CRAWFORD S. LESLIE,
Marconi operator, Father Point,
Sworn.
Examined by Mr. Newcombe:
4416. Mr. Leslie, you are 19 years of age?
- Yes, sir.
4417. You are an assistant operator in the Marconi Wireless office at Father Point?
- An assistant, sir.
4418. Who is your chief there?
- Mr. W. J. Whiteside.
4419. You wrent on duty at Father Point telegraph station on the 29th of May last, at 10 minutes past one in the morning?
- Correct, sir.
4420. And relieved the operator who was in charge there?
- Yes.
4421. What did he tell you about the Empress of Ireland?
- He said the Empress of Ireland was about.
4422. But had not yet reported abeam?
- Exactly.
4423. Did you see the ship?
- I couldn’t say exactly I saw the Empress; I saw the lights of a ship abeam.
4424. At quarter past one. You sent out a call but got no reply?
- Yes.
4425. When did you receive a call from the Empress?
- At 1.45 I received the first call from the Empress.
4426. What was that?
- Just a general call.
4427. To indicate that the Empress was there?
- Yes, to attend.
4428. Is that a stand-by signal for further messages?
- No, the call required an answer.
4429. Required an answer?
- Required an answer.
4430. Did you reply to the call?
- Immediately.
4431. What did he say?
- He said: Struck a ship; by; get officer in charge.
4432. By?
- By, which means to stand by.
4433. What did you do?
- I immediately rushed up to the officer’s room and told him that the Empress was in danger.
4434. That is, Mr. Whiteside?
- Mr. Whiteside.
4435. You immediately went up to Mr. Whiteside as chief, and called him at 1.48?
- About 1.48.
4436. That is, according to the time in your office?
- Time in my office.
4437. Did you get any further message from the Empress? Did you take any further message yourself?
- At 1.50 a.m. the Empress said: “Listing terribly; by,” and immediately started the S.O.S. call. Mr. Whiteside immediately took over charge of the instruments.
4438. What did you do?
- I stood by for further orders.
4439. Did you go to the telephone?
- Yes, I went to the telephone to call the Lady Evelyn.
4440. Did you speak to the Lady Evelyn?
- Yes, I spoke to whoever was attending to the ’phone there. Mr. Whiteside immediately took up the ’phone in the operating room and spoke to the captain of the Lady Evelyn.
4441. Then what did you do?
- I immediately rushed over to the Great Northwestern Telegraph Office to Mr. McWilliams and asked him to give us land line No. 7, as our own No. 4 was out of commission.
4442. You saw Mr. McWilliams?
- Yes, I saw Mr. McWilliams.
By Mr. Haight:
4443. What time do you have in the wireless station there; is it Montreal time?
- Montreal time.
4444. How do you get your time? Are you in communication so that you can set your clocks daily and keep them accurate?
- Communication at 12 p.m. every day.
4445. Communication with what?
- The time is got every day at 12 p.m. from Montreal.
4446. By wireless?
- By land line wire.
4447. That is, the signal comes over the telegraph wire every day at 12 p.m.?
- At 12 p.m., yes.
4448. Do you know whether your clock had been set accurately at 12 that day?
- I could not say for certain, but I believe it had.
4449. To the best of your judgment, your clock was really accurate time?
- I believe so.
4450. What was the moment that the call came in: “We struck a ship”?
- 1.45 a.m.
4451. Did you make any entry of the call?
- Yes, I made an entry of the call.
4452. And you looked at the clock before you made the entry, so you are sure of the moment?
- Yes, I looked at the clock.
4453. And it was what time that you got the word: Listing terribly?
- 1.50 a.m.
4454. And what was the time that the communication was cut off, did you notice?
- About 1.55. Mr. Whiteside got the last communication.
4455. Did you happen to know when the Empress dropped her pilot? Was there any communication at that time?
- No communication at that time at all.
4456. You don’t know when that was?
- Don’t know when that was.
Witness discharged.