SAW DISTRESS ROCKETS
Ernest Gill, a donkey engineman on the steamship Californian,
was the first witness on April 26th. He said that Captain
Stanley Lord, of the Californian, refused later to go to the aid
of the Titanic, the rockets from which could be plainly seen.
He says the captain was apprised of these signals, but made no
effort to get up steam and go to the rescue. The Californian
was drifting with the floe. So indignant did he become, said
Gill, that he endeavored to recruit a committee of protest
from among the crew, but the men failed him.
Captain Lord entered a sweeping denial of Gill's accusations
and read from the Californian's log to support his contention.
Cyril Evans, the Californian's wireless operator,
however, told of hearing much talk among the crew, who
were critical of the captain's course. Gill, he said, told him
he expected to get $500 for his story when the ship reached
Boston.
Evans told of having warned the Titanic only a brief time
before the great vessel crashed into the berg that the sea was
crowded with ice. The Titanic's operators, he said, at the
time were working with the wireless station at Cape Race,
and they told him to "shut up" and keep out. Within a
half hour the pride of the sea was crumpled and sinking.
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