Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-04-23

: I'VE took all we could" +lr.> .'.r
There must have been others in the
water?" ~
But not near U.S."
How far away?" .....
Seemed half mile"
who took command"
II did, as far as necessary"
when you left did you see any wom-
en- or children on board?"
mo sir ..-.
ANY passengers on the boat deck? ?" r
"A number" 4
Z WHow were the passengers selected to
fill the boats?" ~
by SEX
1""Who determined who should so?"
II did" 9
How"
Turned Stswardesses Away.
when saw a woman I put her in,
except stewardesses, turned those
back"
IBID you see any attempt to get
women to go who would not?"
YES" 1
why would they not go?"
II had not time to learn"
Did any ask for their family to go?"
Yes, one or two"
Did any families go?"
mo" \ 4
In the first boat to be put off. Light
five. Two seamen were placed In it. The
officer said he could spare no more and
that the fact that women rowed did not
show the boat was not fully equipped.
At the time he did not believe the
danger was great. Two seamen placed
in the boat, he said, We're selected by
him, but he could not recall who they
were. .aa, .
How did you happen to name
them?"
Because they were standing near"
Did they want to go?" LIZ
II did not ask them; they went by
my orders" Nss ,f,..
How many passengers did the Sec
ond boat take?" &r.e., ''.~, ~
About thirty" said Lightholder.
1.-TWO men as far as I remember, sir
did you see that boat again ?"
mot to my knowledge"
"The third boat?"
by the time came to the third-all
these on the port side-I began to re-
alize that the situation was serious and
I began to take chances"
How long did all the work Of loading
and lowering lifeboat take z"
at was difficult to say, but think
about fifteen or twenty minutes"
Thirty-five Passengers in Third Boat.
How many passengers did the third
boat contain?"
II filled her up as full as dared. sir,
then lowered her, about thirty-five, !
think"
THE women and children could not
have stood quieter II they had been in
church"
In loading the fourth lifeboat, Light
holder said, he was running short of
Seamen.
II put two seamen in and one jumped
out. That was the first boat I had to
nut a man passenger in. He was stand
ing nearby and said he would 80 II /
needed him."
II said Are you a sailor" and he
replied that he was q yatchsman. Then
l told him that IL he was sailor
enough to get out over the bulwarks to
the lifeboat and 80 ahead. He did and
proved himself afterward to be very
brave man." .<
who was he-did you know him."
II didn't know him then, but after
ward 1 looked him up. He was Major
Peuchen Of Toronto" said Lightolerd.>
Had you ever seen him before?"
mo, sir"
On the fifth boat Lightholder had no
particular recollection 1.-THE last boat
I put out, my sixth boat" he said, I'VE
had difficulty in finding women. l called
for women and none were on deck. The
men began to get in, and then women
appeared. AS rapidly as they did the
men passengers got out Of the boat
again.
. THE boats bow was only ten feet
from the water when I lowered the
sixth boat. When we lowered the first
the distance to the water was seventy
feet g.. y
"All told" testified Lightholder
twenty Of the crew were saved"
IF the same course was pursued on
=
the port in filling the boats. how do you
account for SO many members Of the
crew being saved p" asked Chairman
Smith.
II have inquired especially and have
found that for every six persons picked
I'D, five were either firemen or stew
ards"
Life Boats Return to Titanic.
Some life boats, the witness said,
went back after the Titanic sank and
picked up men from the sea.
of the officers quarters and as the ship
dove he facedNforward and dived also.
II was sucked against blower and
held there" testified the officer.
Head above water?"
Nor sir. A terrific gust came up the
blower-the boilers must have exploded
and I was blown clear"
How far were you blown? 2"
BARELY clear. l was sucked down
again. This time on the f1dley grating
did anyone else have similar ex-
perience?"
eyes, Colonel Oracle"
How did you get loose?"
81 don't know; maybe\another ex-
plosion. All know is we came up by
q boat"
what other officers besides yourself
survived?"
II. j. Pitman, third officer; j. G.
Boxhall, fourth officer: G. Lowe, fifth
officer
Wireless Operator Tsstifies.
Thomas Cottam, aged twenty-one, of
Liverpool. the Marconi operator on the
Carpathia, was the first witness at the
evening session.
He said the Carpathia wireless in
struments would send message about
$50 miles with accuracy
How did you happen to catch the
Titanic's message Of distress?" he was
asked.
= was looking out for confirmation