SENATOR BURTON: Why did you think she was coming toward you?
MR. CRAWFORD: Sometimes she seemed to get closer; other times she seemed to be getting away from us.
SENATOR BURTON: Those lights remained visible until it became daylight, did they?
MR. CRAWFORD: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BURTON: You say others in the boat recognized those lights?
MR. CRAWFORD: Yes, sir; all the ladies. The lady with the tiller saw it.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How far away could you see those lights? Have you had any experience to enable you to judge how far that ship was away from you?
MR. CRAWFORD: I should say it would not be any more than 10 miles at the most; because, being in a low boat, you can not see like being raised high.
SENATOR FLETCHER: But you could see the lights very distinctly?
MR. CRAWFORD: Very distinctly; yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How as it that when day broke, and the sun rose, you could not see any ship?
MR. CRAWFORD: I could not say. We saw the other ship coming to us, and we turned around for it.
SENATOR FLETCHER: But you could see nothing in the way of a ship or vessel, or anything, where these lights were?
MR. CRAWFORD: No, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Can you not see a ship 10 miles off, under those conditions?
MR. CRAWFORD: We did not look for her after we saw the Carpathia coming up.
SENATOR FLETCHER: In which direction did the Carpathia appear?
MR. CRAWFORD: She came up this way [indicating], and we were pulling over that way.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you know on what course you were moving your boat?
MR. CRAWFORD: No; I could not say.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You could not tell?
MR. CRAWFORD: No.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you see the Northern Lights?
MR. CRAWFORD: I did not notice.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You did not notice the Northern Lights?
MR. CRAWFORD: No, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you know whether you were moving west?
MR. CRAWFORD: I do not know the compass, and I could not say.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You do not remember observing the Northern Lights?
MR. CRAWFORD: No, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You could not tell from the stars in which direction you were moving?
MR. CRAWFORD: No.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Did you move in the direction in which the Titanic was moving when she went down?
MR. CRAWFORD: No; we were the other way; that way [indicating].
SENATOR FLETCHER: Which way?
MR. CRAWFORD: The Titanic was moving this way; we were that way [indicating].
SENATOR FLETCHER: Suppose the Titanic was going west; then you went northwest?
MR. CRAWFORD: If the Titanic was coming along this way we went across that way, straight for the light.
SENATOR FLETCHER: If the Titanic was moving west you moved southwest?
MR. CRAWFORD: Probably so.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Toward the light?
MR. CRAWFORD: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: And then the Carpathia appeared in what direction?
MR. CRAWFORD: She came right up around and started to pick up the boats.
SENATOR FLETCHER: She came from the northeast from you, then?
MR. CRAWFORD: Probably so.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Assuming you had been going southwest?
MR. CRAWFORD: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: She appeared from the northeast. How far away was the Carpathia when you saw her?
MR. CRAWFORD: Saw the lights?
SENATOR FLETCHER: Yes.
MR. CRAWFORD: The captain saw the lights from the bridge.
SENATOR FLETCHER: I mean, how far away was the Carpathia when you first saw her?
MR. CRAWFORD: We did not know it was the Carpathia. We saw a steamer coming up, and we could see she was picking up the boats. Then we turned around and made for her.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How far away was she?
MR. CRAWFORD: Three or four miles away.
SENATOR FLETCHER: The first you saw of her was when she appeared to be picking up the boats?
MR. CRAWFORD: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Then you rowed back?
MR. CRAWFORD: Pulled right back; yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: How many men did you have at the oars?
MR. CRAWFORD: Four, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Who were they?
MR. CRAWFORD: Two sailors, a man out of the kitchen, and myself.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Do you know the names of the sailors?
MR. CRAWFORD: I only know a man named Jones. The others I do not know.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Those were the only men in the boat?
MR. CRAWFORD: Those were the only men in the boat.
SENATOR FLETCHER: The others were all women?
MR. CRAWFORD: Yes, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: Any children?
MR. CRAWFORD: No, sir.
SENATOR FLETCHER: You had about how many in that boat?
MR. CRAWFORD: I should say between 35 and 40, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did Mr. and Mrs. Straus recognize you when they came to your lifeboat?
MR. CRAWFORD: I could not say, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you recognize them?
MR. CRAWFORD: I recognized them; yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: That is all.
MR. CRAWFORD: I thank you, sir.
Witness excused.
TESTIMONY OF MR. ARTHUR JOHN BRIGHT.
The witness was sworn by the chairman.
SENATOR SMITH: Give your full name and address.
MR. BRIGHT: Arthur John Bright, 105 Fir Grove Road, Southampton.
SENATOR SMITH: How old are you?
MR. BRIGHT: Forty­one, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: What is your business?
MR. BRIGHT: Quartermaster.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you quartermaster on the steamship Titanic on the voyage from Southampton to the place of the accident?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you on duty when the accident occurred?
MR. BRIGHT: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Were you on duty Sunday?
MR. BRIGHT: From 6 to 8 in the evening.
SENATOR SMITH: Then you were relieved?
MR. BRIGHT: At 8 o'clock.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you do after you were relieved?
MR. BRIGHT: I turned in.
SENATOR SMITH: When did you next watch occur?
MR. BRIGHT: Twelve o'clock.
SENATOR SMITH: Where were you when the collision occurred?
MR. BRIGHT: In the bunk, asleep.
SENATOR SMITH: How were you awakened?
MR. BRIGHT: One of the watch on deck came and called me and told that the ship had collided.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you remember who did that?
MR. BRIGHT: The man has gone to England. Wynn, his name was. No; it was one of my own watch.
SENATOR SMITH: What did he say to you?
MR. BRIGHT: He says, "The ship is going down by the head."
SENATOR SMITH: Was that immediately after the impact?
MR. BRIGHT: I do not know. I did not feel the impact at all. It did not wake me up.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you do? Did you rise?
MR. BRIGHT: I got up and dressed myself then.
SENATOR SMITH: And what did you do after that? I want you to tell, in your own way, just what you did after you dressed yourself.
MR. BRIGHT: I went out to the after end of the ship to relieve the man I should have relieved at 12 o'clock, a man by the name of Rowe. We stood there for some moments and did not know exactly what to do, and rang the telephone up to the bridge and asked them what we should do. They told us to bring a box of detonators for them ­ signals. Each of us took a box to the bridge. When we got up there we were told to fire them ­ distress signals.
SENATOR SMITH: Who fired them?
MR. BRIGHT: Rowe and I, and Mr. Boxhall, the fourth officer.
SENATOR SMITH: How long did you continue firing these rockets?
MR. BRIGHT: Six were fired in all, I think.
SENATOR SMITH: One at a time?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes, sir; at intervals.
SENATOR SMITH: At intervals of how long?
MR. BRIGHT: I could not say. After we would fire one we would go and help clear the boats away, and then we would come back again.
SENATOR SMITH: This firing for rockets continued for some time, did it?
MR. BRIGHT: I should say probably half an hour.
SENATOR SMITH: In the meantime, were the Morse signals given?
MR. BRIGHT: I could not say.
SENATOR SMITH: You could not see them?
MR. BRIGHT: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: What color did these rockets that were fired show?
MR. BRIGHT: I did not notice the color; but they burst after they got up in the air.
SENATOR SMITH: And then what colors were displayed?
MR. BRIGHT: I did not look to see.
SENATOR SMITH: You say you went to the boats after that, or from time to time while this firing was going on. Did you assist in loading the boats?
MR. BRIGHT: After we had finished firing the distress signals there were two boats left. I went and assisted to get out the starboard one; that is, the starboard collapsible boat. Rowe went away to help to get the other one out, and I went away myself.
SENATOR SMITH: Was the starboard collapsible boat forward?
MR. BRIGHT: Close to the bridge, on the deck.
SENATOR SMITH: And on the starboard side?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you assist in loading that boat?
MR. BRIGHT: I assisted to get it up.
SENATOR SMITH: You assisted to get it up in position?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know the number of that boat?
MR. BRIGHT: I could not say. As soon as the boat was got up in place I was sent away to clear another one in place.
SENATOR SMITH: And you do not know who got into the boats ­ what members of the crew or passengers?
MR. BRIGHT: I have only learned since that Rowe, the man that was working with me, got into that boat. He was in charge of the boat, Rowe was. I was in charge of the other one.
SENATOR SMITH: You do not know how many people he had in it?
MR. BRIGHT: Not in his boat; only my own.
SENATOR SMITH: And you do not know what proportions there were of men and women?
MR. BRIGHT: I could not say, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: In this collapsible?
MR. BRIGHT: No; that one. My own boat I know about.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know whether Mr. Ismay was in Mr. Rowe's boat?
MR. BRIGHT: I have learned so since; I could not say then.
SENATOR SMITH: That was a collapsible lifeboat forward?
MR. BRIGHT: There were four collapsibles. That was one of them.
SENATOR SMITH: I understand. That was a collapsible lifeboat forward, on the starboard side?
MR. BRIGHT: Close to the bridge; yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Where did you go after that? You went to this other boat; but where was it?
MR. BRIGHT: I was on the opposite of the deck to what that was.
SENATOR SMITH: On the port side?
MR. BRIGHT: On the port side, right forward, close to the bridge.
SENATOR SMITH: And what was that, a collapsible?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes; identically the same as the other one.
SENATOR SMITH: What did you do there?
MR. BRIGHT: We got that one out and filled it up with passengers.
SENATOR SMITH: How many passengers; how many people?
MR. BRIGHT: When the boat left the ship there were 25; all it would hold.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you count them?
MR. BRIGHT: I did not count them then; but after we got away there was Mr. Lowe, the fourth officer, came alongside of us in another boat, and told us to stick together, and then he asked the number in the boat, and there was a steward by the name of Hardy counted them and told him, and then they put ten or a dozen men into our boat because it was not filled up.
SENATOR SMITH: Ten or a dozen into your boat from where?
MR. BRIGHT: From some other boat. It was dark, and I could not tell which one it was.
SENATOR SMITH: Was it from a swamped boat?
MR. BRIGHT: No; from a boat that was overloaded.
SENATOR SMITH: You do not remember the number of it?
MR. BRIGHT: No; it was dark and I could not see.
SENATOR SMITH: You do not remember what officer was in charge of it, if any?
MR. BRIGHT: Mr. Lowe, the fifth officer.
SENATOR SMITH: You took these passengers from Mr. Lowe's boat into yours?
MR. BRIGHT: There were five boats, all close up together, and where boats were overloaded he was taking the people out and putting them into the boats that had room to carry them.
SENATOR SMITH: Did he take any people out of your boat and put them into his?
MR. BRIGHT: One seaman went out of my boat.
SENATOR SMITH: When you got part of Mr. Lowe's passengers into your collapsible boat, how many did you have altogether in it?
MR. BRIGHT: If we took a dozen it would be 37. I did not count them afterwards. There were 25 before.
SENATOR SMITH: How did it happen that you did not load this lifeboat to its capacity before it left the boat deck?
MR. BRIGHT: I had nothing to do with the loading of it. The officer was in charge of that.
SENATOR SMITH: What officer was superintending the filling of this boat?
MR. BRIGHT: The last officer I saw there was Mr. Lightoller.
SENATOR SMITH: Did it accommodate comfortably these passengers that you took from Officer Lowe's boat?
MR. BRIGHT: Oh; there was room for more.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you get any more?
MR. BRIGHT: No; not until some time afterwards. Just at daybreak we got some more.
SENATOR SMITH: Where did you get them?
MR. BRIGHT: We saw a boat, one of the collapsible boats, that was awash, just flush with water.
SENATOR SMITH: You mean being swamped?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes; and the same officer, Mr. Lowe, came and took my boat in two, because we had very few men to pull, and towed us down to this one that was awash, and took 13 men and 1 woman off that.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you leave anybody in it?
MR. BRIGHT: No; except those two dead bodies. There were two dead bodies.
SENATOR SMITH: They were standing in water when you came up to them.
MR. BRIGHT: About half way ­ just about the ankles.
SENATOR SMITH: Were they making signs to you?
MR. BRIGHT: No, sir. They had been singing out in the dark. As soon as it got daylight we could see them.
SENATOR SMITH: When it got daylight you went to them?
MR. BRIGHT: We rescued them.
SENATOR SMITH: And you turned the swamped boat adrift?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes; there was no way to do anything with it. We left it there.
SENATOR SMITH: With the two bodies?
MR. BRIGHT: With two dead bodies. They were covered up with a life belt over their faces.
SENATOR SMITH: You left them?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you take up any more people after you left this swamped boat?
MR. BRIGHT: No; we did not pick up anybody.
SENATOR SMITH: Before you reached the Carpathia?
MR. BRIGHT: No; we were taken in tow and towed back under sail to the Carpathia.
SENATOR SMITH: You were taken in tow by Mr. Lowe's boat?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Under sail?
MR. BRIGHT: He was under sail.
SENATOR SMITH: And you were towed?
MR. BRIGHT: To the Carpathia.
SENATOR SMITH: I will show you that little picture [handing photograph to witness]. Do you see anything about that that looks like your boat?
MR. BRIGHT: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: This boat that is ahead there is not under sail?
MR. BRIGHT: No; that is a collapsible boat behind, but we were in tow. That boat, if it had been behind, would have been under sail. That is a collapsible boat behind, but it is not the boat I was in.
SENATOR SMITH: Mr. Lowe's boat had a sail?
MR. BRIGHT: Yes, sir; it had a sail.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you know the names of any of the passengers or members of the crew that were in the lifeboat in which you reached the Carpathia?
MR. BRIGHT: The only one I know of is Steward Hardy. He is up here now.
