"Yes; but ship-owners don't like to carry two operators when they can get along with one. The smaller boat owners do not like the expense of two operators."
SECOND OFFICER TESTIFIES
Charles Herbert Lightoller, second officer of the Titanic, followed Marconi on the stand. Mr. Lightoller said he understood the maximum speed of the Titanic, as shown by its trial tests, to have been twenty-two and a half to twenty-three knots. Senator Smith asked if the rule requiring life-saving apparatus to be in each room for each passenger was complied with.
"Everything was complete," said Lightoller. "Sixteen life-boats, of which four were collapsible, were on the Titanic," he added. During the tests, he said, Captain Clark, of the British Board of Trade, was aboard the Titanic to inspect its life-saving equipment.
"How thorough are these captains of the Board of Trade in inspecting ships?" asked Senator Smith.
"Captain Clark is so thorough that we called him a nuisance."
TITANIC KILLED RAPIDLY
After testifying to the circumstances under which the life-boats were filled and lowered, Lightoller continued. "The boat's deck was only ten feet from the water when I lowered the sixth boat. When we lowered the first, the distance to the water was seventy feet."
"If the same course was pursued on the starboard side as you pursued on the port, in filling boats, how do you account for so many members of the crew being saved?" asked Chairman Smith.
"I have inquired especially and have found that for every six persons picked up, five were either firemen or stewards."