Q. Was there any large number of people in A deck at the time you got up there?
A. There was not, sir.
Q. How did you reach A deck?
A. I came up along the hatchway.
Q. Did you meet any third­class passengers?
A. No, sir.
Q. Were they held off in any way?
A. No, sir.
Q. They had the same privilege to go up on A deck?
A. They had as much privilege as anybody else. About this signal [indicating].
Q. The white light up there indicates full speed?
A. Yes.
Q. When you received the red signal the white disappears?
A. A bell rings when the signal appears.
Q. When the bell rings you look up there and see the signal light?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. The white light indicates full speed, and that was the light shown that Sunday night up to the time you got the red­light signal to stop, which was just before the collision?
A. Yes.
Q. And that was the first time during the voyage that the 24 boilers were running?
A. Yes.
International Mercantile Marine Co., New York, May 25, 1912
Senator William Alden Smith, United States Senate, Washington, D.C.
Dear Sir: Inclosed please find letter addressed to you which we have received from Capt. Lord of the steamer Californian, dated Liverpool, May 11.
Yours truly, P.A.S. Franklin, Vice President
_______________
S.S. "CALIFORNIAN" Liverpool, May 11, 1912
Senator Smith.
Sir: After leaving Boston I found that I had unintentionally given a wrong reply to one of your questions. You asked me, "Could I give you the temperature of the water from my log book." I replied, "No; but I could give it to you from memory," which I did.
The log books I have always used have not had a column for temperature of water, but this voyage we have had a new type of book, which has the column in. Although I had the log book at the time you asked me, my reply was based on the ones I had always been in the habit of using. Below I give you the temperature of air and water from noon April 14 to noon April 15.
I am, sir, yours, respectfully, Stanley Lord
Air. Water.
April 14­ Noon................................50 56
4 p.m................................37 36
8.p.m................................30 32
Midnight............................27 28
April 15­ 1 a.m................................29 29
SENATOR SMITH: I submit to be printed in the record, the following affidavit of James R. McGough:
I, James R. McGough, do depose and say that I was a passenger on the Steamship Titanic on Sunday, April 14, 1912, the time of the disaster; that I live in Philadelphia, Pa; that I am 36 years of age; and I hereby make the following statement:
I was awakened at 11:40 p.m., ship time; my stateroom was on the starboard side ­ deck E ­ and was shared with me by Mr. Flynn, a buyer for Gimbel Bros., New York, at Thirty­third and Broadway. Soon after leaving our stateroom we came in contact with the second dining­room steward, Mr. Dodd, in the companionway, of whom we asked the question "Is there any danger?" and he answered, "Not in the least," and suggested that we go back to bed, which we did not, however, do.
It was our intention to go up on the promenade deck, but before doing so I rapped on the door of the stateroom opposite mine, which was occupied by a lady, and suggested to her that she had better get up at once and dress, as there was apparently something wrong.
Mr. Flynn and I then ascended to promenade deck A, and after being up there about 10 minutes were notified to put on life preservers as a matter of precaution. We then had to go all the way from promenade deck back to our stateroom, which was on E deck. After procuring our life preservers we went back again to the top deck, and after reaching there discovered that orders had been given to launch the lifeboats, and that they were already being launched at that time.
They called for the women and children to board the boats first. Both women and men, however, hesitated, and did not feel inclined to get into the small boats, thinking the larger boat was the safer. I had my back turned looking in the opposite direction at that time and was caught by the shoulder by one of the officers, who gave me a push, saying, "Here, you are a big fellow; get into the boat."
Our boat was launched with 28 people; we, however, transferred 5 from one of the other boats after we were out in the ocean, which was some time after the ship went down.
When our lifeboats left the vessel, we were directed to row away a short distance from the large boat, feeling it would be but a short time until we would be taken back on the Titanic. We then rested our oars; but after realizing that the Titanic was really sinking, we rowed away for about half a mile, being afraid that the suction would draw us down.
Although there were several of us wanted drinking water, it was unknown to us that there was a tank of water and also some crackers in our boat, having no light on our boat; and we did not discover this fact ­ that is, as to the tank of water ­ until after reaching the Carpathia.
The following questions are asked by Mr. O'Donnell:
Q. Do you know anything about the wireless?
A. No.
Q. Did you see the captain at any time after being awakened?
A. No.
Q. Did you see any neglect of duty by the crew at the offset?
A. No; they were all calm and apparently well disciplined; there was no panic at all.
Q. Have you any complaint to make in regard to the officers or crew?
A. No.
Q. Did you see any other ships or lights?
A. I saw lights, but was told they were from our own life­saving boats.
Q. Did you hear any guns or revolvers fired?
A. No.
Q. Which side of the ship were you on?
A. Starboard side.
Q. Did you see any one drunk, or drinking, on the Titanic during your voyage?
A. I saw no one drunk.
Q. How fast was the Titanic going at the time of the accident?
A. I do not know.
Q. Did you see Ismay at any time after you awakened?
A. No.
Q. Did you see any ice?
A. Not until the next morning, as I had gone to bed at 10 o'clock and was asleep.
Q. Did you hear any groans or moaning after you got into the lifeboat?
A. Yes.
Q. Do you think if the crew on the lifeboat had gone back they could have picked up some of the passengers who were in the water?
A. I could not say; but some of the women passengers objected to our making the effort.
Q. Did the captain or officers tell the steward to call the passengers on one side only, and what was the purpose?
A. I do not know.
Q. State further anything else you know?
A. The above is a complete statement from the time of the accident until the time I got on board the Carpathia.
Q. Were you fully dressed?
A. I was fully dressed.
It is hereby certified that the within statement is true and correct, to the best of my knowledge and belief.
JAMES R. MCGOUGH.
Subscribed and sworn to me this lst day of May, A.D. 1912. Ed. O'Donnell, Chief Deputy United States Marshal.
SENATOR SMITH: I submit, to be printed in the record, the following affidavit of Catherine E. Crosby:
STATE OF WISCONSIN, Milwaukee County, ss:
CATHERINE E. CROSBY, being first duly sworn, upon her oath says that she is the widow of Capt. Edward Gifford Crosby, deceased; that she resides at 474 Marshall Street, City of Milwaukee, which is her home.
Deponent further says that, on the 10th day of April, 1912, at Southampton, England, she embarked as a passenger on the steamer Titanic for the port of New York; that her husband, Edward G. Crosby, and her daughter, Harriette R. Crosby, were with her on said steamer; that she and her husband occupied stateroom No. 22 and her daughter occupied stateroom No. 26, they being first­class passengers on said steamer. Deponent noticed nothing unusual or out of the ordinary, either in the equipment of the vessel or in the handling of her, and nothing unusual occurred until Sunday, the 14th day of April, 1912, when deponent noticed that the seamen on board the Titanic were taking the temperature of the water on the afternoon of that day, and it was stated by those engaged in doing this that the temperature of the water was colder and indicated that the boat was in the vicinity of ice fields; this was about the middle of the afternoon, as I recollect it.
At that time my husband I were walking up and down the promenade deck, which, as I recollect it, was the deck below the hurricane deck, and it was while we were walking up and down this deck that I first noticed these seamen taking the temperature of the water. My husband was a sailor all his lifetime, and he told me all about it, and it was from that that I knew what they were doing. I could see what they were doing. My husband retired at about 9 o'clock that evening, and I retired about 10:30. Elmer Taylor, one of the passengers who went over with us on the steamer, told me afterwards, when we were on the Carpathia, that at the time I retired that night he noticed the boat was going at full speed. I had not retired long when I was suddenly awakened by the thumping of the boat. The engines stopped suddenly. This was about 11:30. Capt. Crosby got up, dressed, and went out, and came back again, and said to me, "You will like there and drown," and went out again. He said to my daughter, "The boat is badly damaged; but I think the water­tight compartments will hold her up." I then got up and dressed, and my daughter dressed, and followed my husband on deck, and she got up on deck, and the officer told her to go back and get on her life preserver and come back on deck as soon as possible. She reported that to me, and we both went out on deck where the officer told us to come. I think it was the first or second boat that we got into. I do not recollect other boats being lowered at that time; I did not see them. This was on the left­hand side where the officer told us to come, and it was the deck above the one on which our staterooms were located; our staterooms were located on the B deck, and we went to the A deck where the officer and lifeboat were. We got into the lifeboat that was hanging over the rail alongside the deck; we got in and men and women, with their families, got in the boat with us; there was no discrimination between men and women. About 36 persons got in the boat with us. There were only two officers in the boat, and the rest were all first­class passengers. My husband did not come back again after he left me, and I don't know what became of him, except that his body was found and brought to Milwaukee and buried.
There were absolutely no lights in the lifeboats, and they did not even know whether the plug was in the bottom of the boat to prevent the boat from sinking; there were no lanterns, no provisions, no lights, nothing at all in these boats but the oars. One of the officers asked one of the passengers for a match with which to light up the bottom of the boat to see if the plug was in place; the officers rowed the boat a short distance from the Titanic, and I was unable to see the lowering of any other boats, and we must have rowed quite a distance, but could see the steamer very plainly; saw them firing rockets, and heard a gun fired as distress signals to indicate that the steamer was in danger; we continued a safe distance away from the steamer, probably a quarter of a mile at least, and finally saw the steamer go down very distinctly; we did not see nor hear about any trouble on the steamer that is reported to have taken place afterwards; we got away first, and got away a safe distance, so that we could not see nor hear what took place, until the steamer went down, which was about 2:20 a.m. on the morning of the 15th; I heard the terrible cries of the people that were on board when the boat went down, and heard repeated explosions, as though the boilers had exploded, and we then knew that the steamer had gone down, as her lights were out, and the cries of the people and the explosions were terrible; our boat drifted around in that vicinity until about daybreak, when the Carpathia was sighted and were taken on board; we had to row quite a long time and quite a distance before we were taken on board the Carpathia; I was suffering from the cold while I was drifting around, and one of the officers put a sail around me and over my head to keep me warm, and I was hindered from seeing any of the other lifeboats drifting in the vicinity or observe anything that took place while we were drifting around until the Carpathia took us on board; we received very good treatment on the Carpathia, and finally arrived in New York; it was reported on the Carpathia by passengers, whose names I do not recollect, that the lookout who was on duty at the time the Titanic struck the iceberg had said: "I know they will blame me for it, because I was on duty, but it was not my fault; I had warned the officers three or four times before striking the iceberg that we were in the vicinity of icebergs, but the officers on the bridge paid no attention to my signals." I can not give the name of any passenger who made that statement, but it was common talk on the Carpathia that that is what the lookout said.
I don't know anything about workmen being on the boat, and that the boat was not finished, and that the water­tight compartments refused to work; I have read it in the papers, but personally I know nothing about it; I also heard that there were no glasses on board the vessel; they were loaned from a vessel to be used on the voyage from Liverpool to Southampton, and then returned to the vessel, and the Titanic proceed without any glasses; Mr. Elmer Taylor informed me after we got on the Carpathia that a dinner was in progress at the time the boat struck; this banquet was given for the captain, and the wine flowed freely; personally I know nothing about this; I do not recollect anything of importance that occurred any more that I have stated.
CATHERINE E. CROSBY.
Subscribed and sworn to me before this 17th day of May, 1912.
MAX C. KRAUSE, Notary Public, Milwaukee County, Wis
My commission expires September 13, 1914.
SENATOR SMITH: I submit also to be printed in the record the following letter from Mr. William Shelley, transmitting the accompanying affidavit of Mrs. Imanita Shelley:
P. O. Box 597, Deer Lodge, Mont., May 15, 1912
Hon. William Alden Smith, Chairman, Titanic Investigation Committee, Washington, D.C.
