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Show Isms SAILORS IRE UNABLE TO TURN BOLT Survivor of Titanic Disaster Believes Watertight Com- partments Proved Useless in Time of Necessity. ANOTHER TELLS OF ESCAPJH FROM SHIP Leaps 'Into Lifeboat and Cries When Ordered Out; Lies Down and Is Covered With Shawl by Mrs. Astor. Ry International News Service j portant feature of the Titanic, and the one that was Uic basis of her builder's assertion that she tvns an unsinkable ship her wntcr-tihL wntcr-tihL eonipartments proved useless in lime of emergency. Such was the vital Iioint brought out today by Senator William Alden Smith, chairman of the senatorial committee which is bringing bring-ing to a Epcedj- eloe the inquiry into the sreat tragedy of the North Atlantic. Atlan-tic. The witness from whom was dr8 wn this information is George A. Harder, a young manufacturer of Brooklyn, who with his wife, was returning re-turning from his honeymoon on the Titanic. Ti-tanic. "After the ship had struck." said Mr. Harder. "J saw two or three of the crew with large, wrenches. They were trying t0 turn a brass plate in the floor that bore the initials 'W, T.' and one other. I don't know whether it was a 'C or ' D.' This was on the starboard side of the boat, between the stairs and the elevator. f: heard one of tho men gay, after working at the plaic with his wrench: H Unable to Turn Plate. " Well, it's no use This one won't 1 work. Let's Iry another one.' They 1 . didn '. seem to be nervous and I thought ' there was no daugcr, but that they ; were .just doing f'hat" for the sake of' jTotcc-1 ion. ' ' -H "Do von" gather that the bolt was , icMinec'ted directly with the watertight jl eombartnientsl,? asked Senator Smith, 1 "Yen, I think it was," was the rc- .Mr. Harder testified further that I s.omc difficulty was experienced in gct- ting the lifeboat, he was in into tho 1 water nnd that after it had been launched there was a lot of trouble keeping it on au even keel. He said . that those on board feared they would bo dumped into the ocean any mo- Glaus Abeiflcth. wh0 was in the for-ward for-ward of the steerage all the time of the accident, said tVat third-class pas-sengcrs pas-sengcrs were given equal opportunity with the others to make their escape. 3 Saved by a Woman. Senator Smith has been trying for H . tome days to find the man who somo of the survivors said had escaped by H- ; affecting the disguise of a woman. I- J liat man. who is Darnel Buckley, 2 vears old. a native of Cork, Ireland, came forward of his own volition today to-day aud told in detail .iust how he was enabled to make, his escape in one of the lifeboats with the assistance of a woman be believes to have, been Mrs. lohn Jacob Astor. After explaining to Senator Smith bow he had helped to lower two of the boards the young man said he followed .tho lead of other meu and leaped into lbs third that was launched. . "I -was crying when I jumped into the boat and fell on the floor," he said passionately. "Then T beard two officers order the men out. They refused re-fused to go until the officers drew their revolvers and began to fire- in the air. ' 'Here, stop your crying,' said the only woman passenger in the boat, who I am sure was Mrs. Actor. 'Let me cover vou up.' She put a. shawl over me as I lay at her feet on the floor." Buckley testified furthc-r that the stccrago passengers in the after part of tho Titanic were barred from, the lifeboats by a gate that was locked against 'them. . "One man tried to climb over this eate." he said, "but au officer pushed him back. Then wc all rushed forward and broke down the obstruction. From then on wc were permitted the same libcrtv enjoyed bv the firbt and second-class second-class passengers." An important piece of evidence that Senator Smith succeeded in drawing from this witness wan thnt a fireman on board the Titnnic told him that he did not believe the giant liner had struck an iceberg, but that while out for a record her boilers burst and caused her to sink. 'There now remains but one more matter to bo investigated when the senatorial hoaring will be completed, Mr. Smith thought today, This is the statement of a telegrapher who is said to have received a message from Is-may Is-may for Franklin telling of the loss of the Titanic and, it is believed, referring re-ferring to reinsurance on the then foundering vessel. At the conclusion of today's private hearing by the senate committee at i the Waldorf Senator Smith gnvc out a statement in which he said he had no comment to make upon the inquiry in Enclnnd except that it should bo borne in mind that the British had ample time to prepare systematically for their inquiry, whereas the senate committee was obliged to go abend without any opportunity whatever to arrange it3 details. |