MR. BULEY: I helped to lower all of them. Chief Officer Murdock ordered me into the boat, finally, and he said, "is there any more seamen?" I said, "No, sir."
SENATOR FLETCHER: Mr. Ismay got in one of the boats?
MR. BULEY: I do not know which one it was. No. 12 was the last boat before me to be lowered, and Evans was one of the men that lowered that boat, and after he lowered that away I called him and told him Chief Officer Murdock gave me orders to find a seaman and tell him to come in the boat with me, and he jumped in my boat.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Was boat No. 12 loaded to its full capacity?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Mostly women?
MR. BULEY: All women and children; except, of course, a couple pulling.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Only two men?
MR. BULEY: They generally ran two seamen and one fireman and a steward to each boat.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you know how many there were in No. 12?
MR. BULEY: No, sir; I do not.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you think there were no male passengers in No. 12?
MR. BULEY: I was told afterwards that there were a couple of Japanese in our boat. They never got in our boat unless they came in there dressed up as women.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you know if they actually were there?
MR. BULEY: I can say I never saw them there.
SENATOR FLETCHER: When you unloaded them?
MR. BULEY: I did not unload them. I was on the other boat at the time when they unloaded. We were alongside with the rescued people out of one collapsible boat, and towing the other boat behind us, the one Mr. Lowe was in.
SENATOR FLETCHER: That is one of the collapsible boats?
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir; one we were towing, sir. There was one we were told not to use, which was a surf boat.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You did not have any life rafts at all on the ship?
MR. BULEY: No, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: I believe that is all I care to ask you. You will be good enough to appear at 10 o'clock to­morrow morning before the committee.
MR. BULEY: Yes, sir.
Thereupon at 6:15 o'clock p.m., the hearing before Senator Fletcher was closed.
The taking of testimony before Senator Bourne was begun at 4.30 o'clock p.m.
TESTIMONY OF GEORGE FREDERICK CROWE.
[Testimony taken separately before Senator Bourne on behalf of the subcommittee.]
The witness was sworn by Senator Bourne.
SENATOR BOURNE. Kindly state your name, age and occupation?
MAR. CROWE: George Frederick Crowe; 1809 Melton Rodad, Ftizhugh, Southampton, England; my age, 30; occupation, steward.
SENATOR BOURNE: Were you on the Titanic at the time of the disaster?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: How long have you been on that ship?
MR. CROWE: We sailed from Southampton April 10; two days previous to that I was working aboard ship, in and out, to the dock.
SENATOR BOURNE: Had you been in the White Star service before?
MR. CROWE: No, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: This was your first voyage in the White Star service?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir; I had been in the International Mercantile Marine Co; that is connected with the American line.
SENATOR BOURNE: How long have you followed the sea?
MR. CROWE: For about 11 years.
SENATOR BOURNE: Always in the capacity of steward?
MR. CROWE: No, sir; I have always been in the steward's department, but on my last trip I was storekeeper and barkeeper.
SENATOR BOURNE: But you were steward on the Titanic?
MR. CROWE: I was steward on the Titanic?
SENATOR BOURNE: What were the duties of steward on the Titanic?
MR. CROWE: To act in general and wait on tables.
SENATOR BOURNE: Under what officer of the ship were you directly located, or to whom were you responsible?
MR. CROWE: The chief steward.
SENATOR BOURNE: Will you please state in your own way what knowledge you have in reference to the accident to the Titanic?
MR. CROWE: I was on duty up until about 10:30 on the night of the disaster, and I turned in about 11 o'clock; it might have been a little later. About 11:40 there was a kind of shaking of the ship and a little impact, from which I thought one of the propellers had been broken off.
SENATOR BOURNE: You were in your berth at the time?
MR. CROWE: I was in my berth; yes.
SENATOR BOURNE: And had gone to sleep?
MR. CROWE: No; I was just dozing.
SENATOR BOURNE: Did it shake you out of your berth?
MR. CROWE: No, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: How much of a shock was it?
MR. CROWE: Well, had I been asleep I do not think it would have awakened me; that is, had I been in a heavy sleep.
SENATOR BOURNE: What deck were you sleeping on?
MR. CROWE: On "E" deck.
SENATOR BOURNE: How far away from the bow of the ship; amidship?
MR. CROWE: About amidship; yes. Probably 50 feet forward of amidship.
SENATOR BOURNE: Now will you kindly go on?
MR. CROWE: I got out of my bed. I came out into the alleyway and saw quite a number of stewards and steerage passengers carrying their baggage from forward to aft. I inquired of the trouble and was told it was nothing, and to turn in again.
SENATOR BOURNE: Who told you this, the steerage passengers?
MR. CROWE: No; somebody amongst the boys. The stewards were making quite a joke of it. They did not think of the seriousness of it at the time. I went back to my bunk again, and a saloon steward came down shortly afterwards and told me to come up on the upper deck with as much warm clothes on as I could get. I went up on the boat deck; when I got outside of the companionway, I saw them working on boat No. 1. After that I went to boat No. 14, the boat allotted to me ­ that is, in the case of fire or boat drill ­ and I stood by according of the drill. I assisted in handing the women and children into the boat, and was asked if I could take an oar, and I said "Yes," and was told to man the boat.
SENATOR BOURNE: Who told you to man the boat?
MR. CROWE: The senior officer. I am not sure whether it was the first officer or the chief officer, sir, but I believe the man's name was Murdock.
SENATOR BOURNE: Was that his boat?
MR. CROWE: I do not think so, sir; no.
SENATOR BOURNE: Who was in charge, during the drills, of boat no. 14; which officer?
MR. CROWE: The fifth officer, Mr. Lowe.
SENATOR BOURNE: That was his boat?
MR. CROWE: That was his boat; yes sir. After getting the women and children in, we lowered down within 4 or 5 feet of the water and found the block and tackle had gotten twisted in some way, causing us to have to cut the ropes to allow the boat to get into the water.
SENATOR BOURNE: Who called to you to do that?
MR. CROWE: The fifth officer, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: He was in the boat with you?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir. I stood by the lever. The lever releases the blocks from the hooks in the boat, and he told me to wait, to get away and cut the line to raise the lever, thereby causing the hooks to open and allow the boat to drop in the water. After getting into the water we pushed out to the other boats. Fifth Officer Lowe suggested standing by in case of any necessity for us to do so.
SENATOR BOURNE: How many occupants were there in boat No. 14?
MR. CROWE: Fifty­seven women and children and about 6 men, including 1 officer; and I may have been 7; I am not quite sure about that.
SENATOR BOURNE: How did you come to know there were 57 women and children?
MR. CROWE: When we got out a distance the officer asked me how many people we had in the boat, thinking the other boats had not got their number, and it was his idea to put our people into their boats and return back.
SENATOR BOURNE: Feeling that you were overcrowded?
MR. CROWE: No, sir; his idea was to stand by in case of an emergency; that is, anybody coming over the sides, with the idea of picking them up. I might state in between there the boat had sprung a leak and taken in water, probably 8 inches of water. That is, when the boat was released and fell, I think she must have sprung a leak.
SENATOR BOURNE: How long after the boat fell in the water did you discover that there was probably 8 inches of water in the boat?
MR. CROWE: Well, sir, we did not keep time or anything like that, but I should imagine when we transferred our people was when we discovered the amount of water that was in the boat, because just prior to getting to the other boat a lady stated that there was some water coming over her ankles, and two men and this lady ­ I believe the lady ­ assisted in bailing it out with bails that were kept in the boat for that purpose.
SENATOR BOURNE: Explain what you mean by when you transferred your people.
MR. CROWE: The officer on one of the boats that was near to us told them to stand by, and he got, I think, four or maybe five boats together. We transferred so many people from one boat to the other boats; we distributed from here to there.
SENATOR BOURNE: Your reason for transferring was because of this 8 inches of water?
MR. CROWE: No; he decided to return to the wreckage and see if he could pick anybody up.
SENATOR BOURNE: You had 57 men, women and children in your boat, and 7 men in addition. You were pretty well loaded, were you not?
MR. CROWE: The officer said we could take 80 people in all, but the ladies seemed to make a protest at his idea of going back again with these people in the boat.
SENATOR BOURNE: Would it not have been easier to take one of these boats that was not nearly as full as your boat and have them stand by the wreckage and have them try to pick up people?
MR. CROWE: No, because the other boats were without an officer. We were the only boat out of the bunch that was there with an officer.
SENATOR BOURNE: Then it was discipline?
MR. CROWE: Just a matter of discipline.
SENATOR BOURNE: Now, if you will, go on with your story.
MR. CROWE: Returning back to the wreckage, we heard various cries, and endeavored to get among them, and we were successful in doing so and in picking one body up that was floating around in the water; when we got him into the boat ­ after great difficulty, he being such a heavy man ­ he expired shortly afterwards. Going farther into the wreckage we came across a steward or one of the crew, and we got him into the boat, and he was very cold and his hands were kind of stiff, but we got him in and he recovered by the time we got back to the Carpathia.
SENATOR BOURNE: Did he survive?
MR. CROWE: Yes; sir; also a Japanese or Chinese young fellow that we picked up on top of some of the wreckage ­ it might have been a sideboard or table ­ that was floating around. We stopped until daybreak, and we saw in the distance a raft or Berthon boat submerged, in the distance, with a crowd of men on it. We went over to the boat and found probably 20, or there might have been 25, men and 1 woman; also 3 or 4 dead bodies, which we left. Returning again under canvas sail ­ we stepped our mast at night ­ we took in tow a collapsible boat containing fully 60 people ­ women, children and men.
SENATOR BOURNE: How much water was there in your boat at that time? Was there still 8 inches, or had you any water in there at [at] that time?
MR. CROWE: After we got some people out of our boat and returned to the wreck we did not take in so much water, because we bailed a certain amount of water out and no more seemed to come in.
SENATOR BOURNE: Then you infer that the strain was among the upper timbers, near the gunwale?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir; I think, the boat being new, the wood had warped sufficiently to not prevent the water from coming in. Then we returned alongside the Carpathia, and then we landed our people. That is the story, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: You were in boat No. 14 when it was lowered?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Was there any shooting that occurred at the time the boat was lowered?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Explain to the committee what knowledge or information you have relative to that.
MR. CROWE: There were various men passengers, probably Italians or some foreign nationality other than English or American, who attempted to rush the boats. The officers threatened to shoot any man who put his foot into the boat. He fired the revolver, but either downward or upward, not shooting at any of the passengers at all and not injuring anybody. He fired perfectly clear, upward or downward.
SENATOR BOURNE: Did that stop the rush?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: There was no disorder after that?
MR. CROWE: No disorder. Well, one woman was crying, but that was all; no panic or anything in the boat.
SENATOR BOURNE: You were assigned to boat No. 14?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: As soon as you joined the ship?
MR. CROWE: Well, we sailed on Wednesday, and I probably saw the list on Thursday or Friday.
SENATOR BOURNE: That is, of your assignment?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir; because there was a notice there to the effect that we would have muster and fire drill on Sunday at 11:30, and I inquired whether we would have it or not; but we did not, however.
SENATOR BOURNE: You joined the ship on Tuesday, the ship sailed on Wednesday, April the 10th, and the first notification you had that there would be a muster or fire drill on the boat, or information that you were allotted to boat No. 14 was what day?
MR. CROWE: It was either Thursday or Friday, sir; I am not quite certain.
SENATOR BOURNE: And that notification consisted of your seeing the station bill which contained the information that the muster or fire drill would be held on Sunday, at 11:30 o'clock?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: A.m.
MR. CROWE: A.m.; yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Did they hold drill that day?
MR. CROWE: No, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Were there any musters or fire drills held on the ship during the trip, up to the time of the accident?
MR. CROWE: Yes; I believe it was customary for the bedroom stewards each morning, when the captain went around for inspection, to close all water­tight doors and unroll the fire hose, or to stand by. I don't know exactly what they did.
SENATOR BOURNE: That is the fire drill?
MR. CROWE: That is the fire drill; yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: It is your opinion that that was done every day, is it?
MR. CROWE: Well, I am under the impression that it was done. I can not answer for certain, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: So far as any boat maneuvers or any boat drills are concerned, did you have any?
MR. CROWE: None whatever, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: If there had been any you would have participated in the same, having been allotted to boat No. 14, would you not?
MR. CROWE: Exactly.
SENATOR BOURNE: On other ships or lines in which you have sailed have you been allotted to lifeboats?
MR. CROWE: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: In such cases did they hold daily or week drills?
MR. CROWE: Once a week, sir, in port and out.
SENATOR BOURNE: Once a week, in port and out. But there was no drill on the Titanic?
MR. CROWE: None whatever, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Explain, if you will, the procedure of your lifeboat drills that you have participated on other trips.
