Page 165 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 14 - 18

18916. Did he stop when he handed you the paper? - No. 18917. Did he walk away without saying anything? - Yes, he went away. 18918. You looked at it? - Yes. 18919. And you put it in your pocket? - Yes. 18920. I think you said you were going down to lunch at the time? - To the best of my recollection the lunch bugle went almost immediately and I went down to lunch. 18921. That is your recollection? - That is my best recollection. 18922. Was anything said, apart from the two ladies you have told us about, about this, until Captain Smith asked you for the message some considerable time later? - No. 18923. You have told us that you realised that you would be getting near the ice region from something said by the Doctor at dinner? - Yes. 18924. He said that you had turned the corner? - He said that we had turned the corner. 18925. Did you know whether you had run further South than the corner which is usually adopted would have taken you? - No, I knew nothing at all about that. 18926. Then your conclusion that you were getting near the region of ice was from putting together the intimation that you had turned the corner which would take you on a less Southerly course than you had been following, and the “Baltic” having sent a message which partly related to ice? That is what led you to infer that it would be somewhere on the ordinary track? - Yes. 18927. As I understand you, you did not realise from the latitude and longitude mentioned in the “Baltic’s” message, the exact position of the ice relative to the vessel? - No. 18928. The “Baltic,” I think, was one of your vessels? - Yes. 18929. Now, passing from that matter, when you left the deck to go into the collapsible boat, did you hear the officer calling out for more women? - I do not think I did. 18930. Just let me recall to you what was said by another witness on the point on page 395; it begins at Question 17627 and runs on for two or three questions and answers. This is Rowe’s evidence: “Later on were you saved in the starboard collapsible boat? - (A.) I was. (Q.) And did Captain Smith tell you to go into it? - (A.) Yes. (Q.) Were you told to take charge of it? - (A.) No, I was not told to take charge because I was in charge. (Q.) Who got into that boat? - (A.) The boat was partially full when I got into it; I had 53 women and 3 children in the stern. Chief Officer Wilde was asking for more women. There were none forthcoming, and two gentlemen got in. (Q.) Who were the two gentlemen who got in? - (A.) One was Mr. Ismay. (Q.) And who was the other? - (A.) I never saw the man before.” Did you hear Mr. Wilde asking for more women? - No, I do not remember that particular occasion. I heard of it so often that I cannot remember whether I did then or not. 18931. It was put to you that one witness, Brown, said that you helped the women to get into the boat and were standing in the boat and helping them in? - I think he was mistaken. 18932. Is that a mistake? - I think so. 18933. You never got into the boat till the last moment? - That is so. The Commissioner: What is the reference to that? Mr. Laing: Page 219. 18934. (Sir Robert Finlay.) If your Lordship pleases, I should like to read that. It is Question 10519: “Did you then proceed to fill it up with women and children?” That is the collapsible boat. - (A.) Yes. (Q.) Was Mr. Bruce Ismay taking any part in connection with that boat? - (A.) Yes he was calling out for the women and children first. He helped to get them into that boat, and he went into it himself to receive the women and children. (Q.) Was that boat filled? - (A.) It was filled.” You say that is not correct as regards your getting into the boat? - No, not to my memory. 18935. You helped the women and children in, but not from inside the boat? - That is so. 18936. And you did not go into it until the last moment, as you have told us? - Not till she was