Senator SMITH.
And was this wire signed by the captain or the operator?
Mr. STENGEL.
That was signed by, I think, the purser.
Senator SMITH.
What day was that, considering the time you got aboard the Carpathia? Was it Monday, or Tuesday, or Wednesday?
Mr. STENGEL.
I think it was Tuesday, sir. I am not sure, sir, but I am under the impression it was Tuesday.
Senator SMITH.
Did you make any attempt to communicate with your friends or home?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes, sir; I did; and through the efforts I made to help the people aboard the boat there, they said," We appreciate what you are doing, and your two messages have gone."
Senator SMITH.
What time was that?
Mr. STENGEL.
I think the first message was sent on Sunday, just stating, "Both aboard the Carpathia; both safe aboard the Carpathia."
Senator SMITH.
That was Sunday night?
Mr. STENGEL.
I think it was Sunday - no; I mean Monday, sir. I mean Monday.
Senator SMITH.
What time Monday?
Mr. STENGEL.
I should judge in the morning, some time.
Senator SMITH.
To whom was it addressed?
Mr. STENGEL.
It was addressed to the firm of Stengel and Rothschild, Newark, N.J.
Senator SMITH.
Was that message received?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes, sir; that message was received.
Senator SMITH.
When?
Mr. STENGEL.
That I do not recollect. I could not give that definitely, but I sent another message after that, asking to have two automobiles to meet me at the Carpathia pier; that I expected to bring some survivors home with me. I expected to bring several ladies, one from Fond du Lac, and one from Green Bay, and one from North Dakota, and another lady from West Orange; but as we left the boat they all found their friends, and I had no use for the two machines after that.
Senator SMITH.
Can you inform the committee, either now or later, when the message to your firm was delivered on Monday, if it was delivered on Monday?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes; I could get that information.
Senator SMITH.
We would like to have that information.
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes, sir; I will. There was a message sent to me which I never received. There was a message sent aboard the Carpathia which I never received, but which was answered by someone else, and it was signed -
Senator SMITH. (interposing)
Answered from the Carpathia by someone else?
Mr. STENGEL.
I do not know where it was answered from, but the answer came back to the message from the firm, and they asked whether I received the message, and I said no. They said it was answered.
Senator SMITH.
In your name?
Mr. STENGEL.
It evidently was. I did not see the message.
Senator SMITH.
If possible, I would like to have you look that up.
Mr. STENGEL.
All right, sir. I would say this, Senator, that my partner afterwards called up the Western Union about that, and they said that that message had not been delivered, and that there was a return fee for that message.
Senator SMITH.
That is, the message which was sent you which had not been delivered?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes, sir; the message sent to me.
Senator SMITH.
On what deck were your rooms?
Mr. STENGEL.
On C deck, 116.
Senator SMITH.
On what deck was this ice?
Mr. STENGEL.
That I could not tell you, any more than that I was told they got it off the deck. They did not state which deck it was taken off of.
Senator SMITH.
Do you care to say anything else?
Mr. STENGEL.
Nothing that I know of, sir.
Senator BOURNE.
The emergency boat that you got into had a capacity for how many passengers?
Mr. STENGEL.
I do not think it had a capacity for any more than were in it. It was just a small boat. In fact, when we arrived at the Carpathia it was never taken aboard the Carpathia. It was too small and too light a boat, and they just set it adrift. The other large lifeboats were taken aboard the Carpathia.
Senator BOURNE.
Were there any people left on deck when the boat you were in was lowered?
Mr. STENGEL.
I could not see a person. I think possibly that was because the last lifeboat was being lowered off the starboard side, and I suppose the people had gone to the other side.
Senator BOURNE.
Your boat was on the starboard side?
Mr. STENGEL.
On the starboard side, the right side looking toward the bow.
Senator BOURNE.
Your boat was the last boat to leave?
Mr. STENGEL.
So far as I saw. I saw no other boat on that side, sir.
Senator BOURNE.
When you were refused admission into the boat in which you wife was, were there a number of ladies and children there at that time?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir; there were not. These two gentlemen had put their wives in and were standing on the edge of the deck, and when they started lowering, they jumped in. My wife said there were five, but I saw only two.
Senator BOURNE.
What is your impression, that no effort was made to awaken the passengers who were asleep at the time of the accident?
Mr. STENGEL.
I would not say that, any more than I heard the comment made about the actions of the stewards. That is all I could say.
Senator BOURNE.
You have no specific knowledge in that direction?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir.
Senator BOURNE.
General orders were issued for the passengers to put on life preservers, were they?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes, sir; I heard those orders issued.
Senator BOURNE.
Do you know who issued the orders?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir; I do not. I heard the orders issued, and then I went down and put on a life preserver, and my wife put on one.
Senator BOURNE.
Were there any people on the decks, and did the number steadily increase after the issuance of these orders?
Mr. STENGEL.
They did not come up very fast; no, sir. There were not many people on deck when my wife's boat went off, and I think my wife's boat was about the second boat. There were not very many people on the top deck at that time.
Senator BOURNE.
When you had gone down and donned the life preservers and returned you returned to the top deck?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes, sir.
Senator BOURNE.
So you are not cognizant of the condition on the lower decks?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir.
Senator BOURNE.
That is all.
Senator BURTON.
Were there more than 10 in this emergency boat at any time before you were taken on board the Carpathia?
Mr. STENGEL.
Were there what?
Senator BURTON.
You have said there were 10; 5 passengers and 5 seamen?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes, sir.
Senator BURTON.
Did any more come into that boat, and were they taken on before you were taken on board the Carpathia?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir. My wife told me the boat she was in had not quite enough people; that is, it was not loaded as much as the other boats, and they lashed two boats together and took some of the people out of one boat and put them in the other and divided them up.
Senator BURTON.
But in that boat there were not more than 10 at any time? That is, in your boat, I mean?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir.
Senator BURTON.
And yet you say that was the capacity of the boat?
Mr. STENGEL.
So far as I could see; yes, sir.
Senator BURTON.
Did you compare that emergency boat with any of the other emergency boats to see if it was the same size?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir; I did not.
Senator BURTON.
You did not notice it before, while you were en voyage?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir.
Senator BURTON.
Or later?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir.
Senator BURTON.
Five hundred and forty-six knots was the run as posted just after Sunday noon, you say?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes, sir.
Senator BURTON.
Referring to this light which you say appeared like a light showing through a frosted window pane, where was that light?
Mr. STENGEL.
It was right toward the bow; it was off in the distance.
Senator BURTON.
How far away was it?
Mr. STENGEL.
It was a good ways; I am not familiar with distances at sea, but it was quite a ways off, and most of the boats rowed that way. There was a lady had a cane, I believe, with an electric light, and she was flashing this light, and they were going to that boat, and we were going toward that boat, and there were two other boats around, so the two or three of us kept together; that is, all the boats besides our own kept together.
In one of those boats I think there was an old sailor, and he afterwards explained that he took the end of a rope and dipped it in oil and lit that. That was a flare light that every now and then would show.
Senator BURTON.
This light was not on any of the boats lowered from the Titanic?
Mr. STENGEL.
The light I spoke of, away off?
Senator BURTON.
Yes.
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir.
Senator BURTON.
What was your conjecture about it?
Mr. STENGEL.
My conjecture was this, as I explained when I was first asked what it was. I thought it was a sort of northern light, reflecting on an iceberg. That was my impression of it.
Senator SMITH.
You did not think it was on a ship?
Mr. STENGEL.
Well, no. We all rowed for it at first, and then it vanished like.
Senator SMITH.
Where was it; ahead or on the port side?
Mr. STENGEL.
It was toward the bow. It was just as if, if you were going to walk off the bow of the ship, you would walk toward that light.
Senator SMITH.
Toward it?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes.
Senator SMITH.
To the left or to the right?
Mr. STENGEL.
I think a little bit to the right, sir. I am not sure of it, but I should think a trifle to the right.
Senator FLETCHER.
How far were you from the Titanic when she went down?
Mr. STENGEL.
I could not say the distance. I saw all the movements. I saw her first row of port lights go under the water; I saw the next port lights go under the water; and finally the bow was all dark. When the last lights on the bow went under, I said, "There is danger here; we had better row away from here. This is a light boat, and there may be suction when the ship goes down. Let us pull away." The other passengers agreed, and we pulled away from the Titanic, and after that we stopped rowing for awhile, and she was going down by the bow most all the time, and all of a sudden there were four sharp explosions about that far apart, just like this (the witness indicating by snapping his fingers four times), and then she dipped and the stern stood up in the air, and then the cries began for help. I should think that the people who were left on the boat began to jump over. There was an awful wail like.
Senator FLETCHER.
Could you see the people?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir; I could not see any of the people, but I could hear them.
Senator FLETCHER.
What was the character of these explosions?
Mr. STENGEL.
I do not know, but I should judge it would be a battery of boilers going.
Senator FLETCHER.
Might it have been bulkheads giving way?
Mr. STENGEL.
I do not know. I have never been familiar with bulkheads giving way; but they were quite hard explosions. She dipped, then, forward, and all you could see was the stern sticking up. When I heard the cries I turned my back. I said, "I can not look any longer."
Senator FLETCHER.
You did not attempt to go back to get any of those people?
Mr. STENGEL.
We could not. We were quite a ways away, and the suggestion was not made, and we did not; that is all there is about that. I do not know why we did not, but we did not.
Senator SMITH.
Was there any evidence of intoxication among the officers or crew that night?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir. I have a distinct recollection of a Mrs. Thorne stating, while talking about the captain being to dinner, that she was in that party, and she said, "I was in that party, and the captain did not drink a drop." He smoked two cigars, that was all, and left the dining room about 10 o'clock.
Senator SMITH.
You have spoken of this betting pool. Was any officer or member of the crew engaged in this pool, that you know of?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir; not that I know of. I just happened to be in the party. I had been watching a game of cards most of the trip, and Mr. Harris, one of the ill-fated passengers, had won the hat pool.
Senator SMITH.
This was a pastime among the passengers?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes.
Senator SMITH.
And you are quite certain that no officer or director took any part in it.
Mr. STENGEL.
I did not see any of them, sir; and I did not even go and look at the names of those who were on the list.
Senator SMITH.
You did not see Mr. Ismay there?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir; I do not know Mr. Ismay.
Senator SMITH.
Or the captain?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir.
Senator SMITH.
There is Mr. Ismay, sitting back at the wall there (indicating).
Mr. STENGEL. (after looking at Mr. Ismay)
I do not think I saw Mr. Ismay but one evening, I think, while the band was playing after dinner.
Senator SMITH.
In the early part of the voyage?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes; in the early part of the voyage.
Senator SMITH.
You said that your friends got ice in a porthole; is that right?
Mr. STENGEL.
Not my friends. It was one of the passengers, who, when I first came up, had a handful of ice, and he said he got that off of the deck of the boat.
Senator SMITH.
Which deck?
Mr. STENGEL.
He did not say. He said, "I got this off of the deck of the boat;" and then another passenger afterwards, on the Carpathia, said that ice came in at his porthole.
Senator SMITH.
You do not know where that was?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Do you know where his stateroom was?
Mr. STENGEL.
No, sir; I do not.
Senator SMITH.
Was there comment because of the fact that the port hole was open; was there any special comment on that fact?
Mr. STENGEL.
He just wanted air. He said, "I left my port hole open for air."
Senator SMITH.
And he got this ice?
Mr. STENGEL.
He got some of the ice in there.
Senator SMITH.
That is all. We are very much obliged to you, Mr. Stengel.
Mr. STENGEL.
You want the telegrams, you say; do you, sir?
Senator SMITH.
The telegram which you sent, and the telegram you received. Will you kindly send them to the committee?
Mr. STENGEL.
Yes, sir; thank you.
(Witness excused.)