THE TITANIC DISASTER

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 303, 19 June 1912, Page 5

THE TITANIC DISASTER

THE BOAT ACCOMMODATION. By Cable —Press Association—Copyright. London, June 17. Giving evidence before the Titanic enquiry, Mr. Archer, principal ship surveyor, stated that his recommendations in 1911, if adopted, would have given the Titanic boat accommodation for nearly three thousand. The Tule of exempting vessels with watertight bulkheads ought to be abandoned The boat accommoflstion should be regulated according to the number of passengers aboard instead of by the tonnage. A committee should be appointed to consider the method of lowering the boats.

STATEMENT BY SECOND OFFICER. Sydney, June 18. Mr. Lightoller, second) officer of the Titanic, in a letter to his mother-in-law, a Sydney resident, says that the accident was caused by a combination of circumstances which might not occur again perhaps for a century. It ■was a perfectly calm night, an absolutely smooth sea, with no moon, and the blue side of the berg was towards them. If there had been the slightest breeze the ripples breaking on the berg would have given a phosphorescent glow to the swell. It would have done the same in the morning and would) have given a reflected light, while the white side would have disclosed the berg in sufficient time to clear it.