SENATOR SMITH: And you would expect that this boat would pick it up if they had a wireless on it.
MR. BOXHALL: If she had a wireless installation.
SENATOR SMITH: You busied yourself with the Morse signals?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did they continue up to the time you assisted in clearing the lifeboats?
MR. BOXHALL: I would signal with the Morse and then go ahead and send off a rocket, and then go back and have a look at the ship, until I was finally sent away.
SENATOR SMITH: Suppose you had had a searchlight on the bow of that boat, and could have thrown it strongly against this object that you seemed to see, do you think that would have apprised the vessel of its proximity to you and of your distress?
MR. BOXHALL: Well, no doubt a searchlight might have called attention to it then.
SENATOR SMITH: This ship was not equipped with a searchlight?
MR. BOXHALL: The Titanic was not; no.
SENATOR SMITH: Have you ever been employed on a ship that was so equipped?
MR. BOXHALL: Not in the merchant service.
SENATOR SMITH: Not in the merchant service?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Any other service?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: In the naval service?
MR. BOXHALL: In the naval service.
SENATOR SMITH: Is that a part of the equipment of the British naval service?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; all the ships that I have seen have a searchlight.
SENATOR SMITH: But not in the merchant service?
MR. BOXHALL: Not in the merchant service.
SENATOR SMITH: In order that the record may be complete will you kindly explain a little more in detail how the Morse signal is given.
MR. BOXHALL: By means of a telegraphic key and a Morse lamp. It is a series of dots and dashes.
SENATOR SMITH: Which are reflected?
MR. BOXHALL: No; there is no reflection at all; it is just simply showing the light in and out ­ an electric light.
SENATOR SMITH: How are the rockets exploded?
MR. BOXHALL: The rockets are exploded by a firing lanyard.
SENATOR SMITH: They shower?
MR. BOXHALL: They go right up into the air and they throw stars.
SENATOR SMITH: How strong rockets do they have on these boats ­ what is the charge; do you know?
MR. BOXHALL: I do not know, sir; the Board of Trade regulations govern that.
SENATOR SMITH: Did they work satisfactorily?
MR. BOXHALL: Oh, yes.
SENATOR SMITH: So that, so far as your manipulation of these signals and rockets was concerned­­
MR. BOXHALL: They were quite satisfactory.
SENATOR SMITH: The failure to arouse the attention of this ship was not due to any impaired or partial success of these signals.
MR. BOXHALL: Not at all, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You say you continued to fire the rockets and give the signals?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And then returned to the side of the ship?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And assisted in the work of the lifeboats?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: All about the same time?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Now, Mr. Boxhall, how many people were on the boat deck, the upper deck, where these lifeboats were located?
MR. BOXHALL: At what time, sir?
SENATOR SMITH: At the time you were clearing them; at the time they were lowered ­ the first ones were lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: I do not know what time the first boat was lowered.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you there when it was lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: I was around the bridge, but the first boat that was lowered was lowered away from aft.
SENATOR SMITH: Lowered from aft?
MR. BOXHALL: On the starboard side. I received the communication through the telephone in the wheelhouse that the first boat had been lowered. I did not notice the time.
SENATOR SMITH: Who lowered it?
MR. BOXHALL: I do not know who was aft.
SENATOR SMITH: The communication did not tell you?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I do not know who it was that told me through the telephone.
SENATOR SMITH: Have you since learned who lowered it?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know anything about who was in this first boat?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I have not the slightest idea.
SENATOR SMITH: You say you did not see it lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see the second boat lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know where it was lowered from?
MR. BOXHALL: I have not the slightest idea where it was lowered from.
SENATOR SMITH: Whether aft or on the port or the starboard side?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I do not know. The first boat was lowered from aft on the starboard side, I know, because that information was sent through to me on the phone.
SENATOR SMITH: But who sent it you do not know?
MR. BOXHALL: I do not know.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you do after receiving that communication?
MR. BOXHALL: I went outside again and was assisting generally.
SENATOR SMITH: Where did you go; to which side of the boat?
MR. BOXHALL: I went on the port side.
SENATOR SMITH: Amidship, or aft, or forward?
MR. BOXHALL: Around forward.
SENATOR SMITH: Were there any lifeboats forward?
MR. BOXHALL: Oh, yes.
SENATOR SMITH: On each side?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: How many?
MR. BOXHALL: When I left the ship?
SENATOR SMITH: When the ship left Southampton, if you can tell? I want to find out the location of the lifeboats.
MR. BOXHALL: They were equally divided on the boat deck, the port side and the starboard side.
SENATOR SMITH: Fore and aft?
MR. BOXHALL: Fore and aft.
SENATOR SMITH: How many would be forward?
MR. BOXHALL: There were 14 lifeboats. That would be 7 on either side.
SENATOR SMITH: Were these lifeboats all along the side?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Continuously? There was no division between those amidship and those forward?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You say there were how many on a side?
MR. BOXHALL: Seven on either side. I never counted them, but I think there were seven. There were 14 lifeboats and 2 seaboats. They were equally divided.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see any of these lifeboats filled or lowered on the starboard side, either forward or aft?
MR. BOXHALL: I saw some one filling the starboard emergency boat at the time that I went and was firing off rockets. I fired them just close to the bows of this emergency boat.
SENATOR SMITH: There were only two emergency boats?
MR. BOXHALL: That is all; but that one I noticed, because these distress rockets are dangerous things if they explode, and I had to keep people away clear while I fired the rockets.
SENATOR SMITH: On the port side you could have seen but one. There was one on each side?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: You could have seen but one, and that was at the boat deck. Was it being lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: I saw it just before it was lowered, and then I fired a rocket after it was lowered.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know who was in that boat?
MR. BOXHALL: No, I do not know who was in it. I did not notice who was working at the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know how many of the crew were in that boat?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I do not.
SENATOR SMITH: Or how many passengers?
MR. BOXHALL: I have not the slightest idea.
SENATOR SMITH: Or who the passengers were?
MR. BOXHALL: No.
SENATOR SMITH: Or whether they were men or women?
MR. BOXHALL: There were men in it.
SENATOR SMITH: Men and women?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: In about what proportions?
MR. BOXHALL: I could not say. My business ­ I was intent on sending these rockets out and did not stop to look.
SENATOR SMITH: Is that the only boat you saw lowered or filled?
MR. BOXHALL: I did not see them in the act of lowering that boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Well, filling?
MR. BOXHALL: I saw the people in it.
SENATOR SMITH: Is that the only one?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I noticed other boats being filled, but I did not notice who was filling them. At such a time as that one does not stop to look who is doing things.
SENATOR SMITH: I understand that. Did you see the other boats of the same type lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: I was in it when it was lowered.
SENATOR SMITH: You were in it. When was it lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: I do not know the time.
SENATOR SMITH: Could you tell the order in which they were lowered, whether this was the second, or third, or fourth?
MR. BOXHALL: When I was lowered away I was the last boat but one on the port side. There was one of the lifeboats lowered away after I left, a few minutes after I left, and then there were no more boats hanging in the davits on the port side.
SENATOR SMITH: Was there not one boat that was entangled in the gear and could not be lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir; not that I know of. I never heard about it and I did not see it.
SENATOR SMITH: As far as you recollect, all of the lifeboats­­
MR. BOXHALL: As far as I recollect, and from what I have heard, everything worked very smoothly in lowering the boats.
SENATOR SMITH: And all of the lifeboats had been lowered when the boat that you got in was lowered?
MR. BOXHALL: All but one.
SENATOR SMITH: Where was that one?
MR. BOXHALL: That was the next boat to me, aft.
SENATOR SMITH: A lifeboat or a collapsible?
MR. BOXHALL: A lifeboat.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you have anything to do with filling these boats?
MR. BOXHALL: I was assisting to get people along there, but I was not standing at the side of the boat, lifting them in, actually.
SENATOR SMITH: What can you say about the anxiety of people to get into these boats; was there great anxiety?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir; I can not say that I saw that.
SENATOR SMITH: What can you say as to whether they were reluctant to get in?
MR. BOXHALL: I did not notice that, either.
SENATOR SMITH: Were there many people on the boat deck when you got into this boat?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were there any people at all?
MR. BOXHALL: There were some around by the other boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Anyone you knew?
MR. BOXHALL: I did not notice.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see Mr. Ismay at that time?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir. The last time I saw Mr. Ismay was some little while before I came away from the ship in my boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Before you came away?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And you did not see him after that?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see Mr. Lightoller at that time ­ when you got in, I mean?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir. I saw Mr. Wilde.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see Mr. Lowe or Mr. Pitman at that time?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see Mr. Murdock at that time?
MR. BOXHALL: No; only Mr. Wilde and the captain.
SENATOR SMITH: Where was the captain?
MR. BOXHALL: The captain was standing by this emergency boat.
SENATOR SMITH: The one you got in?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How far from it?
MR. BOXHALL: He was standing by the wheelhouse door, just abreast of this boat.
SENATOR SMITH: By the wheelhouse door, just abreast of this boat?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: What was he doing?
MR. BOXHALL: Supervising the boats being loaded, I think.
SENATOR SMITH: Loaded?
MR. BOXHALL: Supervising passengers being put into the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Did he tell you to get in?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: What did he say?
MR. BOXHALL: He told me I had to get into that boat and go away.
SENATOR SMITH: Did any other officer get into that boat?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Any other member of the crew?
MR. BOXHALL: One man was in it.
SENATOR SMITH: Who was that?
MR. BOXHALL: I do not know his name, sir; I forget.
SENATOR SMITH: What was his occupation?
MR. BOXHALL: Sailorman.
SENATOR SMITH: But you do not know who he was?
MR. BOXHALL: There was one sailorman, one steward, and one cook; that is all.
SENATOR SMITH: There were four men in that boat?
MR. BOXHALL: And one passenger.
SENATOR SMITH: A sailorman, a steward, a cook, yourself and one male passenger?
MR. BOXHALL: One male passenger.
SENATOR SMITH: Who was that passenger?
MR. BOXHALL: He was a saloon passenger who did not speak English. He had a black beard.
SENATOR SMITH: How old a man, apparently?
MR. BOXHALL: A middle­aged man.
SENATOR SMITH: Did he seem to have any family there?
MR. BOXHALL: I think he had his wife there, and some children.
SENATOR SMITH: Did she get in?
MR. BOXHALL: The boat was already loaded; I did not see the passengers being put in.
SENATOR SMITH: The boat was full?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, it seemed to me to be pretty full. The order was given to lower the boats away when I was sent to her.
SENATOR SMITH: How long was this before the ship sank?
MR. BOXHALL: As near as I can judge, it seems to be about 20 minutes to half an hour.
SENATOR SMITH: Before the ship sank?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see the captain after that?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Not at all?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How far were you from the ship when it sank?
MR. BOXHALL: I suppose I was about a half a mile away.
SENATOR SMITH: Going in what direction?
MR. BOXHALL: Resting on the oars.
SENATOR SMITH: Did all the men in that boat handle oars?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did any women handle oars?
MR. BOXHALL: I was handling one oar and a lady was assisting me with it. But she was not compelled to do it; she was not asked to do it.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know who she was?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you find out afterwards who she was?
MR. BOXHALL: No; I did not find out, at all.
SENATOR SMITH: You did not ask her to do that, you say?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: It was a voluntary service?
MR. BOXHALL: Voluntary service.
SENATOR SMITH: You were resting on your oars about a half a mile from the place where the ship went down?
MR. BOXHALL: About half a mile.
SENATOR SMITH: When you left the ship's side, were there others trying to get into your boat?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Men or women?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: As you proceeded from the ship's side did you see anyone in the water?
MR. BOXHALL: No; not at all.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you encounter anyone in the water at all, after you entered the boat?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you ever return to the Titanic after leaving its side?
MR. BOXHALL: I pulled around the ship's stern and was intending to go alongside, and tried to see if I could get alongside of the ship again.
SENATOR SMITH: What for?
MR. BOXHALL: I reckoned I could take about three more people off the boat with safety.
SENATOR SMITH: Who made that suggestion to you, anyone?
MR. BOXHALL: No.
SENATOR SMITH: Did the suggestion come from a woman passenger, or did you do it of your own motion?
MR. BOXHALL: I did it of my own accord. I was in charge of the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: And you swung it around how close to the side?
