Senator SMITH.
Did you hear the testimony of Capt. Moore, commander of the Mount Temple, this morning?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
No, sir.
Senator SMITH.
As I understood from your testimony in New York, you said there was no suction in the sea at the time and place where the Titanic disappeared, so as you were able to observe?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
Exactly. The suction was hardly noticeable.
Senator SMITH.
When you said that you twice found yourself against the grating at the blower, when in the water, did you mean that you gravitated back toward the blowpipe, or were you pushed back to it by suction of any kind?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
It was the water rushing down the stokeholes through this blower, which acts as a ventilator, and therefore gives access to the stokehole, the force of the water rushing down this blower which naturally carried me back with it, and against the blower.
Senator SMITH.
When you last saw the Titanic did you see numerous people on the decks?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
Do you mean before I left it?
Senator SMITH.
Before you left the side of the Titanic, and while you were in the water?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
I saw no one while I was in the water.
Senator SMITH.
You could not see the decks very well from that point. You were below the decks, and could not see the upper part of the ship?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
No, sir; I could not see anything when I was in the water, at all. I mean to say, I could not see anyone on her decks.
Senator SMITH.
How far did you swim from the blowpipe to this overturned collapsible lifeboat upon which you finally escaped from the wreck?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
I hardly had any opportunity to swim. I was blown away from this blower by a rush of air, or it may have been steam. What it was, exactly, I can not say; but I was blown a considerable distance away from the blower.
Senator SMITH.
And from that?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
From there I was sucked in again to what we call the "fiddley," which leads down to the stokehole, I may say. I presume I was blown away from there. I really can not say exactly. Then I came up alongside of this overturned boat.
Senator SMITH.
How long was that before the Titanic disappeared?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
It might be 10 or 15 minutes.
Senator SMITH.
And after getting aboard of this overturned lifeboat, you went out some distance from it?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
It was the action of the funnel falling that threw us out a considerable distance away from the boat.
Senator SMITH.
You had no oars or other means of propelling that boat?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
Nothing of any effect. We had little bits of wood; but they were practically ineffective.
Senator SMITH.
I have forgotten whether you said that at daybreak you cruised around the place of the wreck?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
At daybreak we were taken on board by one of our other lifeboats.
Senator SMITH.
No. 14?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
The number I can not remember.
Senator SMITH.
Was that Mr. Lowe's boat?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
There was not any officer in the boat until I got in.
Senator SMITH.
And then?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
Of course, I took charge.
Senator SMITH.
And did you cruise around the scene of the wreck?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
No. sir.
Senator SMITH.
You then bore toward the Carpathia?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
No, sir; we held our bow on to the wind. The boat was too full; in fact, she was dangerously full, and it was all I could do to nurse the boat up to the sea.
Senator SMITH.
I understood you to say that. What I particularly desired to know was whether at that time you saw any of the wreckage or floating bodies, dead or alive?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
I saw none.
Senator SMITH.
What time did the captain come to the bridge on Sunday night while you were officer of the watch?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
I think I said about 5 minutes to 9, sir.
Senator SMITH.
And he remained until you left the watch at 10 o'clock?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
No, sir; I think it was 20 minutes past 9 I said he left us. It was about that. About 5 minutes he was with us.
Senator SMITH.
I have not as yet received any information from any of the surviving officers of the Titanic as to the composition of an iceberg. I asked one officer of the Titanic, and he generously advised me that it was ice. I would like to ask you what, in your opinion, composes an iceberg in the North Atlantic?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
As far as I understand, icebergs greatly consist of pieces broken away from glaciers. These naturally contain a certain quantity of earth and stones that they have brought down the valleys with them.
Senator SMITH.
Is it not a well accepted theory among navigators that the coast of Newfoundland, or the Grand Banks, have been largely made from the deposits of icebergs?
Mr. LIGHTOLLER.
Well, it is a saying among sailors - I can not say that we have any authority for saying so - that the icebergs have, to a certain extent, assisted in the formation of the Grand Banks, centuries gone by, owing to them bringing down earth and these stones, and meeting the warm current and depositing them.
(Witness Excused.)
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