Page 49 - British Inquiry into Loss of RMS Titanic Day 6 - 9

6351. Did I catch you rightly to say the interpreter was doing it and men were helping him? - I could see two or three stewards. 6352. You could? - Yes. 6353. Third-class stewards? - I suppose they were, I am not quite sure. 6354. Trying to persuade the people? - Yes. 6355. And where was it these people that you saw were standing? - In the alleyway, just abaft the emergency door leading into the second-class. 6356. That is also on E deck? - Yes. 6357. Are the third-class cabins which are abaft of that also on the E deck? - There are some on E deck, and there are some on F deck below that. 6358. (Mr. Clement Edwards.) There is a question which I did not examine into, but which has arisen, if your Lordship will permit me. (To the Witness.) When you saw this water in your compartment did it lead you to any conclusion as to the special danger in which you thought the ship was? - No, not anything special. If it had been higher I should have thought something about it, but under the circumstances I thought it might have been a pipe burst, because there was a pipe burst on the “Olympic” from the engineers’ quarters and we got the same water. It might have been the same thing. The Commissioner: I think all the representatives of the different classes are here now, and I want to say that Mr. Laing, at the sitting of the Court this afternoon, mentioned that the White Star Company would place the “Olympic” on Monday at the disposal of the gentlemen who are here representing the different classes, so that if they choose to go and see her at 12 o’clock on that day they will be able to go over the steamer. Mr. Edwards:. May I say, my Lord, on behalf of my friends, we appreciate this, but it would considerably help us, and in the end I think might help the Court, if passes were also provided for experts to accompany the counsel and representatives who are engaged in this case, not in the sense of experts who may be called as witnesses, but rather as experts who with their special knowledge may fortify the counsel on matters of technical importance. The Commissioner: What do you say to that, Mr. Laing? Mr. Laing: My clients do not think that is a reasonable request to make. Their invitation is to the gentlemen who are representing the parties, like ourselves. The Commissioner: I think you must be satisfied with the ordinary order, which is to the gentlemen who represent the interests. I think that is sufficient. 6359. (The Solicitor-General - To the Witness.) There is one other thing. You may be able to tell us about the electric light in the afterpart of the ship. You have described how you heard the breaking of the metal, the rending of metal, followed by this rush of people to the poop. At the time when you heard the rending of metal, were the electric lights burning in the part of the ship you saw? - The electric lights were burning right to the very last. I saw the time by my watch at a quarter-past two. 6360. You looked at your watch? - Yes. 6361. You were carrying it? - Yes, I had it in this pocket I was transferring it from this pocket to my stern pocket. 6362. And you looked at it as you did it? - Yes. 6363. Were you holding on to the rail at the time? - No, I was getting towards the rail. It was a quarter-past two then. 6364. And the electric light was burning then? - Yes. 6365. So that there was never a time when you were on that ship when there was not electric light where you were? - Right to the very finish that I saw. 6366. (The Commissioner.) Your opinion is it was burning until the afterpart of the ship went down. Do you mean that? - Yes, I saw it.