SENATOR SMITH: This Englishman who was on the stand first this afternoon said there was water on A deck.
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; but he left the ship after I did, according to his evidence.
SENATOR SMITH: You heard no testimony, then, that the water was on E deck?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You left before there was water on E deck?
MR. BOXHALL: There may have been water on E deck before I left.
SENATOR SMITH: But you did not see it?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You do not know how it got there?
MR. BOXHALL: I know how it would get there. It would come up through this hole that was probably underneath the mail room.
SENATOR SMITH: Come up through the boat?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: To E deck?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: These water­tight compartments are water tight at the bottom?
MR. BOXHALL: They are water tight as far as they extend, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: They are water tight at the sides?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Are they water tight at the ceiling?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: If they had been water tight at the ceiling, would they still be afloat?
MR. BOXHALL: Not in that particular case, because there were evidently three or four of the water­tight compartments ripped up. They were all damaged or else the ship would not have gone down.
SENATOR SMITH: There seems to be a great deal of confusion about the water­tight compartments, and I have innumerable letters and telegrams asking that these compartments be searched by the Navy Department. The only water­tight compartments that I have ever seen were on the Baltic, and I was shown about the water­tight compartments by the late captain of the Titanic, about six years ago, so that I have not very much knowledge about them except from what I saw then. But to be water­tight the ceiling should be able to resist the water as well as any other part of the water­tight compartment, should it not?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir; it should; but if the ship is going to float after she has been damaged the water in that one compartment will not rise any higher than the level of the sea, so there is no strain on the ceiling, or there is probably no strain on the ceiling.
SENATOR SMITH: I think you have given me the information I was seeking. The reason why the upper part of the water­tight compartment is not so constructed as to resist the water is because some means of ingress and egress must be left or provided?
MR. BOXHALL: That is so.
SENATOR SMITH: In the case of the water­tight compartments on the Titanic there were staircases?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Leading out of these water­tight compartments?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Suppose the passengers with no lifeboats and no lights in sight were confronted with the alternative leaping into the open sea or inclosing themselves in these compartments to die there, is there any means by which they could get into these compartments themselves?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; probably if they went down to the cabin they might get into one of these compartments.
SENATOR BOURNE: Are you familiar with the boiler room?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Are you familiar with the coal bunkers beside the boilers, between the boilers and the skin of the ship?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir; I was not down there in that ship.
SENATOR BOURNE: You have no knowledge appertaining to that?
MR. BOXHALL: None at all?
SENATOR NEWLANDS: How about the ice in the locality in which you placed it on the chart? Was it likely to drift; and if so, in what particular direction?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes; we should expect it to drift to the northward and to the eastward.
SENATOR NEWLANDS: And not toward the south?
MR. BOXHALL: Not the southward as a rule; not in the Gulf Stream.
SENATOR NEWLANDS: So that, as you proceeded along the track after you had charted this ice, your assumption would be that the ice would drift farther away from your track rather than drift toward it?
MR. BOXHALL: More to the northward and eastward; yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Mr. Boxhall, you are a practical navigator, as I understand?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Would it be feasible and desirable to have a map in the chart room, and to note each day the information that you might acquire by wireless from other ships as to their location? Would that be an advantage in any way in navigation?
MR. BOXHALL: We do that.
SENATOR BOURNE: That is noted on the map, as it is?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir; on the chart in the officers' chart room and on the chart in the captain's chart room.
SENATOR BOURNE: You keep your record, then, both of your position and the position of other ships with which you have been in communication by wireless?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: How often are these records put down?
MR. BOXHALL: Do you mean do we put down on the chart the positions of the ships from which we receive messages?
SENATOR BOURNE: Yes.
MR. BOXHALL: No; we do not put their positions on the chart. If they report derelicts, or wreckage, or anything like that, we plat those positions on the chart.
SENATOR BOURNE: Would it not bring about a better correlation between you and other ships in that vicinity if you noted on the chart the relative positions, in conjunction with your own, at the time you noted your own position?
MR. BOXHALL: They do not always give their positions.
SENATOR BOURNE: They do not?
MR. BOXHALL: No, sir.
SENATOR BOURNE: Would it be;; any benefit to navigation if they were required to do so?
MR. BOXHALL: A few of them give their positions. It is very handy.
SENATOR BOURNE: It is perfectly practical, is it?
MR. BOXHALL: Oh, yes; certainly.
SENATOR BOURNE: And might be, and in your judgment would be, a benefit to navigation if required.
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Mr. Boxhall you seem to be the one upon whom we must rely to give the difference between ship's time and New York time; or rather, to give ship's time and give the New York time when this accident occurred.
MR. BOXHALL: At 11:46 p.m., ship's time, it was 10:13 Washington time or New York time.
SENATOR SMITH: And that was the time of the impact?
MR. BOXHALL: There is a question about that. Some say 11:45, and some say 11:43. I myself did not note it exactly, but that is as near as I can tell. I reckon it was about 11:45.
TESTIMONY OF HAROLD T. COTTAM ­ Recalled
SENATOR SMITH: Mr. Cottam, you have been sworn. I desire to ask you one question: When you were on the stand you had not received any compensation for your article in the New York Times. Have you since received your pay for it?
MR. BOXHALL: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: How much did you get?
MR. COTTAM: $750.
SENATOR SMITH: On the way from the place where the Titanic sank to New York did you receive a message from anyone, or any company, saying, "Kill message containing Titanic story"?
MR. COTTAM: No, sir; I received no message to that effect.
SENATOR BOURNE: What was the power of the machine on your boat ­ 1 kilowatt?
MR. COTTAM: It varied according to the ship's mains. The ship's mains ran about 95 volts. I should say it would be about one­half to three quarters of a kilowatt.
SENATOR BOURNE: What wave length were you using?
MR. COTTAM: Six hundred meters; the standard. I was not using a wave length at all most of the time. It was unattuned ­ plain aerial.
SENATOR BOURNE: What range would your power have at night and what range in the daytime?
MR. COTTAM: I could not say. During the day I think I would be sure of about 250 miles. At night, I could not say. It all depends on circumstances.
SENATOR BOURNE: Did you catch any messages from the Cape Cod Station?
MR. COTTAM: Do you ask if I received them.
SENATOR BOURNE: Yes.
MR. COTTAM: Oh, yes.
SENATOR BOURNE: You had not difficulty in taking them?
MR. COTTAM: Oh, no. We can receive from any distance provide the transmitting station has the power to transmit the message to us; it does not matter where we are.
SENATOR BOURNE: What wave length were they using; 1,600?
MR. COTTAM: I do not know what the wave length is in the Cape Cod station. It is something high. It would be about 1,600, I should say.
SENATOR BOURNE: Were they clear and distinct?
MR. COTTAM: Oh, yes; they were plain.
SENATOR BOURNE: You had no difficulty, while those messages were in the air, in getting the messages from the Titanic at the same time.
MR. COTTAM: You can not receive a message with the 600 meter wave length and another with the 1,600 meter wave length at the same time.
SENATOR BOURNE: That is what I understood. During the entire time when you were getting the Titanic's messages the Cap Cod station was silent, was it?
MR. COTTAM: Yes; it was silent. There was an interval between the first sending and the repeat. It is all sent twice. There was an interval between the two.
SENATOR BOURNE: Do you know whether or not it is customary for the Cape Cod station to take one hour out of four for the sending of private dispatches; and if so, does that kill the opportunity of distress signals being taken during that period?
MR. COTTAM: Oh, yes; distress signals from ships; yes.
SENATOR BOURNE: They could not be taken at the same time that the press messages were being sent out by the Cape Cod station, provided they were using the 1,600 meter wave length, could they?
MR. COTTAM: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you receive any messages from Mr. Ismay for transmittal while he was aboard the Carpathia?
MR. COTTAM: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you receive messages from him addressed to his office in Liverpool or London, or his office in New York?
MR. COTTAM: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you transmit them?
MR. COTTAM: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: When did you receive those from him?
MR. COTTAM: I was working for the shipping company, handling official messages all the time. I can not remember; I have no record of the time or dates.
SENATOR SMITH: You were working for the White Star Co.?
MR. COTTAM: And the Cunard Co.
SENATOR SMITH: All the time?
MR. COTTAM: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: And you sent frequent messages from Ismay to his Liverpool office? How did you send them to his Liverpool office?
MR. COTTAM: They came via one of the American land stations; the Siasconset station or the Sagaponack station.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you send any messages from him to Montreal via Cape Race?
MR. COTTAM: No, sir. I was not in touch with Cape Race at all, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you recollect sending any messages from him through any other ship to London or Liverpool?
MR. COTTAM: I do not remember, sir; I had too many.
SENATOR SMITH: You had many from him?
MR. COTTAM: I had a good many, and I had other Cunard messages; and when I was not busy with those, I was on passenger traffic.
SENATOR SMITH: These messages from Ismay to Liverpool were, of course, not sent direct from the Carpathia to Liverpool. They must have been sent to some coast station or to some other ship station?
MR. COTTAM: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: To what other ship station, if any, do you recall having transmitted any messages from her?
MR. COTTAM: I do not remember that I transmitted any through any other ship. It is not customary to put official news through any other ship at all, other than on the same line.
SENATOR SMITH: And you were not in communication with the Olympic that day at all?
MR. COTTAM: The day of the wreck?
SENATOR SMITH: Yes.
MR. COTTAM: I was on the following day, Monday.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you send any message from Mr. Ismay to the Olympic on Monday?
MR. COTTAM: I guess I did. I do not remember it.
SENATOR SMITH: I want you to remember. I want you to tell just what you remember.
MR. COTTAM: I can not remember having sent any, but I believe there were one or two.
SENATOR SMITH: Were they addressed to Liverpool?
MR. COTTAM: I do not remember, sir, how the messages went at all.
SENATOR SMITH: When did you first hear from Mr. Marconi on Monday?
MR. COTTAM: On Monday? I did not hear from Mr. Marconi.
SENATOR SMITH: When did you receive your first message from Mr. Ismay?
MR. COTTAM: From Mr. Ismay? I can not remember how I dealt with the traffic at all. I have no record of it here, or anything.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you remember whether you received a message for Mr. Ismay from Mr. Franklin on Monday, or from "Islefrank" on Monday?
MR. COTTAM: I do not suppose I did on Monday, but I do not remember . I do not suppose so, because I was not in touch with any coast station.
SENATOR SMITH: Did you on Tuesday?
MR. COTTAM: I may have done so, but I can not remember anything at all about the traffic, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: You say you were working for the company all the while. Did you give preference to White Star business and Cunard business?
MR. COTTAM: Yes, sir; all the time. Official traffic before anything else.
SENATOR SMITH: Official traffic before everything; and you regarded the White Star communications as official?
MR. COTTAM: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: And you knew that Cunard messages were official?
MR. COTTAM: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: In that event, messages from passengers addressed to New York or other points would have to wait until these official messages were out of the way?
MR. COTTAM: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And that was the practice you followed from the time of the accident, from the time you reached the Titanic's position, until you reached New York?
MR. COTTAM: Yes; that is the usual course.
SENATOR SMITH: And during that time you did have numerous communications for the officers of both companies?
MR. COTTAM: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: And messages were sent by Mr. Ismay? Did he send them over his name, "Ismay," or did he send them over a code name, "Yamsi"?
MR. COTTAM: "Yamsi."
SENATOR SMITH: All messages he sent were signed "Yamsi"?
MR. COTTAM: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: How were the messages sent that he received? Were they sent to "Yamsi"?
MR. COTTAM: I think they were to "Ismay." I can not remember.
SENATOR SMITH: To Mr. Ismay?
MR. COTTAM: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: Addressed to Ismay?
MR. COTTAM: Yes, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: In care of the Carpathia?
MR. COTTAM: Yes.
SENATOR SMITH: And signed "Franklin"?
MR. COTTAM: "Islefrank," I think.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you remember what those messages were about?
MR. COTTAM: No, sir; I do not.
SENATOR SMITH: Do you remember whether there was anything about insurance in them?
MR. COTTAM: No, sir; I do not believe there was anything about insurance.
SENATOR SMITH: Was there anything about Lloyd's in them?
MR. COTTAM: No, sir; not to my knowledge.
SENATOR SMITH: Were any messages sent to Lloyd's?
MR. COTTAM: No, sir.
SENATOR SMITH: Or received from Lloyd's, addressed to Mr. Ismay?
