Mexico Missouri message., 1912-04-25


"The C. o." said Mr. Marconi, lis
an international signal which meant
that all stations should cease sending
except the one using the call The u
was added to indicate danger The
call, however, now has been super.
seeded by the universal call, IS. o. s."
Bride then said the North German
Lloyd steamer Frankfort was the first
to answer the Titanic's distress sig.
nal.
Have you heard it said that the
Frankfort was the ship nearest to the
Titanic?" YES; Mr.. Philips told me
that"
How did he known" by the
strength OF the signals" said the wit
ness, who added that the Carpathia
answered shortly after.
The witness said that twenty min
utes later the Frankfort operator In.
terrupted TO ask What was the mat
teri"
What did you reply7' the senator
inquired. mir. Philips said he was
a fool and told him to keep out"
There was no further effort to get
the Frankfort's position.
Time after time Senator Smith
asked in varying forms why the tt
tanic did not explain In detail It's con-
diton to the Frankfort.
ANY operator receiving C. Q. ID.
and the position of the ship, il he is
on the job, would tell the captain at
once" said Bride.
ASK him IL II would have taken
longer to have sent, You are a fool,
keep out than We are sinking?' sug-
gested Senator Reed.
WAS your object in Diminishing the
somewhat tardy inquiry of the Frank
fort due to your desire to hang on to
a certainty of the Carpathia?" in
CURED Senator Smith. Eyes"
But under the circumstances could
you not with propriety send q detailed
message to the Frankfort" Senator
Smith insisted 81 didn't think we
could under the circumstances"
Would you still make the same re-
ply If you were told the Frankfort was
twenty miles nearer to you than the
Carpathia?" Bride replied that the
Carpathia was then on its way with
it's life boats ready.
Mr.. Marconi again testified to the
distress signals and said that the
Frankfort was equipped with Marconi
wireless. He said that the receipt of
the signal c. Q. u. by the Frankfort's
operator should have been all suffi
| cient to send the Frankfort to the i'm
mediate rescue.
Frankfort Should Have Heard.
Bride said that undoubtedly the
Frankfort received all of the urgent
appeals for help sent subsequently to
the Carpathia.
why did you not send the mes
sages to the Frankfort as well as the
| Carpathia?" asked Senator Smith
| He would not have understood"
/ The witness said that before leav-
! ing the cabin ten minutes before the
/ ship went down. Philips sent out a
! final c. q. D. There was no response,
Bride saying the spark was then so
weak that 1t probably did not carry.
When Bride and Philips stepped
out on the boat deck he said they
/ found persons rushing around in con-
| fusion. They were seeking life belts.
There were no big life boats aboard
at that time" said Bride. There was
! a life raft over the officers quarters,
which later was lost over the side"
The witness then told of his expert
ence in following with a small boat,
| beneath which he nearly was drowned
before he could eXtricate himself.
With a number Of other survivors he
clambered on the overturned boat
zone of these was Philip" said the
witness. He died on the way to the
Carpathia and was buried at sea-"
When Bride gained the bottom Of
the boat he found between thirty-five
and forty men already there.
81 was the last man invited aboard"
said Bride.
Did any others seek to get on?"
YES, sir; dozens. We couldn't take
them"
The witness said he did not see j.
Bruce Ismay, and that the last he saw
of Capt Smith he was in the act OF
jumping from the bridge just as the
ship went down. He said he was
swimming within $50 feet of the ship
when it went down and that he felt
no suction.