THIRD OFFICER’S STORY
The third officer, Jack Saxe, who was on the bridge when the collision occurred, was most emphatic on two points: The Empress of Ireland was not stationary when the collision took place; the ship had considerable headway on her and her separation from the collier was as much due to this as to the withdrawing of the collier; and, further, there were no words heard from the captain of the Empress.
“I have read what the captain said in his evidence at the inquest,” said the officer, “but it is not true—there are many things he has said there which are not true. We thought we were sinking ourselves after the collision, and did not think the other boat was badly damaged, so we got our boats ready to swing out, and then we heard the cries for help, and we launched our boats and rowed to the rescue.
“Four times the boat I was in charge of went to and from the scene of the disaster and picked up passengers—some dead, but many alive. We have a pile of clothing on the boat deck here which was the night attire of the passengers we saved, and which was replaced by clothes which were lent them from this ship.
“We gave them every piece of clothing we had, and even gave them the bedclothes. The wife of the captain gave the women a lot of clothes, and she was working bravely through it all, ministering to the needs of the half-frozen people that were rescued.
“The first boat from the collier got away in two or three minutes, and I headed her for the liner, which was gradually going over to one side. The first trip made I picked up thirty-two people who were struggling in the icy cold water. I brought them back and they were taken to the Storstad. Then I went back again and picked up sixteen more people alive and eight bodies of people who had died from the shock.
“My crew rowed like demons possessed, and after we had put them on board our ship we rowed back again and got some more people and bodies. These we took to the pilot ship, which was nearer to us than the Storstad, the collier being about eight hundred yards away.
“The third time we went back the liner was just going under, and we pulled away from her some distance so as not to be drawn into the suction, and when she had disappeared we rowed over the spot and got some of those who were floating about. Their cries for help were awful, but they lasted only a few minutes and then all was silent as the grave.