The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1912-06-01
REPORT ON TITANIC DISASTER.
Continued from page one)

CONTINUED from page one.)
The committee.
The committee agreed upon enese
principal conclusions:
The supposedly watertight comparI-
| ments of the Titanic were not wafer.
| tight, because of the non-Waterught
! condition of the decks where the
! transverse bulkheads ended.
| The steamship Californian, con
trolled by the same concern as the
Titanic, was nearer the sinking
| steamer than the nineteen miles re-
oorted by her captain, and her OF
! ficers and crew saw the distress
signals OF the Titanic and failed to
respond to them in accordance Win
dictates of humanity, lnternatioha,
usage and the requirements or law.
Miqht Have Saved All.
The committee concludes that the
Californian might have saved all the
lost passengers and crew OF the snip
that went down. ,;u,
, Eight ships, all equipped with VIE II:
less. were in the vicinity OF Tue
tanIc. the Olympic farthest a"as
: 512 miles. mn.
! rho mysterious lights on an un-
known ship, seen by the passehsel ,
~ +he Titanic. undoubtedly were on
e the Californian, less than IL mics
g away. r;+,nio,e
/ life-boats was not utilized, because
e while only 706 persons were saved,
1.-THE ships boats could have carried
"A 1176.
|. No general alarm was sounded, no
& whistle blown and no systematic warn
inc was given to the endangered pas
), sengers. and 1t was fifteen or TWEEN
s0l ty minutes after the collision before
s. Captain Smith ordered the Il1anlc
re- wireless operator to send out as
tress message.
,r The Titanic's crew was only me@
It, eerly acquainted with its poslllons
RS and duties In an accident, and only
one drill was he'd before the nader
to rrip. Many of he crew joined tht
Sc shin only a. few hours before she san
ID and were TIL ignorance OF thel
cg POSITIONS untlI the following Friday ~
en- lea positions, SO definitely reportes
! -.
s. TO the Titanic just preceding tne az
IL cident. located Ice on both sldes
K tha lane ia which she was trayeIng
II No discussion took place among tn
,g officerg: no conference was called t
le consider the warnings; no heed wa
given to them The speed was no
relaxed, the lookout was not II
y creased.
~ The Hughes Message.
-. The first official information givel
- the committee declares, was the mes
ra sage from Captain Haddock, OF tn
"A Olympic, received from the Whlt
Nd star Line at 6:16 p. N. Monfda.
~ April Is. Attention is called to I'd
90 fact that in the face Of this INFORM
inf alton message reporting the Ilta'
ad ic being towed to Halifax was SCI
Is to Representative Hughes at Hun
ch ington, w. Va, at 1851 pm. that "a
W The message was delivered to tt
nv- Western Union office in the san
an building as the White Star Line Q
va Ulcers.
in whoever sent this message sd.
90 the report, under the circumstance
10 Is guilty Of the most reprehenslb
conduct"
The committee does not belize
that the wireless operator On Il
on Carpathia was duly vigilant in han
=. ling his messages after the acclde1
~ and declared the practice OF allo"ls
" wireless operators to sell their storl
ine should be stopped.
Le 1t is recommended that all ships c;
"A rying more than 100 passengers ma
az al two searchlights,, that a revision
49, made of steamship inspection laws
slh foreign countries to the standard p]
say posed in the United States; tn
Ino rs every ship be required to carry s.
: ficient lifeboats for all passenge
-, and crews; that the use OF Wlfeie
- be regulated to prevent lnter1eren
by amateurs, and that all SHIPS ma
nor a wireless operator on Constant du
, .tas Water-Tight Bu!kheads.
,e,t Detailed recommendations are me-
,ext as to water-tight bulkhead constr
tta, ton on oceangoing ships. Bulkhef
viii should be SO spaced that any two
,rad jacent compartments Of ship mis-
md be flooded without sinking. Ira
Tho verse bulkheads forward and ab
ava the machinery should be eontin'
~ water-tight to the uppermost
tinuous structural deck and this d.
should be fitted water-tight, the
port says.
pee The committee deems the eou
any followed by Captain Rostron OF
IN Carpathia as deserving Of the nj
dice est praise and worthy of especial
aps, cognition. His detailed instruct
ans issued in anticipation OF the rescue
pc, The Titanic We're "a marvel OF
,psa tematic preparation and eompl
'iAeu ness, evidencing such solicitude
calls for the highest commemorate
vile
who Notice.
J Ia You can have your suits ciea