boxhall
came up and said: We have struck
an iceberg. i went on deck again and
met Sixth officer Moody. | asked
him If he had seen the iceberg, and he
said No but there was ice on his
deck. To satisfy myself, | went for
ward and saw ice. Then | walked
back and saw flock of firemen com
ing up. | asked what was the mat
ter. They said There's water in the
hatch ! looked downward and saw
water flowing over the hatch Then
went up on deck and met a man
in dressing gown who said to me:
| Hurry, there's no time for fooling,
Then | went TO the boats"
did you know who that man was?
Not then, do now"
who was it?"
Mr. Ismay. Later this man told
me TO get the women and children in
the boats | lowered one of them. Mr.
Ismay came to the boat and helped
me | put in quite a number of them
and a few men. Then / called for
more women, but there were none to
be seen. Then | stepped back on the
ship again and officer Murdoch told
me to get in the boat and row around
to the after gangway. | thought that
was the thing to do. because expect
ed to bring all of the passengers back
to the ship again"
The witness said that just before
the boat pulled away officer Murdoch
leaned over and shook hands with
him and said. Good by and good luck
old man" Il pulled away" said Pit
man, intending to remain near the
ship in case the wind should spring
up" There were five members of the
crew on the lifeboat commanded by
Pitman, who testified that he carried
40 of the passengers. Under cross ex.
animation he acknowledged that his
boat did not have lights, although the
regulations OF the British board OF
trade compelled II. Pitman said that
the women behaved "splendidly," and
that all of them wanted to help in
rowing to keep themselves warm. He
said his boat was some distance from
the Titanic when she went down.