MR. LOWE: No, sir; this [indicating a glass of water] is the strongest drink I ever take.
SENATOR SMITH: That there might not be any misunderstanding about it, I asked that question. You retired at 8 o'clock that night?
MR. LOWE: I was supposed to retire.
SENATOR SMITH: You retired from your duty?
MR. LOWE: I was relieved from the ship at 8 o'clock.
SENATOR SMITH: Where was your room?
MR. LOWE: My room?
SENATOR SMITH: What deck?
MR. LOWE: It was on the boat deck.
SENATOR SMITH: The upper deck? Did it have a number?
MR. LOWE: No, sir; it is labeled "Fifth officer." There [indicating] is a plan that I drew. This [indicating] is the bridge here. That [indicating] is the wheelhouse, and this [indicating] is our chart room, and this [indicating] is the captain's apartment, and this [indicating] is where I lived, where it says "Fifth officer."
SENATOR SMITH: What other officer was there?
MR. LOWE: There was the chief officer and the first officer ­ the first, second, and third and sixth officers on that side. Then on the opposite side of the ship­­that is, the starboard sidethe captain lived and the fourth officer, namely, Mr. Boxhall.
SENATOR SMITH: Mr. Lightoller was here [indicating]?
MR. LOWE: I will write their names opposite, if you wish it.
SENATOR SMITH: Just put their names on this drawing.
The witness complied with the chairman's request.
SENATOR SMITH: What time did you go to bed that Sunday night?
MR. LOWE: I went between 8:15 and 8:30.
SENATOR SMITH: What time were you awakened?
MR. LOWE: I do not know. I was awakened by hearing voices, and I thought it was very strange, and somehow they woke me up and I realized there must be something the matter; so I looked out and I saw a lot of people around, and I jumped up and got dressed and went up on deck.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you find when you got up there?
MR. LOWE: I found that all the passengers were wearing belts.
SENATOR SMITH: Life belts?
MR. LOWE: Yes, sir; I also found that they were busy getting the boats ready to go overboard.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you do?
MR. LOWE: I met somebody, and they said she had struck an iceberg, and I could feel by my feet there was something wrong.
SENATOR SMITH: What ­ a listing?
MR. LOWE: No. I heard that term applied yesterday, and it is wrong. It is not listing; it is tipping.
SENATOR SMITH: I suppose he meant tipping when he said listing; but did she tip?
MR. LOWE: This is sideways [indicating].
SENATOR SMITH: Could you feel her tip sideways?
MR. LOWE: No; there was no listing. Listing is the side motion and tipping is the end motion. She was by the bow; she was very much by the bow. She had a grade downhill; a grade like that [indicating].
SENATOR SMITH: The bow, you say, was down?
MR. LOWE: Down, and the stern was up.
SENATOR SMITH: Could you tell at about what angle she was at that time?
MR. LOWE: Do you want the perpendicular angle or the horizontal angle?
SENATOR SMITH: The horizontal angle.
MR. LOWE: I should say she was about 12-degrees to 15-degrees by the head.
SENATOR SMITH: How long was that after the impact?
MR. LOWE: I do not know, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You did not feel the impact?
MR. LOWE: I never felt anything.
SENATOR SMITH: You do not know how long that was?
MR. LOWE: I have not the slightest idea of the time, sir, because I had Greenwich time on me, and I did not look at my watch.
SENATOR SMITH: You were not aroused from your slumber by anyone?
MR. LOWE: No, sir. Mr. Boxhall, the fourth officer told me that he told me that we had struck an iceberg, but I do not remember it.
SENATOR SMITH: You do not remember his telling you that?
MR. LOWE: I do not remember his telling me that.
SENATOR SMITH: That is, while you were­­
MR. LOWE: It must have been while I was asleep. You must remember that we do not have any too much sleep and therefore when we sleep we die.
SENATOR SMITH: Now, what did you do after you went out on the deck and ascertained the position of the ship in the water and saw what had occurred?
MR. LOWE: I first of all went and got my revolver.
SENATOR SMITH: What for?
MR. LOWE: Well, sir; you never know when you will need it.
SENATOR SMITH: All right; go ahead.
MR. LOWE: Then I went and helped everybody all around. Let us see; I crossed over to starboard side. I lowered away. The first boat I helped to lower was No. 5, starboard boat. I lowered that boat away­­
SENATOR SMITH: You lowered No. 5 boat?
MR. LOWE: Yes. That is, under the orders of Mr. Murdock.
SENATOR SMITH: Did Mr. Murdock assist you?
MR. LOWE: No; he was the senior officer; I was the junior.
SENATOR SMITH: On that side of the ship?
MR. LOWE: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Was he superintending?
MR. LOWE: He was superintending that deck.
SENATOR SMITH: The loading?
MR. LOWE: He was in charge of everything there.
SENATOR SMITH: The loading and the lowering of the lifeboats?
MR. LOWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How many officers or men were there to assist you with lifeboat No. 5?
MR. LOWE: I could not very well answer that; but I should say that there were about 6. No; more than 6; there must have been more than 6. There were about 10, I should say.
SENATOR SMITH: All around the station?
MR. LOWE: It takes 2 at each winch. Then there were 2 jumped in each boat. Then there were some clearing the falls ­ that is, the ropes ­ and you can roughly estimate it at 10 men.
SENATOR SMITH: Who got into the boat, do you know?
MR. LOWE: How do you mean?
SENATOR SMITH: You say two got into the boat? Who were the two?
MR. LOWE: Oh, I do not know, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know any of the men who assisted you in lowering that lifeboat?
MR. LOWE: No, sir; I do not, by name. But there is a man here, and had he not been there I should not have known that I had ordered Mr. Ismay away from the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you order Mr. Ismay away from the boat?
MR. LOWE: I did, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you say to him?
MR. LOWE: This was on the starboard side. I don't know his name, but I know him by sight. He is a steward. He spoke to me on board the Carpathia. He asked me if I knew what I had said to Mr. Ismay. I said, "I don't know Mr. Ismay." "Well," he said, "you used very, very strong language with him." I said, "Did I?" I said, "I can not help it if I did." He said, "Yes, you did," and he repeated the words. If you wish me to repeat them I will do so; if you do not; I will not.
SENATOR SMITH: I will first ask you this: What was the occasion for your using this harsh language to Mr. Ismay?
MR. LOWE: The occasion for using the language I did was because Mr. Ismay was overanxious and he was getting a trifle excited. He said, "Lower away! Lower away! Lower away! Lower away!" I said ­ well, let it be ­
MR. ISMAY: Give us what you said.
MR. LOWE: The chairman is examining me.
SENATOR SMITH: Mr. Ismay, you asked the witness to give the language?
MR. LOWE: I have no objection to his giving it. It was not very parliamentary.
SENATOR SMITH: If the language is inappropriate­­
MR. LOWE: There is only one word that might be so considered.
MR. ISMAY: May I suggest that it be put on a piece of paper and given to you, Mr. Chairman, and you decide.
SENATOR SMITH: All right; write it down.
The witness, Mr. Lowe, wrote something on a piece of paper and handed it to the chairman.
SENATOR SMITH: You may put that into the record. You said you­­
MR. LOWE: You wish me to repeat it, sir?
SENATOR SMITH: You uttered this to Mr. Ismay?
MR. LOWE: Yes; that was in the heat of the moment.
SENATOR SMITH: What was the occasion of it; because of his excitement, because of his anxiety?
MR. LOWE: Because he was, in a way, interfering with my duties, and also, of course, he only did this because he was anxious to get the people away and also to help me.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you say to him?
MR. LOWE: You wish me to repeat that statement?
SENATOR SMITH: Yes, sir.
MR. LOWE: I told him, "If you will get to hell out of that I shall be able to do something."
SENATOR SMITH: What reply did he make?
MR. LOWE: He did not make any reply. I said, "Do you want me to lower away quickly?" I said, "You will have me drown the whole lot of them." I was on the floor myself lowering away.
SENATOR SMITH: You were on the boat deck, standing on the deck of the boat, the upper deck; and where did he stand?
MR. LOWE: He was at the ship's side, like this [indicating]. This is the ship ­ he was hanging on the davit like this [indicating]. He said, "Lower away, lower away, lower away," and I was slacking away just here at his feet [indicating].
SENATOR SMITH: The boat was being lowered?
MR. LOWE: I was lowering away the boat myself, personally.
SENATOR SMITH: I want you to say what he did after you said this to him?
MR. LOWE: He walked away; and then he went to No. 3 boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Alongside of yours?
MR. LOWE: The next boat forward of mine; that is, on the same side; and I think he went ahead there on his own hook, getting things ready there, to the best of his ability.
SENATOR SMITH: Now, Mr. Lowe, how many people were there in the first lifeboat you lowered?
MR. LOWE: I do not know, sir, because I was not the boss there. Mr. Murdock was running the show.
SENATOR SMITH: Was it full?
MR. LOWE: Well, roughly I should say around 50.
SENATOR SMITH: Around 50 on the first lifeboat that you lowered?
MR. LOWE: Yes, roughly. I do not know, sir. You must understand that I did not count them or anything of that sort.
SENATOR SMITH: Tell how many men were in that lifeboat, if you can?
MR. LOWE: I have not the remotest idea, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were they half men and half women?
MR. LOWE: Half men, sir? No. I should say ­ well, I do not know. I would say about 10.
SENATOR SMITH: About 10 men?
MR. LOWE: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: How many men were put into that boat for the purpose of manning her?
MR. LOWE: I think there were five.
SENATOR SMITH: Who were they?
MR. LOWE: I do not know. You must remember, it was no time to remember faces and names.
SENATOR SMITH: I am not criticizing you. I am trying to ascertain what you know about it. Were there any officers among those five men?
MR. LOWE: Mr. Pitman went in either No. 5 or No. 3, but which I do not remember. I heard Mr. Murdock order him to the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: But which one you do not recall?
MR. LOWE: I do not know which, but either of them.
SENATOR SMITH: You do not know if there was any other officer in No. 5?
MR. LOWE: There were only four officers saved, altogether.
SENATOR SMITH: I am not asking that. I asked if there were any officers aside from the possibility of Mr. Pitman being in there, that you could recall?
MR. LOWE: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were there any male passengers?
MR. LOWE: I think there were a few, because we could not get any more women.
SENATOR SMITH: You could not get any more women in the first lifeboat?
MR. LOWE: I do not know whether this was the first lifeboat, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: It was the first one you lowered?
MR. LOWE: The first I helped to launch.
SENATOR SMITH: On your side of the boat?
MR. LOWE: On the starboard side.
SENATOR SMITH: Yes; that is the first one that was lowered on the starboard side?
MR. LOWE: Yes. I stated that it was the first one that I helped to put over. I did not say it was the first, at all.
SENATOR SMITH: I am asking you about that boat, and I am asking you whether there were any male passengers in that boat?
MR. LOWE: I do not know. There may have been, but I do not know. If there were, there were very, very few; and I do not know whether it was that boat or No. 3 that we could not get any more women and we filled it up with men. It was one of the two.
SENATOR SMITH: You are unable to tell how many men were in the boat?
MR. LOWE: I am unable to tell ­ that is with any degree of accuracy ­ how many people, whether they were male or female, were in any of the boats ­ that is, on that side of the ship?
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know any of the men or women in that boat by name?
MR. LOWE: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Have you seen any of them since the accident occurred?
MR. LOWE: No, sir; unless, as I stated, it was Mr. Pitman.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you have any conversation with Mrs. Douglas, of Minneapolis, aboard the Carpathia?
MR. LOWE: Mrs. Douglas? I do not know her.
SENATOR SMITH: Or Mrs. Ryerson?
MR. LOWE: I have lots of addresses here; but they are addresses of people who were in my boat; I do not know about anybody else's boats.
SENATOR SMITH: Have you a list of the persons who were in your boat?
MR. LOWE: I have some of them, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Let us see how many you have.
MR. LOWE: It would be a pretty big book to take all.
SENATOR SMITH: It will take only about fifty, in the first boat?
MR. LOWE: Not in the first boat, sir; in my boat, I said.
SENATOR SMITH: In the boat you were in?
MR. LOWE: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: In your life boat?
MR. LOWE: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: I will get to that in a moment. When this first lifeboat, No. 5, was lowered; the gear and everything worked all right, did it?
MR. LOWE: Everything went all right, sir, and it could not have been worked better.
SENATOR SMITH: And it was lowered with perfect safety?
MR. LOWE: With perfect safety. That was the reason I spoke to Mr. Ismay.
SENATOR SMITH: When the boats and the gear are new and have been properly tested and work as they should, how many persons will a lifeboat the size of No. 5 hold safely, on a clear night and with no sea?
MR. LOWE: Do you mean to ask what she would hold in the water or what would she hold lowering?
SENATOR SMITH: No; I want you to tell me how many she will hold lowering.
MR. LOWE: That depends upon the caliber of the man lowering her.
SENATOR SMITH: Does it not depend upon the gear?
MR. LOWE: It depends upon the gear also, sir. You will say to yourself, "I will take the chance with 50 people in this boat." Another man will say, "I am not going to run the risk of 50; I will take 25 or 30."
SENATOR SMITH: All right. You were in this boat, and the question depended upon the caliber of yourself?
MR. LOWE: No, sir; not upon me.
SENATOR SMITH: Upon whom; Mr. Murdock?
MR. LOWE: Upon Mr. Murdock.
SENATOR SMITH: From what you saw, was that boat loaded carefully, to its proper capacity, that night?
MR. LOWE: The lowering of that boat was not up to me.
SENATOR SMITH: I am not asking that; I did not ask you that at all. Read the question. If you will answer my questions, we will make much better progress.
The reporter repeated the question as follows:
From what you saw, was that boat loaded carefully, to its proper capacity, that night?
MR. LOWE: You pull me up about going around explaining matters to you, so I do not see how I can very well get at it if you pull me up on it.
