Milford chronicle., 1912-05-03
SEA WIRELESS
REFORM NEEDED
PrObeTS viii Urge Law Against
Withholding Wreck News.
OPERATORS ARE DEFENDED
Marconi Declares His Company Did
Not Seek to Delay Messages of the
Titanic Disaster.

MaFconi Declares His Company Did
Not Seek to Delay Messages of the
Titanic Disaster.
Washington, April 3O.-After a day
of discussion intended to discover the
needed reforms in the use of wireless
telegraphy at sea, the senate commit
tee investigating the Titanic disaster
entered on the final stage Of its in
quiry.
1t was made clear that the commit
tee already had made up its mind to
advocate legislation preventing wire
less operators on shipboard from hold
ing back details of disasters. Mr.. Mar
conf and Mr.. Sammis both acknowl-
edged that mistake had been made
in sending messages to Bride and
Cottam, on board the Carpathia, not
to give out anything until they had
seen Marconi and Sammis ashore.
F. NJ. Sammis, chief engineer of the
American Marconi company, also tes-
titled, explaining what had aotuated
him in sending messages to Bride and
Cottam, operators of the Carpathia, to
hold their tales for -four figures" He
said he had made an arrangement
with a New York newspaper for them
to sell their personal tales and had
sent the messages to the boys" in
forming them of that fact.
Sammis declared that Bride and
Cottam, operators on the Carpathia,
should not be blamed for not sending
news of the ship.
"If there is any blame" said Sam
mis-, 'it should be upon the captain Of
the Carpathia The captain of ship
is censor of all wireless messages sent
from a ship. The operators are there
to send and receive. They send moth
ing that the captain does not pass
upon"
Senator Smith demanded to know il
the witness did not believe it would
have been more "creditable" to him
self and to his company if they re-
warded such heroism as was shown
by Operator Bride rather than by seal
ing their lips to arrange for a pit
tance from a private source?" The
witness replied that they were 'all
doing the best they could"
Ablaze with light from her saloons
and cabins, the Titanic dashed full
speed ahead to her destruction, ac-
cording to Ernest Gill, a donkey en-
gineman on the steamship Californian,
gineman on the steamship Californian. |
Gill said that Captain Stanley Lord,
of the Californian, refused later to go
to the aid of the Titanic, the rockets
from which could be plainly seen on
the Californian.
This Captain Lord denied, but both |
he and his wireless operator acknowl- |
edged to having seen the rockets.
Their ship, they said, was fast in the
ice.
Gill's affidavit was listened to with
teh deepest interest by the committee.
Gill was present and was placed on
the witness stand Immediately after
Senator Smith, the chairman, had fin
ished reading the affidavit.
Il saw the ship, which 1 took to be
the Titanic" said Gill after being
sworn, "some time before midnight.
She was about ten miles away and
went part us apparently at full speed.
She was a big ship and 1 saw two tiers
Of lights. The Californian at the time
was caught in field ice, its engines
were stopped and she was drifting
with the foe"
The vessel, Gill testified, must have
been plainly visible to the bridge and
the outlool1s, as well as the rockets
which were sent up later from the
vessel. The Californian's captain, he
said, paid no attention to the distress
signals, and his refusal to get steam
and go to the aid of the stranger so
lncensed the crew that Gill tried to
a protesting party among the
men. He failed, he said, because Of
The timidity Of the men.
What time did the Californian get
Up steam?" inquired Senator Fletcher.
4 don't know, exactly" said the wit
ness, but it was some time after
o'clock"
From the rockets Gill judged the
ship to be not more than
.wenty miles of He described the
his description tallying with
hat given by Fourth officer Boxhall
If the Titanic, who sent them aloft.
When he tried to organize COM
nittee of the crew to go to the cap
ain and protest against his course,
le said the men were afraid they'd
ose their jobs"