SENATOR FLETCHER: Will you state your full name and address?
MR. WIDGERY: James Widgery, 67 Oxford Street, Southampton.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What was your position on the Titanic?
MR. WIDGERY: In the second class.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Second class what?
MR. WIDGERY: I had charge of the bath on the forward deck.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You were in charge of the bath?
MR. WIDGERY: Yes; on the forward section of F deck.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were you up that night?
MR. WIDGERY: I went to bed about 10 o'clock. I went to bed right after inspection. I went to bed and was asleep when the accident happened.
SENATOR FLETCHER: When did you first know of the accident, and how?
MR. WIDGERY: When I heard the noise, it woke me up. That was about 25 of 12. I looked at the clock hanging on the bed.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You mean 25 minutes of 12?
MR. WIDGERY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Ship's time.
MR. WIDGERY: I could not say that, sir. I do not know what it was, except it was 20 and 5 of 12 when I looked at the clock hanging by my bed.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What did you do?
MR. WIDGERY: It woke me up, and I wondered what it was, and it seemed to me like a grating, sir. One of the men got up and opened the port, and it was blowing very cold and we told him to shut it. We were talking amongst ourselves for a little while, and I did not think it was much and turned over and started to go to sleep again. An order came up that all men had to take their life belts and go up on deck. I went down to F deck, and when I got down there, there was nobody there but our bedroom steward. All the passengers had gone. I went up on deck to my boat, No. 7.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Which side?
MR. WIDGERY: The starboard side. When I got up there it was just about to be lowered. The purser sent me along to No. 9. They had taken the canvas off of No. 9 and lowered it, and just then some biscuits came up from the storekeeper. I helped him put one of the boxes into the bottom of the boat, and the purser took hold of my arm and said, "Get in the boat." He said, "Get in the boat and help the boatswain's mate pass the ladies in." So I got in the boat, and stepped on the side, and we passed the ladies in. We thought we had them all in, and the purser called out, "Are there any more women?" Just then someone said, "Yes." This woman came along, rather an oldish lady, and she was frightened, and she gave me her hand. I took one hand, and gave it to the boatswain's mate, and he caught hold of the other hand, and she pulled her hand away, and went back to the door and would not get in. One of them went after her, but she had gone down the stairs.
The chief officer was there and called out for any more women, and there seemed to be none, and he told the men to get in, four or five of them. We were filled right up then. Then they started to lower away.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were there any more men there?
MR. WIDGERY: No, sir; only the men that were put in the boat to row.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were there any more men on the deck?
MR. WIDGERY: Yes, sir; several men up on the deck, quite a lot. There were no more women there. Then we were lowered down to the water, and just before we went away the chief officer called out to the boatswain to keep about a 100 yards off. We got into the water, and I cut loose the oars ­ I was the only one that had a knife amongst us ­ and we stood off a little ways. Of course, we gradually got a little farther away from them all the time.
SENATOR FLETCHER: That was the boat Mr. Ward was in?
MR. WIDGERY: The same boat; yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: And the balance of his statement would be your statement.
MR. WIDGERY: About the same; yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you know about any passengers being in their cabins and not awakened or not aroused?
MR. WIDGERY: No, sir; they were all out of that deck before I went up.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You do not know about the other decks?
MR. WIDGERY: No, sir; because that is a separate deck of itself ­ the forward section of F.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you know whether any water was coming in?
MR. WIDGERY: No, sir; I saw no water. We were too far up for that.
SENATOR FLETCHER: I believe that is all I want to ask you, Widgery, and that would apply also to Ward and Hardy. You had better be in the hearing room at 10 o'clock in the morning, and the committee will meet and determine whether we will put you on the stand at that time.
Thereupon Messrs. Hardy, Ward, and Widgery withdrew from the room.
TESTIMONY OF JOHN BULEY.
[Testimony taken separately before Senator Fletcher on behalf of the subcommittee.]
The witness was sworn by Senator Fletcher.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Will you state your full name and address?
MR. BULEY: Edward John Buley; 10 Cliff Road, Pear Tree Green, Itchen, near Southampton.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What was your position on the Titanic?
MR. BULEY: Able seaman.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How long had you been serving?
MR. BULEY: This was my first trip, sir. I was just in the merchant service; I had just left the Navy.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How long have you been in the navy?
MR. BULEY: Altogether, about 13 years.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What pay does a seaman in the merchant service receive?
MR. BULEY: Five pound a month.
SENATOR FLETCHER: And board?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Anything else?
MR. BULEY: No, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Is there any extra money allowed any of the crew for the saving of life or rescuing people, or anything of that sort, so far as you know, in the merchant service?
MR. BULEY: No, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you observe anything out of the ordinary or usual on board ship up to the time of this accident?
MR. BULEY: No, sir. I was sitting in the mess, reading, at the time when she struck.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were you on duty?
MR. BULEY: I was in the watch on deck, the starboard watch. At 12 o'clock we relieved the other watch.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You were then on your watch?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Where were you sitting, reading?
MR. BULEY: On the mess deck. If it was Sunday night, we never had anything to do. Ordinary nights we should have been scrubbing the decks.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What was your first notice of the collision?
MR. BULEY: The slight jar. It seemed as though something was rubbing alongside of her, at the time. I had on my overcoat and went up on deck, and they said she had struck an iceberg.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Who said that?
MR. BULEY: I think it was a couple of firemen. They came down. One of our chaps went and got a handful of ice and took it down below. They turned in again. The next order from the chief officer, Murdock, was to tell the seamen to get together and uncover the boats and turn them out as quiet as though nothing had happened. They turned them out in about 20 minutes.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How do you mean?
MR. BULEY: Uncovered and turned them out. They are on deck, and the davits are turned inboard. You have to unscrew these davits and swing the boat out over the ship's side. The next order was to lower them down to a line with the gunwale of the boat deck, and then fill the boats with women and children. We turned them up and filled them with women and children.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Where were you stationed?
MR. BULEY: I was over on the starboard side at first, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you lower the boats?
MR. BULEY: I helped lower all the starboard boats.
SENATOR FLETCHER: That is, to lower them as far as the boat deck, to get the gunwales in line?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: That is the deck on which the boats were?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Not to any lower deck?
MR. BULEY: No, sir; not to any lower deck. We lowered all the starboard boats, and went over and done the same to the port boats. There was No. 10 boat, and there was no one there, and the chief officer asked what I was, and I told him, and he said, "Jump in see if you can find another seaman to give you a hand." I found Evans, and we both got in the boat, and Chief Officer Murdock and Baker also was there. I think we were the last lifeboat to be lowered. We got away from the ship.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How many people were in that boat?
MR. BULEY: From 60 to 70.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Mostly women?
MR. BULEY: Women and children.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How many men?
MR. BULEY: There were the steward and one fireman.
SENATOR FLETCHER: And yourself?
MR. BULEY: And myself and Evans, the able seaman.
SENATOR FLETCHER: That is all the men?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: The other passengers were women?
MR. BULEY: That is all there was. All the others were ladies and children.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were any ladies on the deck when you left?
MR. BULEY: No, sir. Ours was the last boat up there, and they went around and called to see if there were any, and they threw them in the boat at the finish, because they didn't like the idea of coming in.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Pushed them in, you mean?
MR. BULEY: Threw them in. One young lady slipped, and they caught her by the foot on the deck below, and she came up then and jumped in. We got away from the ship and about an hour afterwards Officer Lowe came alongside, and he had his boat filled up, and he distributed among the other boats, and he said to all the seamen in the boat to jump in his boat until he went back among the wreckage to see if there were any people that had lived.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you go in the last boat?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Who had charge of the boat you were in?
MR. BULEY: I had charge of that.
SENATOR FLETCHER: But, when you left that?
MR. BULEY: I left that, and I believe he put some more stewards in the boat to look after the women. All the boats were tied together.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You were then with Lowe in his boat and went back to where the Titanic sank?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir; and picked up the remaining live bodies.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How many did you get?
MR. BULEY: There were not very many there. We got four of them. All the others were dead.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were there many dead?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir; there were a good few dead, sir. Of course, you could not discern them exactly on account of the wreckage; but we turned over several of them to see if they were alive. It looked as none of them were drowned. They looked as though they were frozen. The life belts they had on were that much [indicating] out of the water, and their heads laid back, with their faces on the water, several of them. Their hands were coming up like that [indicating].
SENATOR FLETCHER: They were head and shoulders out of the water?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: With the head thrown back?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: And the face out of the water?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: They were not, apparently, drowned?
MR. BULEY: It looked as though they were frozen altogether, sir. In the morning, after we picked up all that was alive, there was a collapsible boat we saw with a lot of people, and she was swamped, and they were up to their knees in water. We set sail and went over to them, and in a brief time picked up another one.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Another boat?
MR. BULEY: Another boat filled with women and children, with no one to pull the oars, and we took her in tow. We went over to this one and saved all of them. There was one woman in that boat. After that we seen the Carpathia coming up, and we made sail and went over to her. I think we were about the seventh or eight boat alongside. During the time I think there was two died that we had saved; two men.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How far were you from the Titanic when she went down?
MR. BULEY: About 250 yards.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Could you see people on the decks before she went down?
MR. BULEY: No. All the lights were out.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Could you hear the people?
MR. BULEY: Yes; you could hear them.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Calling?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Before she went down?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir; and we laid to, not because we could give any assistance, but because the boat I was in was full up, and we had no one to pull the oars. There was three only to pull the oars, and one could not pull at all. He was a fireman. That left but two people to pull the oars, so I directed the steward to take the coxswain's watch.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Before she went down, you could hear people calling for help?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Was there very much of that?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir; it was terrible cries, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Most of the witnesses have said they could hear no cries for help until after the ship went down.
MR. BULEY: This was after the ship went down when we heard them.
SENATOR FLETCHER: I have been asking you about hearing cries before the ship went down.
MR. BULEY: No, sir; there was no signs of anything before that at all.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Before the ship went down you did not hear any cries for help?
MR. BULEY: No cries whatever, sir. Her port bow light was under water when we were lowered.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How long after you were lowered and put in the water was it before she went down?
MR. BULEY: I should say about 25 minutes to half an hour.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Was yours the last boat?
MR. BULEY: Mine was the last lifeboat, No. 10.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were the collapsibles lowered after that?
MR. BULEY: The collapsibles were washed off the deck, I believe, sir. The one we picked up that was swamped, I think they dropped her and broke her back, and that is why they could not open her.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were there people in that collapsible?
MR. BULEY: She was full up, sir; that is the one we rescued the first thing in the morning.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How soon after the Titanic went down was it before you got back there with Lowe to help rescue people?
MR. BULEY: From an hour to an hour and a half?
SENATOR FLETCHER: And your idea is that the people were frozen.
MR. BULEY: Yes, frozen.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Frozen in the meantime?
MR. BULEY: If the water had been warm, I imagine none of them would have been drowned, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Then you got some people out of the water, and some of those died after you rescued them, did they?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were they injured in any way?
MR. BULEY: No, sir. I think it was exposure and shock.
SENATOR FLETCHER: On account of the cold?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir. We had no stimulants in the boat to revive them, at all.
SENATOR FLETCHER: They seemed to be very cold when you got them out of the water?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir, and helpless.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Numb?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir. There were several in the broken boat that could not walk. Their legs and feet were all cramped. They had to stand up in the water in that boat.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you know of any banquets or drinking on board the ship that night?
