AUGUSTUS GAADE,
Recalled.
Examined by Mr. Newcombe:
6124. You have already been sworn and have given testimony?
- I have, sir.
6125. Do you know whether there were any stewards in attendance at the second-class lounge on the night of the accident?
- Not exactly at the lounge; there are three night watchmen for the second-class compartment.
6126. They were on duty on the night of the accident?
- They were.
6127. Are the passages leading from the lounge ever locked on board your ship?
- Never, sir.
6128. Were you in the lounge after the collision?
- I wasn’t, sir.
6129. Did you have any reports from the night watchmen previous to the accident?
- Previous to the accident, none.
6130. What do you say as to the possibility of 300 women and children having been imprisoned there?
- I can’t see how 300 could get there; we only had 253 second-class passengers altogether, and the room wouldn’t accommodate that number. There was no reason why 300 people could get there; they couldn’t possibly get there.
6131. How many doors were there leading from that lounge?
- There was two from the lounge and two from the smoke room; two double doors in the companion just outside smoke-room.
6132. Would these doors ordinarily be shut or open?
- They are closed with a bolt inside and the bolt is just slipped by anyone and the door is thrown open. The same with the smoking room; the doors are never locked; they were put on for the purpose thrat a passenger from the inside could pull the bolt and pull the door open.
Lord Mersey:
I do not think you need trouble about that any further.
The Witness:
I may mention that a passenger mentioned this fact to me: about this after compartment he said: The doors was locked, and I contradicted him. I said: Well, suppose they had been locked and you say there was so many people there, couldn’t they have burst that door open? He said: No, it was impossible; the door was opened in. I said: Thank you, that is all I require; there are no doors open in; they open out on the deck, every door in the ship.
By Chief Justice McLeod:
6133. You are the chief steward?
- Yes.
6134. Did you hear any order given to close the water-tight doors?
- I heard the siren blow a long blast.
6135. What is the significance of that to the crew?
- There is a notice which has been printed and posted up in each pantry, stating that at a long blast of the siren the men shall attend the bulkhead doors and close them; immediately they go to their boats. The rest of the men go right straight to their boats.
6136. Are there any men specifically delegated to close the bulkhead doors?
- There are, sir; there is a list made out and posted up on a notice board in the pantry so that every man can see it.
6137. I suppose the men do not always read those notices. Are any instructions given to the men that it shall be the business of certain men to close certain doors?
- The men are told off for every door, and every morning at quarter to eleven, the doors are inspected by the captain, the purser, the doctor, the chief officer and myself, and the steward who is in charge of the second class goes with us until we finish with his doors, and the steward from the third class goes with us also until his doors are closed.
6138. Was this inspection made ou the morning of the 28th?
- On the morning of the 28th the inspection was made, sir.
6139. And you say that when this siren blows, each man knows what doors to go to?
- Yes, sir, and they have certain signals. Of course, the doors are not closed on an ordinary inspection; they are not all closed at once, they are closed as we go around. For instance, there is a man works from the top and the man below gives the signal; he gives two signals to close the door, and he gives three signals to open the door, and he gives four signals to denote that the door is finished with. That is only to see that the doors are in working order; in case of a door being stiff or anyways hard at all the captain immediately tells the officers to get the carpenter and see that the door is made to run all right.
6140. You say the doors are closed from where?
- From the deck above.
6141. In all cases?
- In all cases.
6142. And is there a man there? There must be some machinery to be operated?
- It is turned by handles; all done by handles.
6143. Who is there to handle them?
- The man on top; the man gives the signals below to the man who is standing by to turn the door and shut or open it, whichever the case may be.
6144. And the signal for closing the doors is the blowing of a blast on the siren?
- Yes, sir, that is in emergency cases.
6145. You yourself heard no order given?
- Not except the siren, sir, no.
6146. At this time, when this emergency occurred, did the men go to the different doors, or do you know?
- As far as my knowledge goes, sir; there is quite a number of them lost; they went to the doors on the starboard side.
6147. These doors are numbered, are they not?
- They are numbered, sir, yes.
6148. Have you charge of them?
- No, sir, the second cabin steward has charge of the doors in his compartment and the third-class steward has charge of the doors in his. They make the list out; they pick the men out and this list is made out before the ship leaves port in Liverpool, and posted up so that every man may know what his station is. Exactly the same with the blankage, buckage and extinguishers; everything is made out on large lists and a man knows exactly where to go to.
By Lord Mersey:
6149. You say that every man knows exactly; are you sure?
- They are drilled to that, sir; the first inspection that is made we go round and every man has to answer his name. There may be a little discrepancy somewhere, but if there is a man is immediately put in his place before the ship leaves. There is a Board of Trade inspection at Liverpool and all these men have got to answer to their names, sir.
6150. I can understand their answering to their names, but I am not so satisfied about their all knowing what they have to do in the event of an emergency.
- Do you mean with regard to fire, sir?
6151. Yes, or a collision such as this was. Do they ever read these notices?
- Yes, sir.
6152. When?
- They are looking at them practically half the time; they are in the pantry where the men get their food and where they are working all day long. That is where the notices are posted in each department.
By Chief Justice McLeod:
6153. Do you seriously think that the men read them?
- I don’t see how they can avoid reading them; in fact they have got to be there when the inspection is held and if they are not there, they have to give a proper explanation as to why they are not there. Men are told off to the nozzle; men told off to the wheel; men told off to the hose; men told off to the extinguisher. They are told off to buckage; they are told off to blankage; they have a certain place to muster together.
By Chief Justice McLeod:
6154. I find there is evidence that door No. 90 was closed.
- I couldn’t tell you about that.
6155. Do you know of anyone who can tell if any other of these doors were closed?
- Yes, sir.
6156. Who can do it?
- There are men in the court here now; there are three or four of them that closed the doors on the port side.
6157. Would you mind giving their names?
- There is Donegan, Kaniper, Gregory, Hayes. The reason these doors on the port side were closed was because they were immediately opposite the men’s quarters and all they had to do was jump out and close them on the port side.
By Lord Mersey:
6158. They were of very little importance?
- Yes, sir.
By Chief Justice McLeod:
6159. Do you know any of those who closed the doors on the starboard side?
- Hayes and a man named Harrison. It would be somewhere where she was struck; he works the door there. He is in the court now, sir.
By Mr. Newcombe:
6160. Who is the other man?
- Harrison.
By Mr. Aspinall:
6161. Were the number of men in your department whose business it was to deal with the watertight doors, 32 in all?
- 32 in all.
6162. Have only 13 of those men been saved?
- I believe it is 13 sir, as far as I can learn.
6163. Of these 13 who were saved, are 8 of them men whose duty it is to deal with the port side watertight doors?
- I think it is 6 on the port side.
6164. You told me 8 this morning.
- On the starboard side - saved, sir.
6165. Thirteen men have been saved?
- Thirteen men, sir.
6166. Now, I want you to tell me of the 13, how many of those saved would have to work on the port side?
- Eight, I believe.
6167. So that 8 of the 13 saved would work on the port side?
- Yes.
6168. That leaves 5 whose duty?
- Five who were lost, sir.
6169. No, no; that would leave 5 saved who, if they had had time and opportunity, ought to work on the starboard side?
- Yes, that is right, sir.
6170. Of those five, Hayes is one, is he?
- Hayes is one.
6171. Harrison is another?
- Yes, sir.
6172. There were three left; are the three others in court here?
- No, sir.
6173. Where are these other three; that is what I want to know?
- They were connected with the forward doors, forward of the steerage; they went home, I believe, sir.
6174. Of the five who have been saved, whose duty it was to work on the starboard side, we have only two in this country?
- Two, that is all.
6175. Hayes is one who has given evidence. Harrison is here, and when he is put on the stand he will be able to tell us something about it.
- Yes, sir.
By Chief Justice McLeod:
6176. Whose duty was it to light the emergency lamps?
- Night watchmen, sir.
6177. Do you know whether they were lit or not?
- I seen two lit on the forward companion, sir.
6178. Third class accommodation; is that where they were?
- No, on the main companionway.
6179. Whose duty was it to light the third class?
- Night watchmen, sir.
6180. Are they here?
- No, they were drowned, sir.
6181. You don’t know whether these lights were lit or not?
- I couldn’t say. sir.