Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-05-01
Experts to Be Called.

AAAAoiiN move bCSA Spdleu dll the
details"
Experts to Be Called.
Steamboat experts connected with bu-
| reaus Of the Department of Commerce
and Labor, in which is the steamboat in
speetien service, are to be called in by
congressional committees to frame such
legislation as the senatorial investigation
of the Titanic horror has shown the
| need of.
Washington temporarily ceased today
Chairman William Alden Smith of the
investigating committee is mapping out
lines for further evidence. He plans to
go to New York this afternoon, with a
view to investigating the story told the
committee yesterday that Western
Union operator is authority for the state
ment that the White Star line received
! news of the disaster to the Titanic early
Monday morning and suppressed the news
for twelve hours.
Col. Oracle Gives Experiences.
| Col. Archibald Oracle of this city re-
cited his experiences during the sinking
of the Titanic and his rescue from a
watery grave at yesterday afternoons
session, just before the recess of the in
ing was announced by Chairman William
Alden Smith.
When Mrs. Isidor Straus refused to
leave her husbands side and enter one OF
the. lifeboats, Col. Oracle said, the men
waived the rule of women first" and
the doomed ship.
mo. / shall stay here and share the
fate of the men," Mr., Straus said, ac-
cording to Col. Oracle.
T@hy Anx@ l,4 o-ly1 ~
allowed to go with his wife, and when
asked the reason given by Col. Astor. he
said:
Il think because of the condition of
Mrs. Astor."
Col. Oracle was full of praise for the
conduct of the officers and crew Of the
Titanic, and he said the actions Of the
| passengers. both men and women, was
heroic.
| AS the bow began to sink and he was
said, he met a big crowd Of people, in
cluding many women. The presence of
the women. he said. surprised him, be-
cause 1t was believed all the women had
been taken off.
In response to question he said no
steward aroused him after the crash.
Smith Talked to Astor.
Mrs Dickinson H. Bishop of Dowagiac.
| Mich. who was returning from a honey
! moon trip to Europe and whose husband
also was saved, saw Capt. Smith talk
ing in an undertone to Col Astor, and
then heard Col. Astor advise the passen-
gers to put on life belts Her husband
| was pushed into a lifeboat with her
after she had been given a seat in It.
| In the boat were twelve women, thir-
teen men and three members of the crew.
"On our lifeboat was a man whose
brother was on the Titanic,'' she said.
When the ship sank this man buried
his face In his hands until the ship dis
appeared, carrying his brother down
up the women. who were nervous"
Her husband. who followed her on the
stand. told the committee there was trou-
BILE closing the water-tight compartments
He saw sailors try to close them and fail.
! &. r. Henry Stengel of New York, one
OF the passengers on the Titanic, said that
| he had knowledge of engines because
! he was manufactured and that he
| thought the Sunday night of the accident
| that the eng snes were being strained.
| His testimony indicated that when he
| left the ship it's officers did not seem to
| think the accident was serious. One OF
| them said the women were being taken
| off In lifeboats merely as a precaution
| He said he rolled into the lifeboat with
| his wife and an officer nearby laughed
! heartily.
That's the funniest sight I've seen
| tonight" the officer chuckled.
Gave Terrible Wall.
| As the Carpathia, the ship of succor
was plowing its way back to New York
! with the rescued. he said, there were re-
ports among the survivors who wanted to
| send messages of their safety that the
| wireless was being used for newspaper
i 10 -
said, by the captain Of the Carpathia
| that only twenty words had been sent tc
| the press.
AS the boat went down. he said he
could hear the cries of the people in the
| water.
What were the cries like?" Senator
! Fletcher asked.
They constituted one long, wall"
| Gould you see the people?'
| NO. but l could hear them. 1t was 8
| terrible wall
| Answering question, he said he OBJ
| served no DIR hiking among the officers O
| the Titanic and heard woman Passenger
| say Capt. Smith did not drink drop.
| j. Bruce Ismay. president of the Inter
national Mercantile Marine, when recalle.
| to the stand. was asked by Senator
| Bourne as TO the lessons of the disaster
| Well | believe there should be hiehe
| bulkheads," he replied double huIls o.
an extension of the double bottom ant
life RATS that will be easy to launch o
which m ght float free of the ship whe,
| il went down..
When he testified that he fired shot
ITO prevent Italian immigrants from
jumping into his lifeboat." H. G. Lowe
| NTH officer of the Titanic. meant no re
fecton on the Italian nation. accordin,
TO a statement ne has given out throuxi
the Italian embassy.
II did not mean to infer" he saws. ..tha
they were especially Italians and mean
to imply only that they were Of the type
of the Latin races"