(The witness was sworn by the chairman.)
Senator SMITH.
You have given your full name?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
What is your home address?
Mr. HICHENS.
45 James Street, St. Marys, Southampton.
Senator SMITH.
How old are you?
Mr. HICHENS.
Thirty, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Have you a family?
Mr. HICHENS.
Wife and two children.
Senator SMITH.
What is your business?
Mr. HICHENS.
Quartermaster.
Senator SMITH.
How long have you held such a position?
Mr. HICHENS.
For the last seven or eight years, sir.
Senator SMITH.
On what ship were you employed on April 14th last? (After a pause.) I will change my question, and maybe you can get it a little quicker. Were you filling such a position on the Titanic at the time when she suffered this collision?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes.
Senator SMITH.
Were you at your post of duty the night of the collision?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes.
Senator SMITH.
What was your post of duty; where was it?
Mr. HICHENS.
At the time of the collision I was at the wheel, sir, steering the ship.
Senator SMITH.
How long had you been at the wheel when the collision occurred?
Mr. HICHENS.
One hour and forty minutes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
How long a watch did you have?
Mr. HICHENS.
We would have four hours watch; two hours standby and two hours at the wheel.
Senator SMITH.
I wish you would tell now, in your own way, what occurred that night from the time you went on watch until the collision occurred.
Mr. HICHENS.
I went on watch at 8 o'clock. The officers on the watch were the second officer, Mr. Lightoller, senior in command; the fourth officer, Mr. Boxhall; and the sixth officer, Mr. Moody. My first orders when I got on the bridge was to take the second officer's compliments down to the ship's carpenter [Maxwell or Hutchinson] and inform him to look to his fresh water; that it was about to freeze. I did so. On the return to the bridge, I had been on the bridge about a couple of minutes when the carpenter came back and reported the duty carried out. Standing by waiting for another message - it is the duty of the quartermaster to strike the bell every half hour - as the stand-by quarter- master, sir, I heard the second officer repeat to Mr. Moody, the sixth officer, to speak through the telephone, warning the lookout men in the crow's nest to keep a sharp lookout for small ice until daylight and pass the word along to the other lookout men. The next order I received from the second officer was to go and find the deck engineer and bring him up with a key to open the heaters up in the corridor of the officers quarters, also the wheelhouse and the chart room, on account of the intense cold. At a quarter to 10 I called the first officer, Mr. Murdoch, to let him know it was one bell, which is part of our duty; also took the thermometer and barometer, the temperature of the water, and the log. At 10 o'clock I went to the wheel, sir. Mr. Murdoch come up to relieve Mr. Lightoller. I had the course given me from the other quartermaster, north 71 west, which I repeated to him, and he went and reported it to the first officer or the second officer in charge, which he repeated back - the course, sir. All went along very well until 20 minutes to 12, when three gongs came from the lookout, and immediately afterwards a report on the telephone, "Iceberg right ahead." The chief officer rushed from the wing to the bridge, or I imagine so, sir. Certainly I am inclosed in the wheelhouse, and I can not see, only my compass. He rushed to the engines. I heard the telegraph bell ring; also give the order "Hard astarboard," with the sixth officer standing by me to see the duty carried out and the quartermaster standing by my left side. Repeated the order, "Hard astarboard. The helm is hard over, sir."
Senator SMITH.
Who gave the first order?
Mr. HICHENS.
Mr. Murdoch, the first officer, sir; the officer in charge. The sixth officer repeated the order, "The helm is hard astarboard, sir." But, during the time, she was crushing the ice, or we could hear the grinding noise along the ship's bottom. I heard the telegraph ring, sir. The skipper came rushing out of his room - Capt. Smith - and asked, "What is that?" Mr. Murdoch said, "An iceberg." He said, "Close the emergency doors."
Senator SMITH.
Who said that, the captain?
Mr. HICHENS.
Capt. Smith, sir, to Mr. Murdoch; "Close the emergency doors." Mr. Murdoch replied, "The doors are already closed." The captain sent then for the carpenter to sound the ship. He also came back to the wheelhouse and looked at the commutator in front of the compass, which is a little instrument like a clock to tell you how the ship is listing. The ship had a list of 5' to the starboard.
Senator SMITH.
How long after the impact, or collision?
Mr. HICHENS.
I could hardly tell you, sir. Judging roughly, about 5 minutes; about 5 to 10 minutes. I stayed to the wheel, then, sir, until 23 minutes past 12. I do not know whether they put the clock back or not. The clock was to go back that night 47 minutes, 23 minutes in one watch and 24 in the other.
Senator SMITH.
Had the clock been set back up to the time you left the wheel?
Mr. HICHENS.
I do not know, sir. I did not notice it.
Senator SMITH.
When do you say you left the wheel, at 20 minutes after 12?
Mr. HICHENS.
I left the wheel at 23 minutes past 12, sir. I was relieved by Quartermaster Perkis. He relieved me at 23 minutes past 12. I think the first officer, or one of the officers said, "That will do with the wheel; get the boats out." I went out to get the boats out on the port side. I think I got in No. 6 boat, sir; put in charge of her by the second officer, Mr. Lightoller. We lowered away from the ship, sir, and were told to "Pull toward that light," which we started to do, to pull for that light. I had 38 women in the boat, sir, 1 seaman [Fleet] and myself, with 2 male passengers, 1 Italian boy and a Canadian major [Peuchen] who testified here yesterday.
Senator SMITH.
Were you in charge of the boat?
Mr. HICHENS.
I was; yes, sir. Everybody seemed in a very bad condition in the boat, sir. Everybody was quite upset, and I told them somebody would have to pull; there was no use stopping there alongside of the ship, and the ship gradually going by the head. We were in a dangerous place, so I told them to man the oars, ladies and all, "All of you do your best." We got away about a mile, I suppose, from the ship, going after this light, which we expected to be a "cod banker," a schooner that comes out on the Banks.
Senator SMITH.
A fisherman's boat?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir; we expected her to be that, sir; but we did not get any nearer the light. There were several other boats around us at this time and one boat that had no light came close up to us. He had four to six men in his boat and I borrowed one fireman from him to put in my boat, to enable me to pull. We did not seem to get any nearer the light, so we conversed together, and we tied our boats side by side. We stopped there until we saw the Carpathia heave in sight about daybreak. The wind had sprung up a bit then, and it got very choppy. I relieved one of the young ladies with the oar, and told her to take the tiller. She immediately let the boat come athwart, and the ladies in the boat got very nervous. So I took the tiller back again and told them to manage the best way they could.
Senator SMITH.
Do you know who that woman was?
Mr. HICHENS.
I do not, sir. They were all entire strangers to me, sir. But the lady I refer to, Mrs. Mayer [Meyer], she was rather vexed with me in the boat and I spoke rather straight to her, and she accused me of wrapping myself up in the blankets in the boat, using bad language, and drinking all the whisky, which I deny, sir. I was standing to attention, exposed, steering the boat all night, which is a very cold billet. I would rather be pulling the boat than be steering. But I seen no one there to steer, so I thought, being in charge of the boat, it was the best way to steer myself, especially when I seen the ladies get very nervous with the nasty tumble on. We got down to the Carpathia and I seen every lady and everybody out of the boat, and I seen them carefully hoisted on board the Carpathia, and I was the last man to leave the boat. That is all I can tell you.
Senator SMITH.
I want to ask you a few questions. I would like to ask you whether you had any trouble with the major, between the Titanic and the Carpathia?
Mr. HICHENS.
I had no trouble with him at all, sir, only once. He was not in the boat more than 10 minutes before he wanted to come and take charge of the boat.
Senator SMITH.
What did you say to him?
Mr. HICHENS.
I told him, "I am put here in charge of the boat." I said, "You go and do what you are told to do."
Senator SMITH.
Did he say anything more to you?
Mr. HICHENS.
He did not answer me, sir, but sat down; went forward on the starboard bow, alongside of Seaman Fleet, who was working very hard. He done most of the work himself; Fleet was doing most of the work.
Senator SMITH.
That was the man who was in the crow's nest at the time the boat struck?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
He was in your lifeboat, too?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Did you lie on your oars off the Titanic at any time before the Titanic went down?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
How long?
Mr. HICHENS.
Well, we had no time, sir; I could hardly tell you.
Senator SMITH.
About how long?
Mr. HICHENS.
That I could hardly tell you, sir, because our minds was thinking of other things, sir. I do know we did it, sir.
Senator SMITH.
How far were you from the Titanic at the time she went down?
Mr. HICHENS.
When we sighted the Carpathia we were about a mile from her.
Senator SMITH.
No; when you were lying on your oars?
Mr. HICHENS.
About 1 mile, sir.
Senator SMITH.
About a mile from the Titanic?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Could you see the Titanic?
Mr. HICHENS.
I could not see her; not after the lights went out; no, sir.
Senator SMITH.
You could see the lights?
Mr. HICHENS.
We could see the lights go out; yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
And you knew the location of the boat?
Mr. HICHENS.
We heard the cries for an interval of about two or three minutes.
Senator SMITH.
As the ship disappeared?
Mr. HICHENS.
As the ship disappeared; yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
The major, who was in that boat with you, said yesterday that you were lying on your oars, drifting, and before the Titanic went down you heard cries of distress, and for help. Is that true?
Mr. HICHENS.
I did not hear any cries as regarding distress. We heard a lot of crying and screaming. At one time we were made fast to another boat. We were not lying on our oars at all.
Senator SMITH.
You made fast to another boat. What boat?
Mr. HICHENS.
The boat the master-at-arms was in, sir. I think it was No. 8 boat. He left about the same time as we did. [16 was the boat that Joseph Bailey, the only surviving master-at-arms, was in]
Senator SMITH.
You had 38 women in your boat?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir; I counted them, sir.
Senator SMITH.
And how many men?
Mr. HICHENS.
I had Fleet, myself -
Senator SMITH.
Fleet, the major, and yourself?
Mr. HICHENS.
And an Italian boy, sir.
Senator SMITH.
That is four men?
Mr. HICHENS.
Four, sir. But the Italian boy had a broken arm, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Was he the one who was hid away?
Mr. HICHENS.
I do not know how he managed to get on the boat at all sir; I do not know.
Senator SMITH.
Was he dressed in woman's clothing?
Mr. HICHENS.
No; I do not think so, sir.
Senator SMITH.
During the time that you were lying off of your oars, and before the Titanic sank, did the women in your boat urge you to go toward the Titanic?
Mr. HICHENS.
Not that I remember, sir. I am not aware of it.
Senator SMITH.
Did they urge you not to go toward the Titanic?
Mr. HICHENS.
Not that I am aware of, sir.
Senator SMITH.
So far as you can recollect, did the women say nothing either one way or the other about it?
Mr. HICHENS.
No, sir; not that I remember. In fact, under the conditions, with one seaman in the boat and myself to pull a big boat like that, and being a mile away from the Titanic - I did not know what course to take, we had no compass in the boat - it seemed impossible, sir.
Senator SMITH.
The major said yesterday when you were asked to return to the source from which these distress cries came -
Mr. HICHENS.
I read it in the paper, but that is continually false, sir.
Senator SMITH.
That you said, "We are to look out for ourselves now, and pay no attention to those stiffs."
Mr. HICHENS.
I never made use of that word, never since I have been born, because I use other words in preference to that.
Senator SMITH.
Did you say anything about it?
Mr. HICHENS.
Not that I am aware of, sir.
Senator SMITH.
And you wish the committee to understand that you did not refuse to go to the relief of people in the water, either before or after the Titanic disappeared?
Mr. HICHENS.
I could not, sir. I was too far away, and I had no compass to go back, to enable me to find where the cries came from. The cries I heard lasted about two minutes, and some of them were saying, "It is one boat aiding the other." There was another boat aside of me, the boat the master-at-arms was in, full right up.
Senator SMITH.
How long after you were lying on your oars was it that the Titanic went down?
Mr. HICHENS.
I could hardly tell you, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Did you instruct the men in your boat to row away from the Titanic after it went down?
Mr. HICHENS.
I did, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Why did you not row toward the scene of the Titanic?
Mr. HICHENS.
The suction of the ship would draw the boat, with all her occupants, under water, I thought, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Is that the sole reason you did not go toward the Titanic?
Mr. HICHENS.
I did not know which way to go back to the Titanic. I was looking at all the other boats; I was among all the other boats.
Senator SMITH.
What other boats; the lifeboats?
Mr. HICHENS.
We were all together; yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Why were you looking at the lifeboats?
Mr. HICHENS.
We were looking at each other's lights.
Senator SMITH.
Did you have a light?
Mr. HICHENS.
I did; yes, sir. We all had lights and were showing them to one another.
Senator SMITH.
The lifeboats all had lights?
Mr. HICHENS.
Most all of us. We kept all showing our lights now and then to let them know where we were, too.
Senator SMITH.
Do you mean to tell me you would pass your time in showing one another your own lights, but did not go toward the Titanic?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes; but before the Titanic sank we were all pulling for a light which we thought was to be a cod banker. We all made for this light.
Senator SMITH.
You made up your mind it was not the boat you thought it was? You thought it was a fishing boat?
Mr. HICHENS.
We all thought so, and all pulled for that light.
Senator SMITH.
You then pulled for that light, and finally discovered you were making no progress toward it?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
And you stopped?
Mr. HICHENS.
We stopped then; yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
And at that time you were a mile away from, the Titanic?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir; a mile or more, sir.
Senator SMITH.
And was the Titanic still afloat?
Mr. HICHENS.
The Titanic was still afloat, sir, and her lights all showing.
Senator SMITH.
How long after that did you see her go, down?
Mr. HICHENS.
I could hardly tell you. Probably 10 minutes. after that her lights disappeared, but I did not see her go down.
Senator SMITH.
You, yourself, did not see her disappear?
Mr. HICHENS.
No, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Was your back toward her?
Mr. HICHENS.
We could not see her at all. When I seen the lights disappear, that was all I could see, because it was very dark.
Senator SMITH.
You sat at the tiller?
Mr. HICHENS.
I was standing at the tiller.
Senator SMITH.
With your back to the ship?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
And you did not see her go down?
Mr. HICHENS.
No, sir.
Senator SMITH.
After the lights disappeared and went out, did you then hear cries of distress?
Mr. HICHENS.
We did hear cries of distress, or I imagined so, sir, for two or three minutes. Some of the men in the boat said it was the cries of one boat hailing the other. I suppose the reason they said this was not to alarm the women - the ladies in the boat.
Senator SMITH.
Did the Italian say that?
Mr. HICHENS.
The Italian could not speak. I am not talking of our own men, but the boat close, near by.
Senator SMITH.
Some other boat?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir; we were having conversation with them and the master-at-arms.
Senator SMITH.
You desire the committee to understand that you kept a safe distance from the Titanic after you got into the lifeboat; you made fast to the other lifeboat; you went away from the Titanic about a mile; you lay there on your oars; you saw the Titanic go down, or saw the lights go out, and you did not go in that direction at all?
Mr. HICHENS.
We did not know what direction to go, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Did you, after the lights went out, go in the direction in which the lights were?
Mr. HICHENS.
When the lights were gone out, we were still heading toward this cod banker, all of us.
Senator SMITH.
That fishing boat was away from the Titanic's position?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir, a good ways, sir.
Senator SMITH.
You were heading for that?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
When you left the Titanic in the lifeboat, did anyone tell you to take that load off and come back to the Titanic?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Who told you that?
Mr. HICHENS.
I think it was the first officer or the second officer. I am not sure which officer it was.
Senator SMITH.
Mr. Murdoch or Mr. Lightoller?
Mr. HICHENS.
One of them; I am not sure which.
Senator SMITH.
What did you say?
Mr. HICHENS.
All right, we was willing to pull away for this light; but when we got down we told him we had to have one more man in the boat.
Senator SMITH.
You wanted another man?
Mr. HICHENS.
We wanted two or three more men if we could get them.
Senator SMITH.
But you did not get them?
Mr. HICHENS.
No, sir; only this major; he came down. He got in then, and that is all.
Senator SMITH.
He swung himself out and got in, didn't he?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
Senator BURTON.
Did that call come back before the major got into the boat, or was it when you were away from the ship and rowing away?
Mr. HICHENS.
When I got down to the bottom, when we were lowered down in the water, we only had one man there, one seaman besides myself.
Senator BURTON.
Then you say it was the first or second officer called you to come back?
Mr. HICHENS.
He told us to go away and make for the light. We had them orders before we went down below. We no orders when we got to the water at all; we couldn't hear then.
Senator SMITH.
The orders you got were to take that boat to the water?
Mr. HICHENS.
To that light.
Senator SMITH.
To the light and return?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir, that is right.
Senator SMITH.
And that order was given to you by the first or second officer?
Mr. HICHENS.
Yes, sir.
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