Page 80 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 14 - 18
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me if it is correct? Sir Robert Finlay: What day? 17385. (Mr. Scanlan.) It is the 24th April: - “(Senator Burton.) You say when you first saw that iceberg that it was about the size of these two tables”? - That is right; that is the way I put it. The Commissioner: We have not got the tables here. 17386. (Mr. Scanlan.) We have plenty of tables, my Lord. (To the Witness.) When Senator Burton was asking you that question, were there two small tables in the room? - The two tables were in the room, which I mentioned to him. 17387. Were the two tables in the room any bigger than those (Pointing.)? - I do not know. 17388. At all events, is it correct to say when you first saw this iceberg it appeared to be very small. Is that so? - [No Answer.] The Commissioner: Did he give any answer to the question? Mr. Scanlan: I do not think he has, my Lord. The Commissioner: Very well, I am quite satisfied to leave it where it is. The Attorney-General: There was an eloquent look - I do not know whether your Lordship caught that. The Commissioner: What was the look? What was it, Mr. Scanlan? Mr. Scanlan: This is the question - The Commissioner: Yes, I heard the question; I heard no answer, and I am now told that, in place of an answer, there was an eloquent look. Did you see the eloquent look? 17389. (Mr. Scanlan.) I did not, my Lord. I have not as good an eye as the Attorney-General. (To the Witness.) If it is not troubling you too much, Mr. Fleet, would you tell his Lordship this; when you first saw the iceberg, the first sight of it you caught at the distance you were from it, did it appear as a very small object? - Yes. 17390. Was this a good night for seeing; would you describe it as a clear night, or a night in which it was difficult to see? - It was not difficult at all. One of the officers who was on the bridge up till 10 o’clock, said this. He was asked this question: “Then you both realised at the time, that since it was a flat calm it would be more difficult to see the ice? - (A.) As far as the case of the berg was concerned, yes, it would be more difficult; naturally you would not see the water breaking on it if there were no wind.” Was it an ordinary clear night, or did you experience some difficulty as look-out man? The Commissioner: He has just said he experienced no difficulty. He has told us so several times, you know. 17391. (Mr. Scanlan.) Yes, my Lord. (To the Witness.) Could you see water breaking on the iceberg when you noticed it? - No. 17392. I think you said when you were being examined that you said to your mate Lee that there was a slight haze coming? - Yes. 17393. I want to make this perfectly clear. Is it your evidence that there was a haze that night? - No, there was not. I said there was a slight haze. Could you recall now how long you had observed the haze before - The Commissioner: He told us once that he could not. Mr. Scanlan: He was asked, I think, how long after he came on the watch. The Commissioner: He was asked by the Attorney-General, and he told us that he could not; and as I myself have very grave doubts about there being a haze at all, I can understand his having a difficulty in saying how long before the collision it was that he saw it. Mr. Scanlan: As your Lordship made that observation in reference to the haze, I thought I might refer your Lordship to the evidence of Mr. Symons, at page 268. The Commissioner: By all means. 17394. (Mr. Scanlan.) The question was asked by Mr. Laing, at Question 11983. (To the
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