“One of the bodies found in this boat was that of Mr. Thompson Beattie. We got his watch and labels from his clothes showing his name and that of the dealer, which we sent to the executor. Two others were a fireman and a sailor, both unidentified. The overcoat belonging to Mr. Williams I sent to a furrier to be re-conditioned, but nothing could be done with it except to dry it out, so I sent it to him as it was. There was no cane in the boat. The message from the Oceanic and the words ‘R. N. Williams, care of Duane Williams,’ were twisted by the receiver of the message to ‘Richard N. Williams, cane of Duane Williams,’[40] which got into the press, and thus perpetuated the error.
“There was also a ring found in the boat whose owner we eventually traced in Sweden and restored the property to her. We cannot account for its being in the boat, but we know that her husband was a passenger on the Titanic—Edward P. Lindell, a third-class passenger. The widow’s address is, care of Nels Persson, Helsingborg, Sweden.”
[40] Italics are mine.—Author.
Rescue of the occupants of boat “A” at daylight Monday morning is recorded in the testimony of Officer Lowe and members of the crew of his boat No. 14 and the other boats 12, 10, 4 and “D” which were tied together. No. 14 we recall was emptied of passengers and a crew taken from all the boats referred to went back to the wreck. The substance of the testimony of all of them agrees and I need only cite that of Quartermaster Bright, in charge of boat “D,” as follows:
A. Bright, Q. M. (in charge) (Am. Inq., p. 834):
Just at daylight witness saw from his place in boat “D” one of the other collapsible boats, “A,” that was awash just flush with the water. Officer Lowe came and towed witness’s boat to the other collapsible one that was just awash and took from it thirteen men and one woman who were in the water up to their ankles. They had been singing out in the dark. As soon as daylight came they could be seen. They were rescued and the boat turned adrift with two dead bodies in it, covered with a lifebelt over their faces.
Admiral Mahan on Ismay’s duty:
Rear Admiral A. T. Mahan, retired, in a letter which the Evening Post publishes, has this to say of J. Bruce Ismay’s duty:
In the Evening Post of April 24 Admiral Chadwick passes a distinct approval upon the conduct of Mr. Ismay in the wreck of the Titanic by characterizing the criticisms passed upon it as the “acme of emotionalism.”
Both censure and approval had best wait upon the results of the investigations being made in Great Britain. Tongues will wag, but if men like Admiral Chadwick see fit to publish anticipatory opinions those opinions must receive anticipatory comment.