“I am informed that a committee of the United States Senate has been appointed to investigate the circumstances of the accident. I heartily welcome the most complete and exhaustive inquiry, and any aid that I can render is at the service of the public and of the Governments of both the United States and Great Britain. Under these circumstances I must defer making any further statement at this hour.”
Mr. Ismay said informally before giving out his statement that he left the ship in one of the last boats, one of the collapsible boats on the port side. This statement, however, as will later appear, is scathingly denounced by several survivors as untrue.
“I do not know the speed at which the Titanic was going,” said Mr. Ismay in reply to a question. “She hit the iceberg a glancing blow.”
MR. ISMAY WILL MAKE A COMPLETE STATEMENT.
Mr. Ismay, after his interview with Senator Smith, said that he was desirous of sailing on the Carpathia the next afternoon. The Carpathia was scheduled to sail at 4 o’clock. Mr. Ismay assured the Senators, however, that he would make a complete statement of the catastrophe, and that if he could not finish in time for the sailing he would change his plans.
Mr. Ismay then went to his apartments at the Ritz-Carlton.
The arrival of the Carpathia brought a vast multitude of people to the Cunard docks. They filled the vast pier sheds, and, overflowing for blocks, crowded the nearby streets in a dense throng. Through it all the rain fell steadily, adding a funeral aspect to the scene. The landing of the survivors was attended with little excitement, the crowd standing in awe-like silence as the groups from the ship passed along. The docking actually began shortly after nine o’clock and the debarking of passengers was so quickly disposed of by the waiving of the usual formality that practically everything had been concluded by 10.30 o’clock. The crowds remained about the pier long after this, however, to get a glimpse of the rescuing steamer and to hear the harrowing stories which had been brought back by the ship.
Colonel Archibald Gracie, U. S. A., the last man saved, went down with the vessel, but was picked up. He was met by his daughter, who had arrived from Washington, and his son-in-law, Paul H. Fabricius. Colonel Gracie told a remarkable story of personal hardship and denied emphatically the reports that there had been any panic on board. He praised in the highest terms the behavior of both the passengers and crew and paid a high tribute to the heroism of the women passengers.
Contrary to the general expectation, there was no jarring impact when the vessel struck, according to the army officer. He was in his berth when the vessel smashed into the submerged portion of the berg and was aroused by the jar. He looked at his watch, he said and found it was just midnight. The ship sank with him at 2.22 A. M. for his watch stopped at that hour.