Thomas S. Williams,
Chief Second-class Steward, Empress of Ireland,
Sworn.
By Mr. Aspinall:
3432. Mr. Williams, were you the chief second-class steward on the Empress of Ireland?
- I was, sir.
3433. Had you been on the Empress seven years at the time this accident happened?
- Seven years and seven months, sir.
3434. At the time of the accident, where were you?
- In bed, sir.
3435. Where is your bed?
- In the forward end of the second-class dining room, on the starboard side.
3436. Did you wake at once?
- I must have been awake a couple of seconds before the accident.
3437. What did you do?
- I jumped up and looked through the port and just saw the Storstad just sliding slowly past our port.
3438. Sliding slowly past?
- Yes, sir.
3439. And what did you do then?
- I just slipped my trousers on sir and called Mr. Lewis that was sleeping in the room with me, and went through the second-class dining room, sir, down aft, to see if the two night watchmen were calling the people on the two lower decks.
3440. Who are those two night watchmen?
- Tresner and Paddy, sir.
3441. Were they calling the people?
- Yes, sir.
3442. Would it be their duty to do so?
- It was their duty, yes, sir.
3443. What did you do then?
- The siren went for the boats, sir, and I went up.
3444. What does the siren mean?
- Boats and water-tight doors.
3445. It is the signal for the boats and water-tight doors?
- Yes, sir.
3446. And you went up to the boats?
- Yes, sir.
3447. On the boat deck?
- Yes, sir.
3448. Which side of the boat deck?
- I went on the port side.
3449. On the port side?
- Yes, I went to go on the port side.
3450. Why?
- Because my boat was there.
3451. Which is your boat?
- No. 6.
3452. And you wished to go to your own boat, and you knew it to be Number 6?
- Yes, I knew it, but I knew it was useless to go there.
3453. Then did you go on the starboard side?
- Yes, I went on the starboard side to No. 13 boat.
3454. And what happened about it?
- We got her out, sir, after a lot of trouble. The ship was listed over so badly it was almost impossible to get her out. We got her half-way out, the aft end, and then she got stuck right in between the davits, and then Mr. Moore, the fifth officer, asked me to jump in and try to twist the block, which I did, and she went out with a tremendous swing and threw me flat on my back in the boat.
3455. And did she reach the water?
- Yes, she was lowered to the water.
3456. And did she save life?
- Yes, quite a number, full up.
3457. And where did you take the people to?
- To the Storstad.
3458. And did the boat come back?
- Yes.
3459. What did you do?
- I went to the Storstad. I had taken my trousers off then to give them to another man.
3460. You were a steward?
- Yes.
3461. But the boat went back then?
- Yes, sir.
3462. That it all you know about it?
- Yes, sir, that is all I know.
By Mr. Haight:
3563. Where were you, Mr. Williams, when you could first see out on your starboard side immediately after the jar of the collision?
- When I looked over the port or when I got on the deck?
3464. Through the port?
- I was in my room, sir.
3465. And you looked out of your own porthole?
- Yes.
3466. Was it then you saw the Storstad sliding by?
- Yes, almost just going past.
3467. That is she was going towards your stern?
- Yes.
3468. Where is your room, please?
- On the forward end of the second-class dining room on the main deck.
3469. Will you please look at the diagram of rooms on the Empress of Ireland?
- I don’t think it will be on that.
3470. But will you just indicate approximately in lead pencil about where your room was?
- Yes I have done so, sir.
3471. I see that you indicate a room that is marked as the plate and glass room?
- Yes, it has been changed, sir, this last three months. My room has been built in this plateroom and that has been put on the other side.
3472. And when you came up on deck and went to the starboard side, did you see the Storstad then?
- Yes, I think she had gone just around the stern.
3473. The fog had not quite shut her out?
- Not quite.
3474. But she then disappeared?
- She disappeared from my sight, and I couldn’t see her after.
By Mr. Gibsone:
3475. What are the duties of the night watchmen in the second-class?
- The same as the first-class, cleaning the boots and attending the passengers, and so on.
3476. You heard the evidence of the previous witness?
- Yes.
3477. And all the duties are the same as he enumerated?
- Exactly, sir.