SENATOR NEWLANDS: But at the same time, he utilizes the lookout?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: I want to let you go, and yet I want to ask another question. Do you know of any evidence or report as to water on the upper deck of the Titanic?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Yes; before she went down the water was up to the top of the bridge.
SENATOR SMITH: When did you first note water on E deck?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: I did not note it.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see any water there at all?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: I did not look there.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you hear Mr. Boxhall's testimony?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Part of it.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you hear him say that he saw lights ahead of the Titanic that night?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Yes. I know he did anyway.
SENATOR SMITH: And gave signals?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Yes; I saw the signals.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you see the lights on the boat?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Ahead of the Titanic?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Two points on the port bow.
SENATOR SMITH: About how far distant in your judgment?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Four or 5 miles away. I would say 3 to 4 miles, roughly. I did not stop to look at them.
SENATOR SMITH: How many lights?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: I could not say; one, as far as I could see with the naked eye.
SENATOR SMITH: In your course?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: I do not know how the ship was heading then.
SENATOR SMITH: Well, was it in your course?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: You are speaking of the time after we struck?
SENATOR SMITH: Is that when you saw this light?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Yes, sir; when we were getting the boats out.
SENATOR SMITH: You did not see it before then?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: I was not on deck.
SENATOR SMITH: You did not see it up to the time you left the deck at 10 o'clock?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: No, I did not.
SENATOR SMITH: But you did see a light­­­
MR. LIGHTOLLER: (interposing). Two points on the port bow, during the time in which I was getting out the boats.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know what it was?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: I do not.
SENATOR SMITH: The captain wants me to ask you if you know what was the compass bearing of that light?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: I do not.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you ever know, in your experience as a seaman, or have you ever known, the steam whistle to be used to detect the presence of ice by means of an echo?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Certainly not.
SENATOR SMITH: Nothing of that kind was attempted on the Titanic?
MR. LIGHTOLLER: Certainly not.
TESTIMONY OF MR. ROBERT HICHENS
The witness was sworn by the chairman.
SENATOR SMITH: You have given your full name?
MR. HICHENS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: What is your home address?
MR. HICHENS: 45 James Street, St. Marys, Southampton.
SENATOR SMITH: How old are you?
MR. HICHENS: Thirty, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Have you a family?
MR. HICHENS: Wife and two children.
SENATOR SMITH: What is your business?
MR. HICHENS: Quartermaster.
SENATOR SMITH: How long have you held such a position?
MR. HICHENS: For the last seven or eight years, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: On what ship were you employed on April 14th last? [After a pause.] I will change my question, and maybe you can get it a little quicker? Were you filling such a position on the Titanic at the time when she suffered this collision?
MR. HICHENS: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you at your post of duty the night of the collision?
MR. HICHENS: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: What was your post of duty; where was it?
MR. HICHENS: At the time of the collision I was at the wheel, sir, steering the ship.
SENATOR SMITH: How long had you been at the wheel when the collision occurred?
MR. HICHENS: One hour and forty minutes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How long a watch did you have?
MR. HICHENS: We would have four hours' watch; two hours standby and two hours at the wheel.
SENATOR SMITH: I wish you would tell now, in your own way, what occurred that night from the time you went on watch until the collision occurred.
MR. HICHENS: I went on watch at 8 o'clock. The officers on the watch were the second officer, Mr. Lightoller, senior in command; the fourth officer, Mr. Boxhall; and the sixth officer, Mr. Moody. My first orders when I got on the bridge was to take the second officer's compliments down to the ship's carpenter and inform him to look to his fresh water; that it was about to freeze. I did so. On the return to the bridge, I had been on the bridge about a couple of minutes when the carpenter came back and reported the duty carried out. Standing by waiting for another message ­ it is the duty of the quartermaster to strike the bell every half hour ­ as the stand­by quartermaster, sir, I heard the second officer repeat to Mr. Moody, the sixth officer, to speak through the telephone, warning the lookout men in the crow's nest to keep a sharp lookout for small ice until daylight and pass the word along to the other lookout men. The next order I received from the second officer was to go and find the deck engineer and bring him up with a key to open the heaters up in the corridor of the officers' quarters, also, the wheelhouse and the chart room, on account of the intense cold. At a quarter to 10 I called the first officer, Mr. Murdock to let him know it was one bell, which is part of our duty; also took the thermometer and barometer, the temperature of the water, and the log. At 10 o'clock I went to the wheel, sir. Mr. Murdock come up to relieve Mr. Lightoller. I had the course given me from the other quartermaster, north 71-degrees west, which I repeated to him, and he went and repeated it to the first officer or the second officer in charge, which he repeated back ­ the course, sir. All went along very well until 20 minutes to 12, when three gongs came from the lookout, and immediately afterwards a report on the telephone, "Iceberg right ahead." The chief officer rushed from the wing to the bridge, or I imagine so, sir. Certainly I am inclosed in the wheelhouse, and I can not see, only my compass. He rushed to the engines. I heard the telegraph bell ring; also give the order "Hard astarboard," with the sixth officer standing by me to see the duty carried out and the quartermaster standing by my left side. Repeated the order, "Hard astarboard. The helm is hard over, sir."
SENATOR SMITH: Who gave the first order?
MR. HICHENS: Mr. Murdock, the first officer, sir; the officer in charge. The sixth officer repeated the order, "The helm is hard astarboard, sir." But, during the time, she was crushing the ice, or we could hear the grinding noise along the ship's bottom. I heard the telegraph ring sir. The skipper came running out of his room ­ Capt. Smithand asked, "What is that?" Mr. Murdock said, "An iceberg." He said, "Close the emergency doors."
SENATOR SMITH: Who said that, the captain?
MR. HICHENS: Capt. Smith, sir, to Mr. Murdock; "Close the emergency doors." Mr. Murdock replied, "The doors are already closed." The captain sent then for the carpenter to sound the ship. He also came back to the wheelhouse and looked at the commutator in front of the compass, which is a little instrument like a clock to tell you how the ship is listing. The ship had a list of 5-degrees to the starboard.
SENATOR SMITH: How long after the impact, or collision?
MR. HICHENS: I could hardly tell you, sir. Judging roughly, about 5 minutes; about 5 to 10 minutes. I stayed to the wheel, then, sir until 23 minutes past 12. I do not know whether they put the clock back or not. The clock was to go back that night 47 minutes, 23 minutes in one watch and 24 in the other.
SENATOR SMITH: Had the clock been set back up to the time you left the wheel?
MR. HICHENS: I do not know, sir. I did not notice it.
SENATOR SMITH: When do you say you left the wheel, at 20 minutes after 12?
MR. HICHENS: I left the wheel at 23 minutes past 12, sir. I was relieved by Quartermaster Perkis. He relieved me at 23 minutes past 12. I think the first officer, or one of the officers said, "That will do with the wheel; get the boats out." I went out to get the boats out on the port side. I think I got in No. 6 boat, sir; put in charge of her by the second officer, Mr. Lightoller. We lowered away from the ship, sir, and were told to "Pull toward that light," which we started to do, to pull for that light. I had 38 women in the boat, sir, 1 seaman and myself with 2 male passengers, 1 Italian boy and a Canadian major who testified here yesterday.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you in charge of that boat?
MR. HICHENS: I was; yes, sir. Everybody seemed in a very bad condition in the boat, sir. Everybody was quite upset, and I told them somebody would have to pull; there was no use stopping there alongside of the ship, and the ship gradually going by the head. We were in a dangerous place, so I told them to man the oars, ladies and all, "All of you do your best." We got away about a mile, I suppose, from the ship, going after this light, which we expected to be a "cod­banker," a schooner that comes out on the Banks.
SENATOR SMITH: A fisherman's boat?
MR. HICHENS: Yes, sir; we expected her to be that, sir; but we did not get any nearer the light. There were several other boats around us at this time and one boat that had no light came up close up to us. He had four to six men in his boat and I borrowed one fireman from him to put in my boat, to enable me to pull. We did not seem to get any nearer the light, so we conversed together, and we tied our boats side by side. We stopped there until we saw the Carpathia heave in sight about daybreak. The wind had sprung up a bit then, and it got very choppy. I relieved one of the young ladies with the oar, and told her to take the tiller. She immediately let the boat come athwart, and the ladies in the boat got very nervous. So I took the tiller back again and told them to manage the best way they could.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know who that woman was?
MR. HICHENS: I do not, sir. They were all entire strangers to me, sir. But the lady I refer to, Mrs. Mayer, she was rather vexed with me in the boat and I spoke rather straight to her, and she accused me of wrapping myself up in the blankets in the boat, using bad language, and drinking all the whiskey, which I deny, sir. I was standing to attention, exposed, steering the boat all night, which is a very cold billet. I would rather be pulling the boat than be steering. But I seen no one there to steer, so I thought, being in charge of the boat, it was the best way to steer myself, especially when I seen the ladies get very nervous with the nasty tumble on. We got down to the Carpathia and I seen every lady and everybody out of the boat, and I seen them carefully hoisted on board the Carpathia, and I was the last man to leave the boat. That is all I can tell you, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: I want to ask you a few questions. I would like to ask you whether you had any trouble with the major, between the Titanic and the Carpathia?
MR. HICHENS: I had no trouble with him at all, sir, only once. He was in the boat more than 10 minutes before he wanted to come and take charge of the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you say to him?
MR. HICHENS: I told him, 'I am put here in charge of the boat." I said, "You go and do what you are told to do."
SENATOR SMITH: Did he say anything more to you?
MR. HICHENS: He did not answer me, sir, but sat down; went forward on the starboard bow, alongside of Seaman Fleet, who was working very hard. He done most of the work himself; Fleet was doing most of the work.
SENATOR SMITH: That was the man who was in the crow's nest at the time the boat struck?
MR. HICHENS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: He was in your lifeboat, too?
MR. HICHENS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you lie on your oars off the Titanic at any time before the Titanic went down?
MR. HICHENS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How long?
MR. HICHENS: Well, we had not time, sir; I could hardly tell you.
SENATOR SMITH: About how long?
MR. HICHENS: That I could hardly tell you, sir, because our minds was thinking of other things, sir. I do know we did it, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How far were you from the Titanic at the time she went down?
MR. HICHENS: When we sighted the Carpathia we were about a mile from her.
SENATOR SMITH: No; when you were lying on your oars?
MR. HICHENS: About 1 mile, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: About a mile from the Titanic?
MR. HICHENS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Could you see the Titanic?
MR. HICHENS: I could not see her; not after the lights went out; no, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You could see the lights?
MR. HICHENS: We could see the lights go out; yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And you knew the location of the boat?
MR. HICHENS: We heard the cries for an interval of about two or three minutes.
SENATOR SMITH: As the ship disappeared?
MR. HICHENS: As the ship disappeared; yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: The major, who was in that boat with you, said yesterday that you were lying on your oars, drifting, and before the Titanic went down you heard cries of distress, and for help. Is that true?
MR. HICHENS: I did not hear any cries as regarding distress. We heard a lot of crying and screaming. At one time we were made fast to another boat. We were not lying on our oars at all.
SENATOR SMITH: You made fast to another boat. What boat?
MR. HICHENS: The boat the master­at­arms was in, sir. I think it was No. 8 boat. He left about the same time as we did.
SENATOR SMITH: You had 38 women in your boat?
MR. HICHENS: Yes, sir; I counted them, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And how many men?
MR. HICHENS: I had Fleet, myself­­
SENATOR SMITH: Fleet, the major, and yourself?
MR. HICHENS: And an Italian boy, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: That is four men?
MR. HICHENS: Four, sir. But the Italian boy had a broken arm, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Was he the one who was hid away?
MR. HICHENS: I do not know how he managed to get on the boat at all, sir; I do not know.
SENATOR SMITH: Was he dressed in woman's clothing?
MR. HICHENS: No; I do not think so, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: During the time that you were lying off on your oars, and before the Titanic sank, did the women in your boat urge you to go towards the Titanic?
MR. HICHENS: Not that I remember, sir. I am not aware of it.
SENATOR SMITH: Did they urge you not to go toward the Titanic?
MR. HICHENS: Not that I am aware of, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: So far as you can recollect, did the women say nothing either one way or the other about it?
MR. HICHENS: No sir; not that I remember. In fact, under the conditions, with one seaman in the boat and myself to pull a big boat like that, and being a mile away from the Titanic ­ I did not know what course to take, we had no compass in the boat ­ it seemed impossible, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: The major said yesterday when you were asked to return to the source from which these distress cries came­­
MR. HICHENS: I read it in the paper, but that is continually false, sir.
