7462. Mr. Marconi, all of these experiments finally eventuated in your ability to communicate messages over about 6,000 miles with accuracy, as you have described?
- Yes; although I think that at present the useful reliable range is something like 3,000 miles.
7463. Has science continued to improve the method? Has the method been improved recently?
- It has been improved recently, and it is continuing to be improved.
7464. All the time?
- All the time.
7465. What do you ultimately expect of it?
- I expect it will be one of the principal means or methods for communicating between distant parts of the world. I am not quite so certain at present whether it may be useful for communication between places of short distance from each other, say, like New York and Brooklyn or Jersey City. I think wires would be better there; but for communication, say, between New York and England, or between New York and San Francisco, or between Chicago and another distant place, I think that with the increase of speed and the understanding of electricity it will some day become the chief means of communication.
7466. Have you any idea that this system will be substituted for the telegraph in the operation of railroad trains?
- It may be in some cases. I am not quite certain of that. That is looking, of course, very much into the future.
7467. I would like to know whether, in the receipt of a wireless message from shore to ship, or from ship to ship, or from ship to shore, there is any noise or alarm accompanying this message through which an operator sitting near would be apprised of the coming of the message?
- In the older apparatus, that was fitted on ships six or seven years ago, there was an arrangement which rang a bell and gave an alarm when the ship was called. This apparatus, however, had the disadvantages of only working over a very limited distance and of being unreliable. I mean to say that sometimes it would not act and at other times it would give false calls. It would be affected by natural effects, or the electricity of the atmosphere, and it would ring up the operator at night for nothing.
7468. Let me see if I understand you. A message, perhaps not intended for the ship Titanic, for instance, if sent from the Cape Race station, if the apparatus on ships had an alarm device would alarm every ship within the radius of that message, as well as the one for which it was intended?
- Yes; that is exactly so.
7469. There is no reliance to be placed upon the warning signal?
- At present there is not. Of course, it may be possible to devise some thing.
7470. If the operator was not at his apparatus with the telephone upon his head he would be unable to detect the message, or the fact that he was being called? Is that right?
- That is right. There is no reliable means at present that will enable him to do so.
7471. Then a ship at sea, equipped for wireless telegraphy, if it is to be serviceable in an emergency should have an operator all the time on duty; should it not?
- Yes, sir. I should add the words "If it is to be serviceable to others in distress."
7472. If it is to be serviceable to others?
- Yes; because in case of accident to itself it can always call its operator and ask him to call for assistance - to ask for assistance.
7473. The Carpathia had but one operator?
- Only one operator.
7474. How many operators are there on the Californian?
- I believe there is only one, but I am not certain.
7475. Do you know how many operators there are on the Mount Temple, the Canadian boat?
- Only one, I believe.
7476. And on the Frankfurt?
- I do not know as to the Frankfurt, because it belongs to a company with which I am not in close touch.
7477. Not being advised of the intention of any shore or ship station to communicate with another ship at specified minutes or hours previously arranged, a call might be made for assistance, a distress call - C. Q. D. - and not heard or taken at all unless the operator happened at that moment to be at his apparatus?
- That is a fact.
7478. What is the pay of a wireless operator, generally speaking, in this country?
- I am not aware of the exact pay in this country.
7479. What is it in England?
- In England it is from, I should say, beginning at $4 a week to $10 or $12 a week, with board and lodging. Of course, you have not asked me this, but I might say it is fairly easy to get operators on those terms in England because it is a rate of pay which is considerably higher than what they get on the shore telegraphs; and, of course, the fact of going to sea is very attractive to a great number of young men.
7480. The hazard does not seem to deter them from that service?
- No; it does not.
7481. Can you give the wages of wireless operators in America?
- I can not give them accurately. I know that they are slightly higher than the wages in England.
7482. Was the wireless operator on the Carpathia employed in England or America?
- He was employed in England.
7483. Was Mr. Bride, who survived the Titanic disaster, employed in England or in America?
- He was employed in England.
7484. And the same is true of Mr. Phillips, who perished?
- The same is true of Mr. Phillips.
7485. Do you know Mr. Bride?
- I have known him since the accident.
7486. Only since then?
- Only since then.
7487. Where is he now?
- He is in New York.
7488. What is his physical condition?
- He is still suffering from injuries to his ankles. He is ready to come here whenever he is required, but it was thought that until you asked for him he might remain where he is in an endeavor to get well.
7489. Do you know Mr. Cottam, the wireless operator of the Carpathia?
- I do; but I have only met him since the accident to the Titanic.
7490. Where were you on Sunday, April 14, last?
- I was in New York.
7491. Where were you on Monday following?
- I was also in New York City.
7492. Did you have any communication, personally or by your orders, with the Carpathia on Sunday night or Monday?
- No; I had none whatever.
7493. Did you have any communication with Cape Race station?
- No, sir.
7494. On Sunday or Monday?
- No.
7495. Did you have any communication with the Carpathia, directly or through a ship or coast station, on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday up to the time of the arrival of the Carpathia in Yew York?
- I had no direct communication with the Carpathia. I telephoned my office at frequent intervals.
7496. On what days?
- On all those days; and I stated that I was very anxious to obtain information of what had happened, and if there was any means of getting it -
7497. To whom did you telephone?
- I telephoned to Mr. Bottomley, manager of the American company.
7498. Did you telephone to anybody else?
- Not that I remember; somebody else may have answered me - Mr. Sammis, I think. Numerous newspapers telephoned to me.
7499. And you telephoned to Mr. Bottomley, and possibly to Mr. Sammis?
- Yes.
7500. Did you get any information from them?
- I got no information except, I think it was, on Monday evening.
7501. At what time?
- About a quarter to 7.
7502. What information was that?
- The information was that the Titanic had sunk with a very heavy loss of life.
7503. That was about 7.30 o'clock?
- Between 7 and 8 o'clock.
7504. Between 7 and 8 o'clock Monday evening, the 15th of April?
- Yes, I believe it was.
7505. Who communicated that fact to you?
- Mr. Bottomley communicated that fact to my secretary.
7506. Your secretary communicated it to you?
- My secretary communicated it to me.
7507. That was the first information you received from any officer or employee of your company, anywhere?
- Anywhere.
7508. What did you do when you got that information?
- I did not do anything. I was exceedingly surprised and shocked at the news. It seemed to me almost impossible.
7509. Did you communicate the information to the White Star Line?
- I did not, because I was told that the White Star Line was already informed.
7510. When were you told that?
- I was told that at the same time.
7511. That evening?
- That evening. I was told that the White Star Line was aware of the fact. I communicated it to some friends of mine that I met.
7512. Did you hear anything after Monday evening, between 7 and 8 o'clock, from any of your officers or from any ship or shore station regarding the loss of the Titanic up to Thursday evening?
- I think my office informed me that the Carpathia was returning to New York with the survivors; at least, I should say I am certain that my office informed me of that.
7513. When was that?
- That was Tuesday evening, I should say. But I am not aware whether they got that direct or from the newspapers.
7514. That was Tuesday, the 16th ?
- Tuesday, the 16th.
7515. Do you remember the hour of the day?
- It was late in the evening, after it was dark.
7516. Late in the evening?
- Yes.
7517. What did you do when you got that information?
- I did not do anything.
7518. What was done by your informant?
- I do not know.
7519. Did you communicate that fact to the White Star people?
- They did; or it may have come from them.
7520. Did you make further inquiry from the Carpathia?
- I asked my office whether they had any more information, and I was told that it was very difficult to get it, because the Carpathia would be very busy attending to the messages of the captain and of the passengers on board.
7521. And you made no further attempt?
- I made no further attempt because I did not think it was right to interfere in any way with the working of the wireless installation or to use any authority I might have to influence the operators, or to try to influence the captain, who I think were the best judges of the situation.
7522. And you made no attempt to do so?
- I made no attempt to extract information from the ship. I was concerned only as to whether the wireless was working well or not, and I was informed it was working well.
7523. Who informed you of that?
- Mr. Bottomley.
7524. Mr. Bottomley, your manager?
- Yes.
7525. But you yourself made no attempt to communicate with the Carpathia after that?
- No; I did not.
7526. Where were you on Thursday, the day of the landing of the Carpathia?
- I was in New York City.
7527. At your office?
- I called at my office. I was at my hotel, the Holland House, most of the day.
7528. But in communication with your office?
- But in communication with my office.
7529. Where were you when the Carpathia landed at the Cunard dock with the survivors of the Titanic wreck?
- I was dining with Mr. Bottomley, whom I mentioned. I had the intention of going on board the Carpathia as soon as she reached dock, but she happened to get in sooner than we expected. I therefore left the house where I was dining and proceeded to the dock, and we got on board.
7530. What time?
- At about half-past 9, just when the survivors were leaving, or just when the last survivors were leaving.
7531. You got on board?
- I got on board.
7532. What did you do when you got on board?
- I went to the wireless operating room.
7533. Did you find the operator there?
- I found the operator there.
7534. What did you say to him?
- I said I was glad to see him, and congratulated him on what I had heard he had done. I inquired after his senior operator, Phillips.
7535. That is, you inquired of Bride about his senior operator, Phillips?
- About Phillips. The operator of the Carpathia, Cottam, was not there.
7536. Where was he?
- He had gone ashore immediately the ship arrived.
7537. Where did he go? Do you know?
- I do not know where he went.
7538. Did you see him that evening?
- No. I spoke to him on the telephone that evening.
7539. Where was he?
- I do not know where he was.
7540. Where were you when he telephoned?
- I was at the Holland House.
7541. What did you say to him over the telephone?
- He asked me if he could give an account of what had happened; if it would be all right; if there was anything in the rules against it. I said no; certainly to give every account he could; to disclose anything he knew about it.
7542. You told him he could give it?
- Yes; I did. I should state if you will allow me, in regard to this question of operators, that there is a rule in these companies that operators must not act as reporters. They must accept messages from everyone in the order in which they are presented, and they are bound to transmit them. But it is not encouraged that they should send stories of their own; at least, they would be dismissed if they did it.
7543. Is it not made an offense under the laws of England to do it?
- It is an offense, punishable by imprisonment to disclose the contents of messages. On an occasion like this, of course some latitude would have been given. I mean, I think that on an occasion like this it would have been a good thing if some report had been sent. But this was a matter that depended on the discretion of the operator, and he used his discretion in such a way that he did not send any.
7544. He did not send out anything?
- No.
7545. Is it an offense under the laws of Germany?
- It is an offense, so far as I know, to discharge the contents of messages.
7546. What did you say to him over the telephone?
- He told me that a journalist wanted a story of the disaster, and that he was going to be paid something for it.
7547. How much ?
- He did not tell me how much. He asked if he could give the story, and I said yes.
7548. Where was he?
- I do not know where he was.
7549. You do not know from what place he was telephoning?
- No; I do not know from what place. It was very late. It was about 2 o'clock in the morning.
7550. What time did the Carpathia arrive at New York?
- I believe it was Thursday evening. I forget the date. It was Thursday of last week.
7551. Do you use any cipher code in the transmission of wireless messages for yourself?
- I have a cipher code with my officer in London. I have none with operators.
7552. What is the cipher?
- It is mostly composed of Western Union words with another meaning attached to them; that is, different from that meaning given in the Western Union code.
7553. Is it a registered cipher?
- No: it is not. That is part of it is registered and part is not.
7554. Do you use it often?
- No, rarely; only on rare occasions.
7555. Did you use it in your communication with the Carpathia?
- No, sir.
7556. Or with any shore station?
- No.
7557. Did you send a wireless to the operator on the Carpathia and ask him to meet you and Sammis at the Strand Hotel, 502 West Fourteenth Street, saying "Keep your mouth shut"?
- No, sir; I did not.
7558. If any message of that kind was sent in your name, you did not send it?
- I did not send it.
7559. And you know nothing of it?
- I know nothing of it, except some statements or rumors I have heard of it in the press.
7560. Do you know the naval vessel Florida?
- Yes; I have heard of her.
7561. Is she equipped with wireless apparatus?
- Yes, sir; I think so. I think they all are.
7562. I am going to read to you the following, and ask whether you know anything about any fact or circumstance connected with it.
This is from the commanding officer of the Florida to the Secretary of the Navy, dated, April 22, and reads as follows:
On the evening of the steamship Carpathia's arrival in New York, the four following radiograms were intercepted by the chief operator, J. R. Simpson, chief electrician, United States Navy. They appear to me to be significant enough to be brought to the attention of the department.
SEAGATE TO CARPATHIA - 8.12 P. M.
Say, old man, Marconi Co. taking good care of you. Keep your mouth shut, and hold your story. It is fixed for you so you will get big money. Now, please do your best to clear.That was 8.12 p. m. Then follows this one:
To Marconi officer, Carpathia and Titanic:8.30 P. M.
Arranged for your exclusive story for dollars in four figures, Mr. Marconi agreeing. Say nothing until you see me. Where are you now?
J. M. SAMMIS, Opr. C.
9 P. M.
From Seagate to Carpathia operator: Go to Strand Hotel. 502 West Fourteenth Street. To meet Mr. Marconi.
C.
9.33 P. M.
From Seagate to Carpathia: A personal to operator Carpathia. Meet Mr. Marconi and Sammis at Strand Hotel, 502 West Fourteenth Street. Keep your mouth shut.
Mr. MARCONI
What can you say about that, Mr. Marconi?
- I do not know anything whatever about any of those messages. They are not in the phraseology which I would have approved of if I had passed them. I should, however, say that I told Mr. Sammis or Mr. Bottomley - I do not remember which - that I, as an officer of the British Company, would not prohibit or prevent these operators from making anything which they reasonably could make out of selling their story of the wreck. I was anxious that, if possible, they might make some small amount of money out of the information they had.