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American Inquiry
Testimony of Frank Evans, pages 675 - 677
Senator SMITH. That boat was
lowered. Were there any male passengers in
there; any members of the crew, males?
Mr. EVANS. I did not notice
any. After we got them into that, I sung out
to the seaman: "How many have you got in
that boat?" I said: "Ginger, how many have
you got?" He said: "There is only me here."
I lowered that boat, sir, and she went away
from the ship. I then went next to No. 10,
sir, to that boat, and the chief officer,
Mr. Murdoch, was standing there, and I
lowered the boat with the assistance of a
steward. The chief officer said, "What are
you, Evans?" I said "A seaman, sir." He said
"All right; get into that boat with the
other seamen." He said, "Get into that
boat," and I got into the bows of this boat,
and a young ship's baker was getting the
children and chucking them into the boat,
and the women were jumping. Mr. Murdoch made
them jump across into the boat.
Senator SMITH. What occurred then;
was it lowered?
Mr. EVANS. It was lowered.
Senator SMITH. To the water?
Mr. EVANS. Yes; to the water.
Senator SMITH. How long did you stop
there?
Mr. EVANS. We stopped there about
an hour, I think it was, sir, when No. 14 boat
came over with one officer.
Senator SMITH. What officer?
Mr. EVANS. The fifth officer. I
think it was.
Senator SMITH. Mr. Lowe; No. 14 boat?
Mr. EVANS. No. 14 boat. He came
over in No. 14 boat, and he says, "Are there any
seamen there?" We said, "Yes, sir." He said, "All
right; you will have to distribute these
passengers among these boats. Tie them all
together and come into my boat," he said, "to go
over into the wreckage and pick up anyone that is
alive there." So we got into his boat and went
straight over toward the wreckage. We picked up
four men there, sir; alive.
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