Senator SMITH.
Did you express any desire to communicate the message conveying the fate of the Titanic, and the number of those saved, to any other ship or station?
Mr. BALFOUR.
No; we refused all information to all ships.
Senator SMITH.
Why?
Mr. BALFOUR.
We were not directly interested in the Titanic, and it is against the regulations to give that information. Another thing, it is very undesirable to give the information to all the ships coming along.
Senator SMITH.
Why?
Mr. BALFOUR.
There is no use giving it to strange ships. It would be of no use to them.
Senator SMITH.
What would you have done if you had been on the Carpathia, with this information that was so much desired by the people of the whole world?
Mr. BALFOUR.
I should have advised the Marconi Co. officially in New York, as we are supposed by special regulations of the company to do - to advise them - and they will give it out to the press.
Senator SMITH.
If it had been impossible for you to reach a coast station, would you have sent it to other ships which were west of the Carpathia and nearer to coast stations?
Mr. BALFOUR.
Most certainly I should have done it.
Senator SMITH.
It would have been perfectly practical and could have been done under the rules, to have given that to the Californian?
Mr. BALFOUR.
Every Marconi station is supposed to assist in relaying the traffic of other ships.
Senator SMITH.
How can you account for the failure of the Carpathia operator to do that?
Mr. BALFOUR.
I could not account for it, unless he lost his head a bit.
Senator SMITH.
Such information as this you would regard as public information of the highest character?
Mr. BALFOUR.
Absolutely; the same as at the time of the Republic disaster we took the first opportunity of advising the land of what had happened.
Senator SMITH.
You could with certainty have communicated that 6.30 message regarding the fate of the Titanic?
Mr. BALFOUR.
Yes; but we were not in touch with the land.
Senator SMITH.
Considering the fact that you had a powerful apparatus, it seems to me that would have been the natural thing to have done.
Mr. BALFOUR.
No; we could not do it. We could not communicate with the land at all. We had lost the land. Our range is only 250 miles during the day, and we were something like 500 miles away from Cape Race.
Senator SMITH.
So that you would have been obliged to relay it?
Mr. BALFOUR.
Yes, absolutely. Then, of course, the Carpathia being the ship mostly concerned, and she going westward to New York, being in touch with the Olympic, the natural thing for her to do would be to relay her stuff to the Olympic, and for that ship to relay it to the land. If we had undertaken to communicate with Cape Race, we would have been meddling, possibly, with the more important communication of the Carpathia with the Olympic, with the actual statement of the people. We only had this general statement to go on.
The regulations under which we work distinctly state as follows:
AVOIDANCE OF INTERFERENCE.
8. Another general obligation which is imposed on all stations alike, and which is regarded as of the highest importance, is that they shall interfere as little as possible with the working of other stations. The rules of working are largely designed to prevent such interference.
Then we come to this other rule, under the head of "Distress signal," which reads as follows:
(d) Failing any mention of a particular station in the signal of distress, any station which receives the call is bound to answer it. In doing this ships must beware of interfering with each other, and not more than one ship should answer if it is found that confusion results. A ship which knows from the strength of the signals of distress that she is near the ship requiring assistance should take precedence in answering and taking the necessary steps with regard to the distress signal.
That is the regulation. Therefore, under that regulation, as I had no definite information to give, the next best thing was to stand by.
Senator SMITH.
Do you know of the practice or custom that has grown up among wireless operators of monopolizing and selling the information which they have by reason of their position, for their own advantage?
Mr. BALFOUR.
Yes; I have heard of it and I very much resent it, because it is a distinct infringement of their oath of secrecy.
Senator SMITH.
And it is bad morals, as well?
Mr. BALFOUR.
It is bad morals for the service and, as far as I am personally concerned, I do not think it is the right thing.
Before I came into the Marconi service I was for 15 years in the British post office telegraph service, and I consider that the selling of information as a violation of the oath of secrecy. It most certainly is, according to the law.
At the time of the Republic disaster, the only message we sent ashore was by the authority and with the full permission of the commander of the Baltic, Capt. Ranson. We were offered from one to five dollars per word if we would send an exclusive story ashore. Even after receiving permission from the shore to send it, we would not do so without the authority of the captain. That is the strict regulations. No Marconi operator is supposed to sell anything ashore referring to the ship, or anything like that, without the permission of his commander.
Senator SMITH.
I suppose that is done notwithstanding the injunction?
Mr. BALFOUR.
I am afraid it is. What I have stated has been the principle on which I have acted throughout. I have been fighting for the position of the Marconi operators. We have got a very tough fight on with the shipping officials, and I believe you can not put up a proper fight unless you have your hands absolutely clean. We have a very, very, uphill fight. I do not suppose anybody has any more experience in the telegraph service than I have, and I rather resent this thing of being put down as a junior or petty officer on the ship. You can not possibly have the confidence of your captain if you are going to do things behind his back.
Senator SMITH.
Looking at the message which you hold in your hand, signed by Bruce Ismay, addressed to Islefrank, New York City, containing a formal statement of the sinking of the Titanic and the great loss of life, and with the information which I give you, that Mr. Ismay, said under oath, that he had delivered that message to the operator on the Carpathia between 4 and 5 o'clock Monday morning, the 15th day of April, how can you account for its failure to reach Halifax until nearly three days thereafter?
Mr. BALFOUR.
It should have been sent through the quickest means to Cape Race, which would have been, probably, the Californian, or some other steamer west of the Carpathia. Probably the message was carried forward by some ship losing touch with Cape Race, and sent ashore at Sable Island. That was the only way it could get through to Halifax, or it might have been held by the Carpathia's operator until he got in touch with Sable Island. That was quite feasible, and quite probable.
Senator SMITH.
But not very thoughtful?
Mr. BALFOUR.
Not very thoughtful; certainly not.
Senator SMITH.
Did you receive any message from Capt. Smith, of the Titanic, during her voyage, other than the ones you have described?
Mr. BALFOUR.
Yes; we received a message from Capt. Smith in answer to our message sent about 11.50. The reply from the Titanic was received about 11.50 a. m.
Senator SMITH.
On what day?
Mr. BALFOUR.
On Sunday, the 14th. These messages read as follows:
S. S. "BALTIC," Apr.14, 1912.
CAPT. SMITH, Titanic:
Have had moderate variable winds and clear fine weather since leaving. Greek steamer Athinai reports passing icebergs and large quantity of field ice today in latitude 41.51 north, longitude 49.83 west. Last night we spoke German oil tank Deutschland, Stettin to Philadelphia, not under control; short of coal; latitude 40.42 north, longitude 55.11. Wishes to be reported to New York and other steamers. Wish you and Titanic all success.COMMANDER
Capt. Smith's reply, received at 12.55 p. m. on the 14th of April, reads as follows:
APRIL 14, 1912.
S. S. "TITANIC" TO COMMANDER, "BALTIC."
Thanks for your message and good wishes. Had fine weather since leaving.SMITH.
Senator SMITH.
Did you get any other messages from him?
Mr. BALFOUR.
No. We gave him the unofficial ice report at the same time as we sent the original message, simply verifying the report that we got from the Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm and from the Amerika. I heard those ice reports going to him from the Friedrich Wilhelm and the Amerika, and I just verified their position with him unofficially.
Senator SMITH.
What time was it you sent that?
Mr. BALFOUR.
That would be about 10.30 a. m., on the 14th, Sunday.
Senator SMITH.
What was the position of the Amerika at that time, do you remember?
Mr. BALFOUR.
About 40 miles ahead of us.
Senator SMITH.
Going the same way?
Mr. BALFOUR.
Going east. The Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm was about 40 or 50 miles ahead of her, going in the same direction.
Senator SMITH.
Did you hear anything that you now recall from the Mount Temple?
Mr. BALFOUR.
No; we never had the Mount Temple at all. She was too far away.
Senator SMITH.
Four very important things occurred that night which I want you to know, as an experienced wireless operator:
The first ship to respond to the C.Q.D. call of the Titanic was the Frankfurt, which did not give its position.
The next thing is that Cottam accidentally caught that C.Q.D. call from the Titanic as he was undressing for bed, and in five minutes more he would have had the instrument off his head.
Third is the belated inquiry from the Frankfurt, 20 minutes after the C.Q.D. call had been received, asking "What is the matter?" and there was the rejoinder of the Titanic's operator, who did not know the position of the Frankfurt, "You are a fool. Keep out."
The fourth thing is the fact that when the Californian called the Titanic to tell her of her proximity to ice, Bride was figuring his accounts and held the message off for 30 minutes.
Can you think of anything else that will throw any light upon this inquiry?
Mr. BALFOUR.
No; I can not. I would like, myself, to find out where those messages originated, and the only thing I can suggest about finding out about those messages is to get the copies from the cable companies and trace them in that way.
(Witness excused.)