MR. LOWE: But I did not take any notice of it. It was only just the position, the latitude and longitude.
SENATOR SMITH: Can you give that position?
MR. LOWE: And the word "ice" was above it.
SENATOR SMITH: Can you give that position?
MR. LOWE: No, sir; I can not. It is no good for me to try.
SENATOR SMITH: You are unable to say whether that was a wireless communication or whether the information was written down by some officer on that ship?
MR. LOWE: When you come to think of it, it could not have been anything else but wireless.
SENATOR SMITH: Then, according to your impression, there was a wireless warning of that kind in the chart room, indicating the position in which ice might be expected at that hour or at that time?
MR. LOWE: That is my conclusion; yes.
SENATOR SMITH: And you did not examine it carefully?
MR. LOWE: No. I just looked at it casually.
SENATOR SMITH: What time of day was this?
MR. LOWE: That would be some time after 2, I suppose.
SENATOR SMITH: On Sunday?
MR. LOWE: Two p.m., Sunday.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you ever see that memorandum again?
MR. LOWE: No.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you ever ask for it again?
MR. LOWE: No.
SENATOR SMITH: Did anybody ever call your attention to it again?
MR. LOWE: No.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know whether it was signed by anyone?
MR. LOWE: No.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know whether the name of any ship was attached to it?
MR. LOWE: No. I expect it was a copy of just the position and some message that we received. I do not know.
SENATOR SMITH: No; I am not asking you whether you know all about that, or whether it was a copy or not. I am asking­­
MR. LOWE: (interrupting). No; there was no signature or anything.
SENATOR SMITH: There was none?
MR. LOWE: No.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you assume that was put there for, in that rack?
MR. LOWE: For us to know that the ice was there.
SENATOR SMITH: Was it put there as a warning?
MR. LOWE: I suppose it was, in a way.
SENATOR SMITH: Did it have that effect on you?
MR. LOWE: But I am powerless to do anything­­
SENATOR SMITH: I did not ask that. I asked if it affected you as a warning?
MR. LOWE: I can not say that it did. It simply said that the ice was there, and that is all I know about it.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you communicate what you saw on that piece of paper to anyone?
MR. LOWE: No, not that I remember.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know whether the ice referred to was on the track of your ship?
MR. LOWE: I think it was to the northward of our track.
SENATOR SMITH: What makes you think so?
MR. LOWE: That is the idea I have. I do not know. I do not know what inferences ­ I thought it was to the north of us.
SENATOR SMITH: You assume it was to the north because of the icebergs were coming from the north? Is that the reason?
MR. LOWE: I do not know, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: I will read to you a message that is reported to have been communicated by the Amerika to the Titanic: S.S. "AMERIKA" (Via "Titanic" and Cape Race)
Newfoundland, April 14, 1912
Hydrographic Office, Washington, D.C.:
Amerika passed two large icebergs M. 41.27, N. 50, 8 W., on the 14th of April. KNUTH
Was that the message you saw?
MR. LOWE: No, sir; I saw no message, only what I saw was that a chit was stuck in the edge of the frame with the latitude and longitude down, and I saw no message whatever.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you hear anything about any warning from the steamship Californian having been given?
MR. LOWE: No; no.
SENATOR SMITH: Or from any other boat?
MR. LOWE: No.
SENATOR SMITH: Or from any other source?
MR. LOWE: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: This is the only warning you saw?
MR. LOWE: I do not say I saw that, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And you did not take particular pains to familiarize yourself with that?
MR. LOWE: I did not say I saw that, sir. I did not stipulate that I saw that, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: I did not say you did. I am not saying you saw this.
MR. LOWE: I simply saw, as I tell you, a position, and the word "Ice" above it, and the position ­ latitude and longitude ­ stuck in the angle of a frame on the chart­room wall, you might say, or side; and that is all I know about it.
SENATOR SMITH: That was Sunday?
MR. LOWE: That was Sunday afternoon.
SENATOR SMITH: Did that look like a recent or new paper on that rack?
MR. LOWE: It was not strikingly so, sir. There was nothing particular about it.
SENATOR SMITH: If it had been there before­­­
MR. LOWE: It must have been new, because it had not been there before.
SENATOR SMITH: Yes; you would have seen it had it been there before. One more question and I will let you go. Did you hear any pistol shots?
MR. LOWE: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: And by whom were they fired Sunday night?
MR. LOWE: I heard them, and I fired them.
SENATOR SMITH: Where?
MR. LOWE: As I was going down the decks, and that was as I was being lowered down.
SENATOR SMITH: In lifeboat­­
MR. LOWE: Lifeboat No. 14.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you do?
MR. LOWE: As I was going down the decks I knew, or I expected every moment, that my boat would double up under my feet. I was quite scared of it, although of course it would not do for me to mention the fact to anybody else. I had overcrowded her, but I knew that I had to take a certain amount of risk. So I thought, "Well, I shall have to see that nobody else gets into the boat or else it will be a case"­­­
SENATOR SMITH: That was as it was being lowered?
MR. LOWE: Yes; I thought if one additional body was to fall into that boat, that slight jerk of the additional weight might part the hooks or carry away something, no one would know what. There were a hundred and one things to carry away. Then, I thought, well, I will keep an eye open. So, as we were coming down the decks, coming down past the open decks, I saw a lot of Italians, Latin people, all along the ship's rails ­ understand, it was open ­ and they were all glaring, more or less like wild beasts, ready to spring. That is why I yelled out to look out, and let go, bang, right along the ship's side.
SENATOR SMITH: How far from the ship's side was the lifeboat you were in?
MR. LOWE: I really do not know. I should say ­ oh, 3 or 4 feet.
SENATOR SMITH: It cleared each deck 3 to 4 feet?
MR. LOWE: I mean to say she was about that much off the ship's side.
SENATOR SMITH: Exactly.
MR. LOWE: She came down just like this [indicating], off the ship's side, 3 feet off.
SENATOR SMITH: There was a space there of from 3 to 4 feet?
MR. LOWE: I will withdraw 4 feet and say 3 feet.
SENATOR SMITH: There was a space of 3 feet between the side of the boat and the ship's side?
MR. LOWE: That is right.
SENATOR SMITH: And as you went down you fired these shots?
MR. LOWE: As I went down I fired these shots and without intention of hurting anybody and also with the knowledge that I did not hurt anybody.
SENATOR SMITH: You are positive of that?
MR. LOWE: I am absolutely positive.
SENATOR SMITH: How do you know?
MR. LOWE: How do I know? Because I looked where I fired.
SENATOR SMITH: It was a dark night, was it not, to see?
MR. LOWE: Oh, but I could see where I was shooting. A man does not want to shoot over here and look over here [indicating], or to shoot here and look here [indicating], but to look where he shoots. I shot between the boat and the ship's side, so these people would hear and see the discharge.
SENATOR SMITH: You shot this revolver through that 3­foot space?
MR. LOWE: Yes; I think I fired three times. There were three decks.
SENATOR SMITH: How far were you below the boat deck where you were loading the passengers when you fired your first shot?
MR. LOWE: How far was I below the boat deck?
SENATOR SMITH: Yes.
MR. LOWE: I was on the boat deck
SENATOR SMITH: When you fired the shots?
MR. LOWE: No; when I lowered the passengers.
SENATOR SMITH: I know that. But how far were you below the boat deck when you fired.
MR. LOWE: There is the boat deck, 1 deck, and then 2 deck ­ that is, A, B, and C.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you below C deck when you fired?
MR. LOWE: No; I finished up at C.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you below B deck when you fired?
MR. LOWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you mean to tell me that these Italians were crowding around the boat deck, A deck or B deck, glaring at you?
MR. LOWE: They were hanging around these open decks, with the windows open, because you do not want better proof than seeing them.
SENATOR SMITH: You fired these shots up in that 3­foot space between the lifeboat you were coming down in and the Titanic?
MR. LOWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were there any people on the rail or close the edge of the top of the sun deck when your lifeboat was lowered?
MR. LOWE: Were there people on the sun deck?
SENATOR SMITH: When your lifeboat was lowered?
MR. LOWE: No.
SENATOR SMITH: Was Mr. Ismay there when your lifeboat was lowered?
MR. LOWE: The sun deck? There is no sun deck.
SENATOR SMITH: Well, the boat deck. Some of your officers call it the sun deck and some of them call it the boat deck. I mean the top deck, where the lifeboats were.
MR. LOWE: No, I did not fire it upward. I did not fire up.
SENATOR SMITH: Where did you fire?
MR. LOWE: I fired horizontally.
Senator SMITH: You only had a space of 3 feet.
MR. LOWE: Oh, no, I had more. I had the width of the boat. I was standing up in the after part of her. From the center line of the boat would give another 2 feet or so. That would be 5 feet.
Senator SMITH: But if you had fired downward toward the water you have been limited to that space?
MR. LOWE: Yes.
Senator SMITH: If you fired upward you would fire along the ship's side?
MR. LOWE: If I fired horizontally.
Senator SMITH: Upward?
MR. LOWE: Horizontally.
Senator SMITH: In what direction from the ship?
MR. LOWE: Along the ship.
Senator SMITH: You are positive you did not hit anybody?
MR. LOWE: I am absolutely positive I hit nobody. If you shoot at a man directly, you can only see a round blur of the discharge, but if you shoot across him like that [indicating], you will see the length of it. I shot so for them to know that I was fully armed. That is the reason.
Senator SMITH: And that you did not propose to have anybody else in your boat?
MR. LOWE: I did not; not a single soul more.
Senator SMITH: Nobody in addition to those who were there?
MR. LOWE: That is all. I had quite enough.
Senator SMITH: And in order that no one should make an attempt from any deck, you fired how many shots?
MR. LOWE: I think it was three.
Senator SMITH: What did you do with the revolver after that?
MR. LOWE: I have got it.
Senator SMITH: Did you put it in your pocket?
MR. LOWE: I have not got it in my pocket now­­
Senator SMITH: You put it in your pocket after you fired those three shots?
MR. LOWE: Yes; I put it in my pocket and put the safety catch on, because it is a Browning automatic. There were, I suppose, four more remaining.
Senator SMITH: What we call a seven­shooter?
MR. LOWE: I do not know what you call it.
Senator SMITH: Well, what do you call it?
MR. LOWE: It is an automatic. I think it carries eight.
Senator SMITH: Did you have any occasion to use it afterwards?
MR. LOWE: None whatever, sir.
Senator SMITH: And you did not use it afterwards?
MR. LOWE: I did not use it.
SENATOR PERKINS: I suggest that these papers be put in the record. This is a list of the survivors [indicating] and this other paper is the memorandum made by Mr. Pitman in regard to the ship's run.
THE CHAIRMAN: They may be included as part of the record.
