SENATOR BURTON: That is the man who was a witness here this morning?
MR. EVANS: Gill, the second donkeyman.
SENATOR BURTON: He said he thought he would make $500?
MR. EVANS: Yes.
SENATOR BURTON When was that said?
MR. EVANS: The night before last.
SENATOR BURTON: Did you hear him say that at any other time?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR BURTON: He said that to you night before last?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BURTON: Where were you then?
MR. EVANS: I had gone ashore, and I was outside the station, I think. I do not remember whether it was the north station or the south station.
SENATOR BURTON: It was after you had landed?
MR. EVANS: It was after I had landed; yes, sir; he asked if I was not going back any more. He said he had been up and told the newspaper about the accident.
SENATOR BURTON: And he said that he would make about $500 out of it.
MR. EVANS: He said, "I think we will make about $500 out of it."
SENATOR SMITH: I understood you to say there was an apprentice on the bridge with the office?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And that the apprentice told you he saw these rockets?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; he said he saw rockets.
SENATOR SMITH: He said he saw rockets?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know whether he got anything for his story, or whether he has given out any story?
MR. EVANS: I do not think for a moment he told anybody other than the people on the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: But you got your information directly from the apprentice who was on the bridge with the officer?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: That he himself had seen rockets the night the Titanic went down?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you hear the captain say that he saw rockets?
MR. EVANS: I heard so the next day. I did not hear anything about it the same day.
SENATOR SMITH: You heard him swear to it here a few moments ago?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: White rockets, he said, did he not?
MR. EVANS: I think so.
SENATOR SMITH: Have you yourself been offered, or have you received, any money from any person for any information in your possession regarding this Titanic accident or wreck?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And the movements of the steamship Californian?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Let us understand a little more clearly about the circumstances under which the fourth officer awakened you.
MR. EVANS: The chief officer wakened me.
SENATOR BOURNE: Did he say that the rockets had just been seen or that they had been seen during the night?
MR. EVANS: He came to my room and said, "Rockets have been seen going off." He did not state any specific time. He said, "Rockets have been seen going off. Will you go and call?' He came on watch at 4 o'clock, I think. He was down below, before.
SENATOR BOURNE: He had just been awakened himself, probably, before he came to see you?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: There was nothing from which you could ascertain when those rockets had been seen?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: From your conversation with him you could not determine that?
MR. EVANS: No, sir; nothing.
SENATOR SMITH: Have you heard from anyone regarding the Titanic disaster whether any rockets were sent up on the Titanic the night she sank?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You have no information of that kind?
MR. EVANS: No, sir; no information from anybody on the Titanic.
SENATOR FLETCHER: What were you told, when you were aroused, with reference to these rockets?
MR. EVANS: The mate came to my room, and he said, "Rockets have been seen to have been fired off." He did not say when. "Will you call and see if you can find out what is the matter?" In five minutes I knew what was the matter.
SENATOR FLETCHER: The mate evidently considered that these rockets were distress rockets, did he?
MR. EVANS: He did not say so to me.
SENATOR FLETCHER: But he would not ask you to inquire­­
MR. EVANS: [interrupting]. He said to find out.
SENATOR FLETCHER: He would not ask you to inquire unless he apprehended that there was some trouble?
MR. EVANS: I do not know. Two or three days before that I got word from another operator that there was a boat wanting to be towed, an oil tank. She was short of coal, and wanted to be towed, and I believe he thought it was her, I would not say. He did not happen to mention it to me; he has not mentioned it to me.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Who was that?
MR. EVANS: The chief officer.
SENATOR FLETCHER: When would you have gone on duty Monday morning, April 15, if you had not been awakened by the first mate?
MR. EVANS: Between 7 and a quarter past. The steward calls me at 7 o'clock.
SENATOR SMITH: When the first mate awakened you and told you that the first officer wanted you to get up, that rockets had been seen­­
MR. EVANS: [Interrupting]. It was the chief officer that came into my room, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: The chief officer came to your room and aroused you?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And told you rockets had been seen?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You deemed that of sufficient importance to arise immediately?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; I put on my trousers and called.
SENATOR SMITH: Otherwise you would have remained in your bed until what time?
MR. EVANS: If I had not been called, I should have remained in my bunk until 7 o'clock or between and a quarter past.
SENATOR SMITH: I believe you said you never received any offer or payment for any information in your possession regarding the Titanic disaster?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Have you accepted any money for anything of that character?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Would you receive any money for information of that character?
MR. EVANS: No, sir; I would not.
SENATOR SMITH: Why?
MR. EVANS: I do not think it is right to receive money for anything like that.
SENATOR SMITH: That is all; you may be excused.
MR. EVANS: Thank you.
Witness excused.
SENATOR SMITH: I would like to ask Mr. Evans, the able seaman, a few further questions. I examined this man in my room last evening, and there is one question I overlooked.
FURTHER TESTIMONY OF FRANK OLIVER EVANS
SENATOR SMITH: Evans, I think you told me you had served nine years in the Royal Navy?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Where were you in the lifeboat­­
MR. EVANS: [Interrupting]. Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: One moment, now. Where were you in the lifeboat when lifeboat No. 14, in charge of Officer Lowe, was tied up to your boat?
MR. EVANS: No, sir; he was not tied up to us. He came over to us.
SENATOR SMITH: Where were you when he came over to you?
MR. EVANS: In the bow of No. 10 boat.
SENATOR SMITH: You got out of No. 10 boat and got into No. 14 boat with Officer Lowe?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; by his orders, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You said you heard Officer Lowe fire four shots from a revolver?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Where were you at that time?
MR. EVANS: Going to the assistance of the collapsible boat that was swamped.
SENATOR SMITH: On the way to the place where you joined officer Lowe, in boat 14, to the collapsible boat that was being swamped and filled with passengers, men and women­­
MR. EVANS: [Interrupting]. One woman, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: They were up their ankles in water?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; the boat was swamped within about 5 or 6 inches of the gunwale, the top of the boat, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You heard Officer Lowe and saw him fire his revolver several times?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: In what direction did he point the revolver?
MR. EVANS: In the air, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you ask him why he fired?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did he tell you why he fired?
MR. EVANS: He told the people in this boat it was to warn them not to rush our boat when we got alongside.
SENATOR SMITH: How many people did you have in your boat No. 14, with Lowe?
MR. EVANS: We had one dead and three alive, that we picked up off the wreckage. This man died on the way from the wreckage, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: This man was a large man?
MR. EVANS: A very stout man, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know his name?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Was it Mr. Hoyt?
MR. EVANS: I could not say; I do not know his name.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you unfasten his collar?
MR. EVANS: No, sir; some of the stewards did, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: In the end of your boat?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: In order that he might breathe?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; in order that he might breathe.
SENATOR SMITH: Were those all the persons in lifeboat No. 14 at that moment?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; besides the crew.
SENATOR SMITH: And of how many did the crew consist?
MR. EVANS: I should say about eight or nine, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Then, in your boat at that time was a crew of eight or nine, which included yourself?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Including Officer Lowe?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: This Mr. Hoyt, whom you picked up out of the water alive, was there?
MR. EVANS: He was alive when we got him over the side of the boat, into the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: You picked him out of the water alive?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And two other persons?
MR. EVANS: Three others, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Who were these three other persons?
MR. EVANS: I did not recognize two of them, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you recognize one?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; the steward, young Stewart.
SENATOR SMITH: Were the others stewards?
MR. EVANS: I could not say, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Or firemen?
MR. EVANS: I could not say, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Or stokers?
MR. EVANS: I could not say, sir, which. I did not know them, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You do not know whether they were part of the crew or not?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How far was this swamped collapsible lifeboat from lifeboat No. 14 when you started to it?
MR. EVANS: About a mile and a half, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How near were you to the swamped boat when Lowe fired those shots?
MR. EVANS: About 150 yards, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Going toward it?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; about 150 yards, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did he say anything at the time he did it?
MR. EVANS: No, sir; he just mentioned the fact that they must not rush the boat, as it was liable to capsize her.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you hear Lowe fire three shots when he was lowering from the ship's deck to the water in his lifeboat?
MR. EVANS: I never seen him, sir, when his boat was being lowered, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did your lifeboat pick up the lamp trimmer?
MR. EVANS: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: At the time Lowe fired those shots were there many floating bodies about your boat?
MR. EVANS: No, sir; no floating bodies, sir. We had come away from them.
SENATOR SMITH: You had come away from them?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir. They were around the wreck.
SENATOR SMITH: How many?
MR. EVANS: I should think between 150 and 200. We had great difficulty in getting through them to get to the wreck.
SENATOR SMITH: The collapsible boat, according to this evidence, was from the Titanic and had been in the water from about 12 o'clock, that night, until daylight?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; it was daylight when we seen it, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: At daylight this man saw about 20 people standing upon what he supposed to be floating ice, and in company with Officer Lowe, in lifeboat No. 14, went in that direction. When they got within 150 yards of it Officer Lowe fired these shots. They went up to the boat and took therefrom about 25 passengers?
MR. EVANS: Between 20 and 25. We left 3 dead ones.
SENATOR SMITH: About 25 passengers living, including one woman, and you left 3 dead bodies in the swamped boat, which was, I believe, No. 12, on the port side, with Officer Murdock, you saw him load that lifeboat?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did I understand you correctly last night when you told me that the lifeboat was about 2 1/2 to 3 feet from the ship's side?
MR. EVANS: That was No. 10 lifeboat, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And that women hesitated to get into at the command of Mr. Murdock, because they could not reach it safely?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: That one woman, in attempting to jump into it, had gone over the side?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; and her foot caught on the rail, and she was suspended in the air.
SENATOR SMITH: And little children were thrown into it?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were pitched into it.
MR. EVANS: Yes. They had them in their arms, chucking them in.
SENATOR SMITH: They were chucked in?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And No. 10 was not filled, was it?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; full to capacity.
SENATOR SMITH: But you had some difficulty about getting the people to get in in that way?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Who caught the children as they were thrown into the boat?
MR. EVANS: The first child was passed over, sir, and I caught it by the dress. It was dangling. I had to swing it, and a woman caught it. The remainder of the children ­ there was a fireman there and with the assistance of a young woman they caught the children as they were dropped into the boat. There were none of the children hurt. That was the only accident, with this woman. She seemed a bit nervous. She did not like to jump, at first, and then when she did jump she did not go far enough, and the consequence was she went between the ship and the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: She fell into the water?
MR. EVANS: No, sir; she did not fall into the water. Her foot caught on the rail on the next deck and she was pulled in by some men underneath. This woman went up again on the boat deck and took another jump and landed safely in the boat.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know who she was?
MR. EVANS: No, sir; I do not know her name.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Which was the last lifeboat to leave the ship?
MR. EVANS: The last lifeboat was No. 10. That was the last boat to leave the ship, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Edward John Buley was on that boat ­ an able seaman?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; my mate.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You were both ordered into that boat?
MR. EVANS: Yes; by; Chief Officer Murdock.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How many men were in that boat?
MR. EVANS: There were me, and Buley, a fireman, a steward, and one foreigner. The remainder was all women and children.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you have enough men in to row it, to take care of it?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Were the men all ordered in?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir; they were ordered in by Chief Officer Murdock.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Which was the next boat to this one to leave the ship?
MR. EVANS: I could not tell you, sir. I went away in no. 10, and that was the last boat. That was a big lifeboat.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you help to load No. 12 and No. 14?
MR. EVANS: Yes, sir. I was on the starboard side, then.
SENATOR FLETCHER: The boat that preceded No. 10 was what number?
