(Testimony taken separately before Senator Perkins on behalf of the subcommittee.)
(Mr. Perkis was sworn by Senator Perkins.)
9107. What is your home port?
- In the town of Ryde, Isle of Wight.
9108. How long have you followed the sea?
- Ever since I was 16 years of age.
9109. How old are you?
- Thirty-nine years of age.
9110. In what capacities have you served?
- As a sailor, all the time, sir.
9111. Were you a quartermaster or a boatswain?
- I have been a quartermaster and an able seaman.
9112. You were not one of the lookout men?
- I have been the lookout in White Star ships.
9113. But you were not on this voyage?
- No, sir.
9114. Where were you when the collision took place?
- I had turned in, sir; I was in the watch below.
9115. You were in the watch below at what time?
- From 8 to 12.
9116. You were one of the men for the first dog watch, from 4 to 6 o'clock?
- No, sir; from 6 to 8; the last dog watch I had on deck.
9117. How many men were detailed for duty on deck aside from those on the lookout?
- There is a watch on deck.
9118. How many was the watch composed of?
- I could not tell you exactly, sir.
9119. It was given out that there were 83 sailormen on the ship. It was testified to before the committee here that there were 83 sailormen.
- I could not answer as to that.
9120. How many were there in your watch?
- There were three in my watch; and three quartermasters in the watch below.
9121. Were you one of the quartermasters?
- Yes, sir.
9122. I did not understand that you were. Then, after you turned out the same as the other men, what occurred?
- I turned out after being called by the joiner of the ship. He came to the room and told us we had better turn out.
9123. The joiner or carpenter of the ship told you that?
- Yes, sir. He told us, then, that we had struck something. I took no notice of it. I stayed there until I though it was time to turn out to relieve the deck at 12 o'clock.
9124. Did you not feel the jar of the ship when she struck the iceberg?
- No, sir; I did not feel anything at all.
9125. When you went on deck, what was the number of the boat you were assigned to?
- No. 4.
9126. Who gave you orders to take to her, Mr. Murdoch?
- No, sir; there was nobody. The boat was lowered. I lowered No. 4 into the water, and left that boat, and walked aft; and I came back, and a man that was in the boat, one of the seamen that was in the boat at the time, sung out to me, "We need another hand down here." So I slid down the life line there from the davit into the boat.
9127. How far is the distance from the upper deck down to the water?
- About seventy-odd feet.
9128. And you went hand over hand down?
- Down the life line; yes, sir.
9129. It is quite a distance to go down in that way. You were a quartermaster?
- Yes, sir.
9130. You had charge of the boat, did you not?
- I took charge of the boat after I got in.
9131. How many sailor men were aboard of her?
- We left the ship with three sailormen, sir, two and myself.
9132. How many were there when you lowered her down from the davits?
- One man was lowered in the boat?
9133. How many passengers?
- All the passengers were lowered in the boat from the davits.
9134. How many passengers did you have in the boat at this time?
- I should say about 42.
9135. Forty-two, all told.
- Yes, sir.
9136. That is, besides the three sailor men?
- That is, including all hands.
9137. Did you take up any more people afterwards?
- Yes, sir.
9138. Where did you get them?
- We picked up eight, sir.
9139. You picked up eight men that were swimming with life preservers?
- Yes, sir.
9140. How far was this away from the ship?
- I should saw about the length of the ship away, sir.
9141. That was soon after you went down into the boat, then?
- Yes, sir.
9142. What number did your boat get away? How many boats did you get away from the ship first?
- No. 4 was the boat I got away in; the last big boat on the port side to leave the ship.
9143. You picked up eight in the water?
- Yes; and two died afterwards, in the boat.
9144. Were they passengers or men of the crew?
- No, sir; one was a fireman and one was a steward.
9145. The others were all passengers?
- Yes, sir.
9146. Tell us what you did after that.
- After that, after we had picked up the men, I could not hear any more cries anywhere. Everything was over. I waited then until daylight, or just before daylight, when we saw the lights of the Carpathia.
9147. Did you see the Titanic go down?
- Yes, sir.
9148. And you were how far from her at that time?
- Six lengths from her, sir.
9149. Did you feel any suction?
- No, sir.
9150. You heard the cries of the people around her?
- Yes, sir; and we picked up eight out of the water.
9151. Did those people have life preservers on?
- Yes, sir.
9152. All eight persons had life preservers on?
- Yes, sir.
9153. Could you not have found more of them?
- We stopped picking up. The last man we picked up, we heard a cry, and we did not hear any more cries after we had picked up the last man.
9154. How was the discipline on board ship?
- Excellent, sir.
9155. Every man knew his station and took it?
- Every man knew his station and took it.
9156. Was there any excitement among the crew?
- No, sir; none whatever.
9157. Or among the officers?
- None at all, sir.
9158. Or among the firemen and stewards?
- No, sir; they conducted themselves the same as they would if it were an ordinary everyday occurrence.
9159. Is there any particular incident that occurred that the public would be interested in knowing that you can relate to us?
- No, sir.
(Witness Excused.)
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