THE LAXITY OF THE WIRELESS
Another phase of the laxity of the wireless, so far as man is concerned, was developed by the chairman. He drew from the witness an acknowledgment that on Sunday evening Bride was sitting, the telephonic apparatus strapped to his ears, adjusting his accounts, while the steamship Californian, seeking to warn the Titanic that icebergs were invading the lanes of ocean travel, called incessantly.
Bride said he heard the call but did not answer because he was “busy.”
It was not until a half hour later that the Californian, striving to reach the steamship Baltic, reached also the Titanic, whereupon the warning that three huge icebergs had been sighted, was noted by Bride and verbally communicated to the liner’s captain.
“At this time, however, neither of us worried a bit. When we heard the confusion on deck I went out to investigate and when I returned I found Mr. Phillips sending out a “C. Q. D.” call, giving our position.
“We raised the Frankfurt first and then the Carpathia and the Baltic. As I have said, we did not try for the Frankfurt for any length of time, but concentrated our messages on the Carpathia, which had answered that she was rushing to our aid.”
“From time to time either Mr. Phillips or I would go on deck to observe the situation. The last time I went on deck I found the passengers running around in confusion and there was almost a panic.
“They were seeking lifebelts. All of the large lifeboats were gone, but there was one liferaft remaining. It had been lashed on the top of the quarters on the boat deck. A number of men were striving to launch it.
“I went back to the wireless cabin then. Mr. Phillips was striving to send out a final ‘C. Q. D.’ call. The power was so low that we could not tell exactly whether it was being carried or not, for we were in a closed cabin and we could not hear the crackle of the wireless at the mast.