Page 75 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 14 - 18

sight is the matter which you say is not satisfactory. The Commissioner: Yes, I will tell you at once. My impression is this, that the man was trying to make an excuse for not seeing the iceberg, and he thought he could make it out by creating a thick haze. The Attorney-General: There is some other evidence, but I will direct attention to it later, when we come to deal with it. I am not sure, but my impression is that up to this moment we have no evidence of anybody who was watching, except these two men; I mean there is no officer who has been able to give evidence as to this, no officer was actually looking or watching at the time. The Commissioner: Or seeing? The Attorney-General: Or seeing. Of course, I mean who have been called before you. I am speaking of evidence. The only evidence we have got of persons who were actually looking out is the evidence of Lee and this witness. The Commissioner: We have evidence of the state of the sky before the accident and after the accident. The Attorney-General: Yes. Sir Robert Finlay: And Mr. Boxhall, I think, was on the bridge. The Commissioner: I mean the evidence before and after the accident is that the sky was perfectly clear, and therefore if the evidence of the haze is to be accepted, it must have been some extraordinary natural phenomenon - something that sprang up quite suddenly, and then vanished. The Attorney-General: Yes. The Commissioner: However, this witness denies he said it. The Attorney-General: It is all in a very small compass, the evidence with regard to this, and certainly Lee’s evidence is the strongest about the haze. I do not think any witness goes as far. The Commissioner: It was so thick that you would have great trouble, as he said, cutting through it. The Attorney-General: Yes, I think that is the only evidence to that effect. 17273. (The Commissioner - To the Witness.) I understand you to say that whatever it was, it made no difference to the look-out? - Yes, my Lord. 17274. (The Attorney-General.) Who was it first saw the berg? Was it you or Lee? - Well, I do not know. 17275. Well, which of you gave the signal? - I did. You were looking ahead. Will you tell my Lord what it was - what you saw? The Commissioner: This is the three bell signal. 17276. (The Attorney-General.) Yes, we are coming to it, the three bell signal, something ahead. (To the Witness.) Now describe to my Lord what it was you saw? - Well a black object. 17277. A black object. Was it high above the water or low? - High above the water. 17278. What did you do? - I struck three bells. 17279. Was it right ahead of you, or on the port or starboard bow? - Right ahead. 17280. You struck three bells immediately, I suppose? - Yes, as soon as I saw it. 17281. What did you do next? - I went to the telephone. 17282. Was that on the starboard side of the crow’s-nest? - Yes. 17283. You went to the telephone, and - ? - Rang them up on the bridge. 17284. Did you get an answer? - Yes. 17285. Did you say anything to them at once, or did they answer you before you told them? - I asked them were they there, and they said yes. 17286. Yes? - Then they said, “What do you see?” I said, “Iceberg right ahead.’ They said, “Thank you.” 17287. Then you dropped the telephone, did you? - Yes.