(Testimony taken separately before Senator Newlands on behalf of the subcommittee.)
(The witness was sworn by Senator Newlands.)
8583. State your age and residence.
- Twenty-eight years old. No. 2 Broad Street, Kingland, Southampton.
8584. What is your occupation?
- Fireman, sir.
8585. You were on the Titanic?
- Yes.
8586. Tell your story, from the time you shipped until you got on the Carpathia.
- I was asleep when the accident occurred; sir. The alarm bell for accidents rang outside of our door. I went up on deck, and could not see anything. I went down in our room again. I stayed in the room about 10 minutes, and somebody reported that there was water in No. 1 hatch. Then we packed our bags, took them in the mess room, in the alleyway, to wait for orders. The officer was coming along the alleyway, and ordered us to put on lifebelts. The lifebelts were on the deck, on the boat deck. They shoved out No. 15 boat and I was ordered into it. The boat was pretty full. We pulled a distance away from the Titanic, because we were afraid of the suction, and we kept on pulling toward the light, with the other rowboats. About half past 7 the next morning we boarded the Carpathia.
8587. You got in boat No. 15?
- Yes, sir.
8588. Did you help load any of the other boats?
- No, sir. There was too much of a crowd on. There was a crowd around them at the time. This boat was the only boat that was in the blocks when I went on the deck.
8589. Were you one of the men charged with the duty of appearing when the lifeboats were ordered?
- Not at that time, sir.
8590. Did you belong to the lifeboat drill?
- Yes, sir.
8591. Have you ever drilled on that steamer with the lifeboat drill?
- No, sir.
8592. How often was it customary to have such a drill?
- The custom is to have one on Sunday morning in New York.
8593. How about Southampton?
- The firemen never see a boat in Southampton.
8594. Take the ordinary fireman. How often would he engage in boat drill?
- Once a trip, sir.
8595. Were you a good oarsman?
- Yes, sir.
8596. Had you been previously assigned to boat No. 15?
- Yes, sir.
8597. That was your place?
- That was my place.
8598. How many of the crew got in lifeboat No. 15?
- I could not tell you that, sir. I know there were six ordered to get into the boat. If there were any more, I could not say.
8599. How many passengers were in the boat?
- I never counted them. I never heard them counted.
8600. Was the boat full?
- Yes, sir.
8601. How many would it carry?
- I suppose it would average about 40 to 45 in the boat.
8602. Would not the boat carry more than that?
- I suspect they would carry more if they were put in.
8603. Why did you not put in more?
- Because the officer ordered the boat to be lowered.
8604. Did your boat stop to take passengers from any other decks?
- Only one deck to be filled up.
8605. You filled up on what deck?
- On the upper deck, or deck A; on the promenade deck.
8606. Is that the boat deck?
- No; the next deck.
8607. You loaded there?
- Yes.
8608. Where were you when the boat was first lowered?
- I was in the boat when the boat was lowered.
8609. Did you get into the boat from the boat deck?
- Yes.
8610. Then did the other members of the crew get on there?
- At the boat deck.
8611. And then it was lowered down to deck A?
- That is correct, sir.
8612. Then the passengers got on?
- Yes, sir.
8613. Who was directing the passengers there?
- A lot of stewards were around directing the passengers, and there was an officer up on the boat deck then, sir.
8614. But he could not see these people down on deck A, could he?
- He was looking over to see who was getting into the boats.
8615. Did you see Mr. Ismay during that time?
- No.
8616. Did you know Mr. Ismay at that time?
- No.
8617. What officer was in charge on that side?
- I could not tell you what officer was in charge on that side.
8618. Who was in command of your boat?
- A fireman.
8619. What was his name?
- Dimel.
8620. How many women were in your boat?
- Quite a number; there were mostly women and children in our boat.
8621. Were there any male passengers in the boat?
- Yes, sir.
8622. Do you remember how many?
- No.
8623. They got on at deck A?
- After the women and children were in.
8624. Were there any other women and children on deck A when you left there, at the time?
- I never saw any.
8625. Would you have seen them if they had been there?
- Yes, if they had been there.
8626. Do you remember who the passengers were?
- No. They were third class passengers. That is all I know.
8627. Were there any stewardesses?
- No.
8628. There were about 750 saved in all, including the crew, were there not?
- I could not tell you how many were saved.
8629. Do you know how many of the crew were saved?
- I do not know how many of the crew were saved, but I know there were 73 firemen saved.
8630. How many firemen were there in all?
- There were 84 firemen on each watch, including trimmers and all -
8631. And how many watches were there?
- Three watches.
8632. That would be 252 firemen in all?
- Yes, that is, not counting greasers. I do not know how many greasers there are in the engine room.
8633. You say 73 firemen were saved?
- Yes.
8634. How do you account for the fact that so many of them were saved?
- I could not tell you, sir.
8635. Were many of them put into the boats?
- Not that I know of.
8636. Were any of them picked up in the water by the boats?
- Yes; there were some.
8637. Many?
- I could not tell you how many there were.
8638. Were all the crew on your boat firemen?
- There were some stewards in the boat, besides.
8639. How many firemen and how many stewards were there in your boat?
- About six firemen. I could not tell you how many stewards there were. I only saw three.
8640. About what proportion of your entire boatload was composed of men?
- I believe eight, all told; oarsmen and a coxswain.
8641. Did any of the male passengers row?
- Only one that I know of.
8642. When your boat got away from the ship, where were most of the passengers that were left and where were the members of the crew that were left - in what part of the ship?
- They were all on A deck, sir, on the deck where we lowered from; all that I could see.
8643. Was it crowded?
- Oh, there was a crowd, a big crowd around the boats.
8644. Was the order and discipline good, or was there disorder?
- The order was good, sir.
8645. Did these passengers belong to all classes, steerage as well as cabin passengers?
- Yes, sir.
8646. Were there any on B deck?
- I could not tell you that, sir.
8647. Or C Deck?
- I could not tell you.
8648. Could you not see?
- I could not see, because we kept the boat off the ship, to keep from rubbing down her side.
8649. How far did you row from the ship immediately after getting into the water?
- About a quarter of a mile; or it might have been a bit farther than that.
8650. Toward the light, you say?
- Yes; with the other boats.
8651. Was there any order given to you to row for that light?
- No, sir.
8652. How did you come to row for that light?
- I kept on rowing, sir.
8653. Where was that light?
- A tidy way away from us.
8654. Was it on a ship?
- I could not tell you.
8655. Did that light disappear?
- Yes, sir.
8656. Was it 5 miles away, would you think?
- It was a good distance away; I could not tell you the distance.
8657. Did it appear to be the light of a ship?
- Yes, sir.
8658. You could not see the ship?
- No, sir.
8659. During that night, before the dawn came, could you see any of the icebergs?
- No, sir; not before the break of day.
8660. Was it a clear night?
- Pretty clear; yes, sir.
8661. There was no fog?
- No fog at all.
8662. Were the stars out?
- Yes; it was a starry night.
8663. How do you account for it that you could not see the icebergs?
- We saw them at daybreak.
8664. Why could you not see them at night?
- They were too far away. We were pulling toward them all the time.
8665. And then you got among them in the morning, when the day broke?
- Yes, sir.
8666. Were there many of them?
- We saw four.
8667. Do you know in what direction you rowed?
- No, sir.
8668. North, south, east, or west?
- I could not tell you in what direction. We kept on pulling, and that is all I do know.
8669. Did you see the iceberg upon which the ship struck?
- No, sir. I was asleep at the time.
8670. Were you very much disturbed by the collision?
- No, sir.
8671. Have you been on other ships?
- Yes, sir.
8672. For how many years?
- Eight years now.
8673. During that trip were there the same drills and mustering of the crew that you have observed on other ships?
- No. On other ships you go through a strict drill.
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