The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-04-24
Brings Out Important Facts
Regarding the Disaster.
ABSENCE OF EYEGLASSES
Is Held to Be Responsible by
Two witnesses.
Mai. Peuchen Thinks Collision
Might Have Been Avoided.

close there will have been fixed the
question of responsibility for the collis-
ion with the iceberg that proved the
great ships undoing. Frederick Fleet,
the Titanic's lookout man who was IN
the crows nest at the time OF the col
1ision will be subjected to another nre
of questions in an effort to get MIN 10
fx the time he first reported the 90
struction to the officers on the orluse'
This he claims he was unable TO 90:
There was the usual crowd or the
curious in the corridors of the senate
office building long before they met
The great majority of them were Worn-
en- who used all their wiles and ca
foieries in vain efforts to get past the
two giant capitol guards VINO stoou
sentinel at the doors The comnlttee
refused to permit any one inside the
room except witnesses, the survivors
apd the representatives of the press.
The failure to provide binoculars or
spv glasses for the lookouts on the IL
tanic was one contributing cause OF
that ships loss and, with 1t, the loss OIL
more than 1,600 lives.
Two witnesses before the senate in
vestigating committee agreed on this
They were Frederick Fleet. LOOKOUT
on the liner and Major Arthur God
frev Peuchen Canadian manufactures
and yachtsman, who was among the
rescued passengers.
Major Peuchen also testlhed 70 the
much greater sweep OF vision aIIorueu
by binoculars, and as a yachtsman'
said he believed the presence o. 'tre
iceberg might have been detected IN
time to escape collision had the lookout
men been so equipped.
They Asked for Glasses.
II was made to appear that the blame
for being without glasses did not rest
with the lookout men, Fleet salo they
had asked for them at Southampton
and were told there were none Tor
them. One glass, in pinch, would
have served in the crowsnest-
Major Peuchen criticised in strong
terms the lack of experienced sailors on
board the Titanic He said that when
the call to quarters was sounded, not
enough of the crew responded to under
take the work required in lowering ana
filing the boats. Furthermore, he SAID,
no drills had been held from the time
the ship left Southampton, although 1t
was customary to hold such drills every
Sunday.
Major Peuchen said that in the life
boat, the quartermaster in charge,
made a woman row while he held the
filler steering for a light, which the
major declared did not exist so far as
he could see. The quartermaster re-
fused to turn about and attempt TO
pick up survivors, said the witness. |
when we began to hear signs of the
breaking up of the Titanic, we heard
sort of a call for help after the whistle,
then a rumbling sound. 1 think the
Titanic's lights were still on. Then
there was an explosion, then another. |
Then the lights went out and then
those dreadful cries. It frightfuIly af-
fected all the women in our boats. At
first it was horrible to listen to. But |
the sounds grew fainter and fainter I
think we were about Is of a mile |
away"
Heard Three Explosions.
did coo tho xyaSSol E1,+ y:
theory was that the explosions were /
above the water. caused by the heavy /
pressure when the boat started to dive /
down by the head.
How many explosions were there?''
asked Senator Smith
About three. 1 think. but I was
excited"
do you think Captain Smith was
attentive to his duties?''
Yes. I do"
Major Peuchen said the hfeboat he |
was in was equipped with everything
required. Some of the boats he heard
were not sufficiently equipped with food |
When he got on the Carpathia he ex- |
amined several nfeboats and found they |
had lights, bareback and water.
Did the women row in the boats?' |
Eyes, and they were 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 E. A. Nor
ton, Acton Lane, London; Mrs. Walter |
Clark. Los Angeles; Mrs. Lucien B. |
Smith, Huntington, w Va; Mrs. Cav
endish, New York: Mrs. Walter Doug |
las, Minneapolis, and Mr.. and Mrs. /
G.. B. Burnham, Denver, were among
others in the boat. many of whom
handled the oars.
The major said there was still room
in some boats which left from the port
side, and he could not understand why
more were saot taken off.
THE Carpathia steamed all around
the scene of the wreck and we did not
see a single body" the major said. 1T
seems strange to me, as 1 should think
the life belts would have held the bodies
up. dead or alive, for four or five
hours He said he was certain that
none could have lived in the icy water
more than an hour.
Their Feet Were Frozen.
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 each 9TH
er. Their feet were frozen
Several senators asked if the fact
that there was no general alarm
sounded after the collision might ac-
count for the failure of many women
to appear on the decks in time for
the iifeboats. He thought that prob
able.
Major Peuchen told the committee
he thought that if the lookouts on the
Titanic had had eyeglasses the ship
might have been saved from the col
lision.
did you talk with Fleet, the look
out, who was in your Hfeboat?" asked
Senator Smith.
Yes. I asked him what occurred.
He said he rang three bells and then
sfgnalled to the bridge He said he
did not get immediate reply from the