Senator SMITH.
Let us see about that. Mr. Marconi assumes no responsibility for that contract with the Times.
Mr. SAMMIS.
I believe he referred it to Mr. Bottomley; that is my recollection.
Senator SMITH.
And brought no pressure to bear on you to perfect it, or carry it through?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Except giving his consent.
Senator SMITH.
You asked him if you could do that, and he said he had no objections?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No, sir; I did not.
Senator SMITH.
That is substantially his testimony.
Mr. SAMMIS.
The Times called me up and wanted to know whether they could have the story, and my recollection is I said if there were no objections on the part of the management; that I thought the boys ought to get something for it. I knew that Mr. Bottomley knew of the arrangement and that Mr. Marconi knew of it, and I assumed - naturally, I think - that if they did not know of any reason why it should not be done I should not stand in its way.
Senator SMITH.
I want to ask you whether, after you reached your office on Monday morning between 8 and 9 o'clock, any message was received, to your knowledge, from the Carpathia saying that the Titanic had sunk and the lives of more than half the persons on board had been lost?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I did not see such a message, and I am quite positive that no such message was received.
Senator SMITH.
Did you hear of such a message?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I, of course, read it in the papers and the reports; but I have no knowledge of any such message.
Senator SMITH.
Have you any idea of a message got from the wireless office of the Marconi Co. in reply to it, saying, "Kill this message"?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Absolutely not.
Senator SMITH.
Has anybody called your attention to it?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No; they have not. I have not heard such a thing mentioned before.
Senator SMITH.
I do not think it has been mentioned before; but you want to deny it, do you?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Absolutely, so far as concerns anything I have had to do with.
Senator SMITH.
Do you know of any message to any of your coast or sea stations Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, directing that any message previously sent to your office was to be killed?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Absolutely not. I think I can say without fear of contradiction that no such message was sent or considered.
Senator SMITH.
Have you ever used any such term in wireless telegraphy?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Never.
Senator SMITH.
Have you ever tried to smother a message at its source by the use of any other language, cipher or otherwise?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Do you know how the Chester or Salem are equipped?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Do you know the system they employ in receiving or sending messages?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I do not.
Senator SMITH.
Were you in conference with Mr. Franklin, of the White Star Line, on Monday?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No. I am not sure that I know the gentleman.
Senator SMITH.
There he sits (indicating Mr. Franklin.) Just look at him and see if you know him. Do you know him?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I never met him before.
Senator SMITH.
Were you in conference with any other officer of the White Star Line on Monday?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I believe we talked with them over the telephone.
Senator SMITH.
Were you at the White Star office on Monday?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Or on Tuesday; Wednesday, or Thursday?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Was any officer of the White Star Line at your office Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I think not. I did not see them if they were.
Senator SMITH.
Do you know, of your own knowledge, of any injunction put upon your operators silencing all communication between stations at sea or on land, except Wellfleet, Siasconset, Sagaponack, and Seagate?
Mr. SAMMIS.
It was my understanding that the Secretary of the Navy was to close all the stations north of Norfolk, and we asked the United Wireless Telegraph Co. to do likewise.
Senator SMITH.
So after that was done, if it was done, you had an absolute, uninterrupted monopoly -
Mr. SAMMIS. (interposing)
Not altogether; we should have had.
Senator SMITH.
Wait until I finish. (continuing.) Except for interference by amateurs, through these stations I have named, of information from the Carpathia?
Mr. SAMMIS.
These stations are never interfered with by amateurs. I should say that I have never received a complaint from any one of them. They are so located that they are quite free from amateur interference. They are out in the country.
Senator SMITH.
We will eliminate the amateurs. Strike out the reference to the amateurs entirely, and the reply. Now read the question.
Mr. SAMMIS.
I say, we asked the United Wireless Co. to do -
Senator SMITH.
Read the question.
(The stenographer read the question, as follows:)
So, after that was done, if it was done, you had an absolute uninterrupted monopoly, through these stations I have named, of information from the Carpathia?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I said, "No; that these stations were instructed to handle only urgent business. It is reasonable to suppose there was some urgent business other than the Carpathia's, and I know the other business was handled. But it was at a minimum, and it was my understanding - Gov. Griggs was in Washington - that the Navy vessels would handle their business through Sagaponack, South Wellfleet, Seagate, and Siasconset; and apparently there was either a misunderstanding or a mistake, and the navy vessels communicated with their own stations at Newport, I understand, and at Fire Island. That made considerable confusion and necessitated, of course, that the operator on the Carpathia should keep quiet. He could do nothing while they were retransmitting these names. I think it was a great pity, as we look at it now, that the Carpathia was not either allowed to send this material uninterrupted to its own shore stations, or, better, that the Navy stations should not have used our own stations. By pointing another shore station to it you just halve the time. In other words, you had a retransmittal. The Carpathia had to tell the Chester, and while the Chester was in turn sending it ashore the Carpathia could do nothing but sit still.
Senator SMITH.
We will now go back to my last question. Read the question and I will add something to it.
(The reporter repeated the question, as follows:)
Do you know, of your own knowledge, of any injunction put upon your operators silencing all communication between stations at sea or on land except Wellfleet, Siasconset, Sagaponack, and Seagate, so, after that was done, if it was done, you had an absolute, uninterrupted monopoly through these stations I have named, of information from the Carpathia?
Senator SMITH. (continuing)
Or, if your advice had been taken and the attempt you made had succeeded, you would have had absolute control of connection with the Carpathia as a result of this arrangement?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No; the conditions would have been very much better. That was our endeavor, to make the conditions the best that we could. But, of necessity we could not deny to the one hundred and fifty or two hundred-odd vessels running in and out of New York the absolute right for four days to use their wireless at all, and we did not attempt to do so.
Senator SMITH.
You did not make any attempt. I do not understand that is a part of this plan.
Mr. SAMMIS.
Yes; we enjoined them all. The ships were all told not to use their wireless until they got out of this zone, any more than they absolutely had to. Of course, they absolutely had to, under conditions.
Senator SMITH.
You said Mr. Cottam has been paid his $750 by the Times?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I understand so. I do not know for a fact.
Senator SMITH.
I think I asked you whether you handed it to him?
Mr. SAMMIS.
And I said no.
Senator SMITH.
You said no?
Mr. SAMMIS.
But I understand that the Times has.
Senator SMITH.
I do not want any impression to prevail that I am driving at the Times in their enterprise. I am driving at the company, and what I regard as a very bad practice. Were you cognizant of two telegrams sent by Mr. Marconi, through the Siasconset station, demanding to know why it was impossible to get news?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I do not know whether I was or not.
Senator SMITH.
Which you spoke of a few moments ago?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I do not know whether I was or not at the time. The messages have been spoken of so much since, it is difficult to tell just when I learned of them. I think probably I was too busy with other things to know very much about them.
Senator SMITH.
Are you familiar with the message he sent asking the captain to give a reason why no news was allowed to be transmitted?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Yes; I just heard him read it.
Senator SMITH.
That would indicate that there was not any news coming from the Carpathia, would it not?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Not of a general character. You know the passengers on the ship were not sending news; they were simply saying "All safe," or "We are here," or "Meet us," or something of that kind. They were not telling very much about their experiences.
Senator SMITH.
In wireless telegraphy what does the expression "Old man" indicate?
Mr. SAMMIS.
It is a term of endearment more than anything else.
Senator SMITH.
Is it well understood among operators?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Yes, sir; quite often it is abbreviated, "O. M.;" it probably was in this case.
Senator SMITH.
Did you or any officer of your company, or any operator of your company on any station, receive, or attempt to get, any compensation of any kind or character, or reward, from any person, corporation, or company whomsoever, for any information in your possession or in their possession following the sinking of the Titanic on Sunday evening?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Not that I know of. I have not anything to do with the business end of the concern.
Senator SMITH.
Other than in the manner that you have described?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Technical work, strictly; yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Other than in the manner you have described already?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Yes, sir.
Senator SMITH.
Who employs the operators of the British company?
Mr. SAMMIS.
There are two British companies. The operating company is the Marconi International Marine Communication Co., and they employ the men on British ships.
Senator SMITH.
Who is the officer of that company in America?
Mr. SAMMIS.
They have not any officer in America, unless perhaps Mr. Marconi is one.
Senator SMITH.
Do you care to say anything more regarding the unpleasant side of this affair than you have referred to, or have you anything else of interest that will assist the committee in its inquiry?
Mr. SAMMIS.
There is one statement I should like to make, in connection with the apparent implication about the Navy operators. It is a thing that has been made much of quite innocently on our part. I think the matter stands right here; that Mr. Bride or anybody who has spoken about this matter intended no unpleasant implications at the Navy operators; but simply to show that it takes us from six to eight months to train men in our method of working, granting that they know the code perfectly. Work can be handled with the utmost expedition only by the shore station and the ship thoroughly understanding the mode of procedure, and our ship operators and shore station men are experts in that procedure. In the communication that I addressed to Gov. Griggs, which he took up with the Secretary of the Navy, I intended to convey the idea by saying that our men could handle more messages than the Navy, not because, necessarily, they are more rapid operators or better operators, but because they are trained in our service. We handle, I suppose, from 100,000 to 150,000 messages in a year, some of them extremely long, and I have known our men to handle 50 paid messages in an hour. In other words, it was not necessarily because they were better operators, but because they were trained in our method of work, of handling commercial business and handling it quick, with the utmost alacrity, and with the least formal red tape in between messages. As an instance, it is not unusual for a German ship to come along and offer 50 messages for Sagaponack. They will say "G" and give us 50 messages at a time, and then we will give our O. K. Rd., and that is all there is to it. "G" means go ahead and "Rd" means "Received."
Senator SMITH.
Are you seeking to leave the impression that the Operator Cottam was a more experienced man, a more reliable operator, and could transact a larger amount of business than the operator on the Chester?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I do not know anything about their qualifications, other than that he undoubtedly knew more about our method of work.
Senator SMITH.
Suppose it should turn out that your operator Cottam had only had nine months experience as a wireless operator, while the operator on the Chester had had seven years experience?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I should not think that would alter the case a particle.
Senator SMITH.
It would not?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No, sir. Because if we could have the Navy man and give him nine months experience, he would then be a much better man than Cottam, undoubtedly.
Senator SMITH.
Well, you do not see any good reason for casting any reflection upon the efficiency of the Navy operators?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Absolutely not; and I do not think anyone has ever intended it, except in the way I have mentioned, that they do not know our methods of handling business for which we have certain prescribed rules.
Senator SMITH.
Do you know whether it is the practice of the Navy operators to sell their news exclusively to private parties?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No; I do not know anything about it.
Senator SMITH.
You never heard of such a thing, did you?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I have seen numerous press dispatches in individual papers from United States war vessels, from the operators.
Senator SMITH.
They were usually all official in their character, were they not; communications from the Navy Department?
Mr. SAMMIS.
It was not apparent on the message.
Senator SMITH.
But you have never heard of such a practice as we have been talking about, prevailing in the Navy?
Mr. SAMMIS.
No; I think two occasions would hardly be called a practice.
Senator SMITH.
Do you mean to be understood as saying that the Binns case, where he sold his information, and the cases of Mr. Bride and Mr. Cottam, were the only ones that ever came to your notice?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Absolutely the only ones that ever happened; yes.
Senator SMITH.
And I suppose you now hope they are the only ones that ever will come to your notice, do you not?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Quite so.
Senator SMITH.
Although we have been quite a time reaching that conclusion. I do not know whether any of my associates care to interrogate you or not, but you may remain subject to the call of the committee and be excused for the present.
I asked for certain information in New York, which you promised.
Mr. SAMMIS.
That I promised to furnish?
Senator SMITH.
I thought you responded when I asked a question in that connection, but perhaps that is covered by Mr. Marconi's promise.
Mr. SAMMIS.
I think so.
Senator SMITH.
And you will assist in carrying it out?
Mr. SAMMIS.
Yes, sir. I have an urgent appointment in Boston to close a $100,000 contract on Wednesday morning, and I would be very glad to leave if possible this evening.
Senator SMITH.
You would have to leave the night before?
Mr. SAMMIS.
I wanted to leave on the 4 o'clock train this afternoon.
Senator SMITH.
Come in at half-past 2, then, and if any of my associates care to interrogate you, they may do so then. We hope we will not interfere with your contract.
(Witness Excused.)