Page 30 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 14 - 18

When did you come up again? The Commissioner: You say he can. The Attorney-General: I said he could because he had a pleasant smile about it. The Commissioner: I doubt very much whether he can remember going to his dinner that evening. He knows he had it. 16446. (The Attorney-General - To the Witness.) I rather gathered from your pleasant recollections that you do remember it? - I do remember it. 16447. (The Commissioner.) Do you remember every dinner you ever had? - Well, not quite. 16448. (The Attorney-General.) But you went down and had your dinner; when was it you came up again? - I could not give you any correct idea of the time. Of course it is very difficult we know; you have not got your records, and we also know what has happened since. What I want you to do is to give us to the best of your ability what you recollect about it. The Commissioner: I do not want any answer unless he does recollect it. The Attorney-General: I agree; but we must try to find out from him. The Commissioner: Do try, but as to the events of this morning, I want to be as sure as I possibly can. The Attorney-General: Your Lordship must know how he recollects it before you can tell what value to attribute to the evidence. The Commissioner: That is why I want to know whether he does recollect at all. The Attorney-General: I quite agree. (To the Witness.) Do you recollect coming up again from your dinner? The Commissioner: He cannot recollect; there is no use his saying to me he can recollect. He may know he did come up. The Attorney-General: Your Lordship will hear what happened afterwards, and you will find that he does recollect. The Commissioner: I can quite imagine that if he met some particular person, he might possibly recollect it; otherwise it is impossible. 16449. (The Attorney-General - To the Witness.) We may be quite sure about this - that you did not stop down at dinner all that night? - No. 16450. After you had had your dinner, did you have any conversation at all with Mr. Phillips? - Yes, we chatted for a long while. 16451. Where was it you had this chat? - In the Marconi room. 16452. So that you had come up from your dinner to the Marconi room? - Yes. 16453. Do you remember how long it was after you went down to dinner that you had this chat with him in the Marconi room? - Somewhere about 20 minutes to half an hour. 16454. (The Commissioner.) What is this 20 minutes that you remember? - For my dinner - about 20 minutes to half an hour I have for my dinner. 16455. I understand now from you that you recollect not only coming up from your dinner (that you did come up, of course we know), but you recollect 20 minutes’ conversation with Mr. Phillips. Is that what you mean to say? - No, I was asked how long was it after I went down for my dinner before I returned, and I say it was between 20 minutes and half an hour. The Attorney-General: He did not say that he had 20 minutes’ conversation with Mr. Phillips. The question I put to him was that he had some conversation with Mr. Phillips in the Marconi room, and I asked him how long that was after he had gone down to his dinner, so as to get some idea of the time. The Commissioner: You asked him how long the conversation was. 16456. (The Attorney-General - To the Witness.) It was in answer to that you said 20 minutes to half an hour? - Yes.