Show MORRO CASTLE QUIZ RESUMED r Second Steward Testifies He Saw Nothing Peculiar in in in Fir Fires Fire's s 's Spread NEW YORK YORK Sept ept 17 James Th-James James Pond second steward of or the ill fated liner Morro Castle told toM C a a federal fedora board of inquiry today he saw noth noth- ing i ng peculiar about the rapid spread of the fire aboard the liner a wee week ago last Saturday that claimed 13 j 4 lives No sir I did not he replied toa to toa ti tia D a direct question I would say th the wind fanned the fire swiftly through the ship Pond was emphatic in ir a statement t that all members of the stewards steward's 5 department were capable and exper 1 I picked them my myself i-i i he C said The second steward said he an and d I several officers took charge of th the passengers as they be began an up on deck deek He said he and the officers of ol rh rs pacified the passengers led ic old d Continued on Page Pact Two MORRO CASTLE QUIZ RESUMED Second Steward Testifies He Saw Nothing Peculiar in Fires Fire's Spread Continued from roni Pate Pace One them down to C deck and that later when the smoke became so thick he could scarcely see sec the P passengers were told to descend to D deck He said he ho heard a man passenger shout tI Come on lets let's go overboard what what are you OU waiting for or Pond testified he never saw any Inflammable polishes on the ship hip and said if he had he would have taken them hem away and dischar discharged ed those found using them DIckerson N. N Hoover chairman of or orthe the he board of ot inquiry said today that the officers of or the Morro Castle would be reexamined this week and that George L Alagna first assistant radio operator of the ship hip would be called later in the week Dr S. S Joseph Bregstein of Brooklyn Brook Brook- lyn yn a passenger whose son on Mervin Marvin 8 a years old was lost was the first witness witness today i Reciting an incident on the trip to Havana in which he said he had difficulty dif dlf- getting lamb Iamb chops for the boy Dr Bregstein testified the head headwaiter headwaiter headwaiter waiter told him he had been having trouble with his waiters that they were insubordinate and that he planned to get rid of most of them when the boat got back to New York Bregstein test testified that he was awakened at 4 o'clock by a passenger who told him the ship hip was on fire Were you assigned to any lifeboat lifeboat lifeboat life life- boat he was asked I was not Dr Bregstein said that after he had hurriedly dressed and hastened over the deck it seemed that it was everybody for himself eIL Dr Bregstein said nid that during the frenzied dashing about of ot passengers he le saw no stewards and no officers Nor he added did he see sec any noti notice e ein in n his stateroom telling him which lifeboat to go to in the event of ot an accident Dr Bregstein slid into the water waterdown waterdown waterdown down a rope and was rescued by a lifeboat from the Monarch of Ber Bel Bermuda muda Dr then volunteered this One day I saw an open can of paint on the ship he narrated I 1 noticed this because I overheard a painter and another crew member arguing about a job the former was Vas doing I aI thought it was pretty risky to have lave an open can of ot paint paint paint-of of oi oily paint on paint on the ship Bernard J. J McNally of New York of the stewards steward's department a storekeeper storekeeper storekeeper store store- keeper testified that another man Lappa handled the ships ship's stores Asked whether or not he had knowledge of cleaning materials used he replied I did not handle them Have you jou ever seen een cleaning fluid going around he was ask asked d. d No Hoover Hoo questioned the witness about the use o of inflammable polish on the Morro Castle McNally declared he knew nothing nothing nothing noth noth- ing about this Questioned about the operation of the watertight door leading to the writing room locker Pond the n next witness declared that he had seen the he door tested on a number of ot occasions occasions oc oCe by engineers and inspectors It operated all right he said Questioned again about the alleged illegal use of polish on the liner Pond said aid the stewards steward's department had iad and used a kind of liquid brass polish which was distinctly marked noninflammable A dining room steward on the burned liner testified that he escaped from rom the ship in the No 1 lifeboat that it was ordered lowered by the chief chic engineer and that the chief engineer got in the boat himself You heard no one order him into it Steward Richard Kopf Kopi of Brooklyn Brooklyn Brooklyn Brook Brook- lyn was asked No he did it himself Kopf re reo re- re plied At last Tuesdays Tuesday's sc session sion of the Inquiry inquiry in In- the chief engineer Eben S. S Abbott test testified that the acting captain cap cal tam tain of the Morro Castle ordered him hini to take the boat away Abbott said he was overcome by the fumes when he went up to report to the captain that No 1 lifeboat was there and the captain said Take that boat The hearing then was as recessed for lunch The first witness of ot the afternoon session Charles Wright of New York head waiter walter on the Morro Castle testified his roommate woke him up and informed him of ot the fire tire Did you ever have any trouble with your our waiters No serious trouble he replied I discharged some for getting getling drunk At Havana there were only two or three of the crew drunk he replied replied re re- re plied in answering a series o of questions ques- ques questions ques designed to determine the condition con con- of the crew on ott the ships ship's last sailing All sorts of ot nationalities waited on tables was his answer to questions questions ques ques- regarding the citizenship of waiters Spanish Americans Germans Germans Germans Ger Ger- mans and many others |