Tag Archives: iceberg

‘Keep Your Mouth Shut; Big Money for You,’ Was Message to Hide News

Harold Bridge, the assistant wireless operator on the Titanic suffered frostbitten feet. He is shown being carried from the Carpathia upon arrival in New York.

Harold Bridge, the assistant wireless operator on the Titanic suffered frostbitten feet. He is shown being carried from the Carpathia upon arrival in New York.

New York Herald, April 21, 1912, page 1:

‘Keep Your Mouth Shut; Big Money for You,’ Was Message to Hide News

Hold Story for ‘Four Figures,’ Marconi Official Also Warned the Carpathia Operator, While Anxious World Waited Details of Disaster.

While the world was waiting three days for information concerning the fate of the Titanic, for part of the time at least, details concerning the disaster were being withheld by the wireless operator of the steamship Carpathia under specific orders from T. W. Sammis, chief engineer of the Marconi Wireless Company of America, who had arranged the sale of the story. This was admitted yesterday by Mr. Sammis, who defended his action. He said he was justified for getting for the wireless operators the largest amount he could for the details of the sinking of the ship, the rescue of the passengers and the other information the world had waited for. The first information concerning the loss of the Titanic came Monday evening, and it was known at that time the survivors were on board the Carpathia. About midnight the first of the list of survivors began to come by wireless, and from that time until Thursday night, when the rescue ship arrived in port, the world waited and waited in vain for the details of how the “unsinkable ship” had gone down. Three messages were sent to the Carpathia telling the operator to send out no news concerning the disaster. Two of these were unsigned, and the last one had the signature of Mr. Sammis.

“Keep Mouth Shut; Big Money.”

The first message was unsigned, and it is said it was sent as a list of names of survivors were being forwarded. It read:– “Keep your mouth shut. Hold story. Big money for you.” The messages from the Carpathia to the Marconi office concerning this matter were not available, but there was evidently some communication, for the second unsigned message followed after an interval. This message read:– “If you are wise, hold story. The Marconi company will take care of you.” The third and last message was addressed to “Marconi officer, the Carpathia and the Titanic,” and signed “S. M. Sammis,” chief engineer of the Marconi Company of America. This one read:– “Stop. Say nothing. Hold your story for dollars in four figures. Mr. Marconi agreeing. Will meet you at dock.” Mr. Sammis was at the Waldorf-Astoria yesterday at the hearing before the sub-committee of the United States Senate, and he was asked about the message.

Mr. Sammis Resents Criticism.

“It is reported,” he was told, “that a message was sent by you to the wireless operator on the Carpathia to which you gave the orders or at least said to him not to give out any details of the sinking of the Titanic, as you had arranged for four figures.” “Well?” he said is a defiant way. “Did you send such a message?” “Maybe. What of it?” he replied. “It would be interesting to know if you actually sent such a message.” “Yes, I sent the message, but whose business is it?” Mr. Sammis asked with some heat. “Perhaps it was no one’s business,” he was told, “but it is interesting to know that when the world was horror stricken over the disaster and waiting for the news, that there were persons preparing to capitalize the suspense and had arranged for ‘four figures.’ ” “Do you blame me for this,” retorted Mr. Sammis, as he backed up against the wall. “Do you blame me for getting the highest price I could for the operator for the story he had to tell about the collision and the rescue. I thought I was doing a good turn for him, and I can’t see how it is the business of anyone.” It is not unlikely that the sending of these messages with the apparent result that no details of the disaster came from the relief ship will form part of the inquiry that is being made by a sub-committee of the Senate. Part of this inquiry has been directed as to why a message from President Taft asking for information about Major Archibald W. Butt was unanswered, and it is not unlikely that in view of the message from Mr. Sammis that this will be taken up again.

Navy Likely to Have Records.

While these messages were intercepted by more than one wireless receiving station, there is one place where the Senate Committee could undoubtedly get copies of them. The New York Navy Yard has a powerful receiving station, and has what is known as an “intercepted message” book. These messages are considered confidential and are never given out, but the book would undoubtedly be at the disposal of the investigating committee. Senator Smith said yesterday that the authorities in Washington knew on Thursday long before the Carpathia arrived, that the White Star line was contemplating the return of part of the Titanic crew to England by the steamship Cedric, and this information undoubtedly came from a government station. John W. Griggs, one time Attorney General of the United States and Governor of New Jersey, is president of the Marconi Wireless Company of America. He said last night he had not heard that the chief engineer of the company was marketing the information of the disaster. “This is a matter which will be looked into,” he said. “I know nothing about it, had not heard of it before, and, of course, cannot say what will be done until it is brought to my attention in an official way.”

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Descendants: The offspring of the unstopable captain of the Carpathia meet the great-grandaughter of the Unsinkable Molly Brown

Rostron and Brown descendants
Descendants Margaret & Janet Rostron, great granddaughters of Captain Arthur Henry Rostron presenting Helen Benziger with the loving cup her great grandmother, Margaret Brown presented to their great grandfather who was the captain of the Carpathia…the ship which raced to the rescue of the survivors of Titanic.

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Join Kyrila Scully for a Titanic talk at three locations in Orlando, Florida

Kyrila Scully appears in period costume to delight audiences.

Kyrila Scully appears in period costume to delight audiences.

I’ll be speaking at the Orange County Libraries (Orlando, FL) at three Branches.
Downtown Branch, Saturday, April 19 at  11:00 a.m.
Dr. Phillips (Southwest) Branch, Sat. April 26th at 2:30 p.m.
Hunter’s Creek (South Creek) Branch, Sat. May 31 at 2:00 p.m.
Kyrila Scully will also be speaking at the Breakfast for the  Rotary Club of Lake Buena Vista, FL at the Wyndham Resort in Downtown Disney on June 5th.

If you want to book a lecture, tea party or banquet, please contact Titanic Speakers Bureau for more information.

Kyrilla Scully loves to bring Molly Brown to life for audiences.

Kyrila Scully loves to bring Molly Brown to life for audiences.

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Did the iceberg “hit the Titanic”?

The iceberg which may have sunk the Titanic. Which hit which?

The iceberg which may have sunk the Titanic. Which hit which?

There are many theories being put forward over the past few years as to why there were so many icebergs in the North Atlantic that fateful April night in 1912 when the Titanic collided with one and sank. While the information ranges from assertions by modern scientists and researchers that there were more icebergs due to a really cold winter and spring, the article below which was published in LIVE SCIENCE proclaims that 1912 was an average busy season for bergs.  The article goes on to say that the iceberg “hit the Titanic”. As there was no known type of motorized or sail propulsion for the iceberg to guide or power itself and plenty of evidence to show that the Titanic had multiple engines working hard to push the ship along at about 21 knots with a crew on duty in the bridge to steer the ship, it was the Titanic that “hit” the iceberg and caused the disaster.  Had the lookout been doubled, had the lookouts had the use of binoculars and missed the iceberg, it is clear from the history of the White Star line that the luxury liner would have arrived in New York.
News articles which proclaim the iceberg “hit the Titanic” are equivalent with reports in the news that say that a train hit a man or a train hit a truck.  Unless a train had been shown to have jumped off its tracks and raced through a field, down a highway and stalked a truck and collided with it, usually the train is where it is supposed to be and the truck generally is either parked on the tracks, drives around crossing gates or otherwise runs into and strikes the train. The responsibility for discerning the true facts of any story, including the story of the Titanic, rest with the reader.  Therefore, with the wonderful methods of learning now available through the internet, keep on digging into the story and if you wish to believe the romance and fiction, then by all means suspend disbelief and enjoy. If you wish to learn the truth, keep digging from multiple sources.  — Ken Rossignol

From Live Science: Old Coast Guard records are throwing cold water on a long-standing explanation for the loss of the Titanic: the suggestion that the fateful journey took place in waters bristling with icebergs, making 1912 an unlucky year to sail the North Atlantic.

Instead, more than a century of Atlantic iceberg counts reveals 1912 was an average year for dangerous floating ice. The findings also contradict a popular notion that the Jakobshavn Isbrae glacier on Greenland’s west coast birthed the Titanic’s deadly ‘berg. Instead, a computer model suggests that one of the glaciers at Greenland’s southern tip released the iceberg that hit the Titanic on April 14, 1912, drowning more than 1,500 people in the frigid ocean.

“I think the question of whether this was an unusual year has been laid to rest,” said Grant Bigg, an environmental scientist at the University of Sheffield and lead study author, adding, “1912 is not an exceptional year.”  READ MORE

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Titanic historical society founder Ed Kamuda sparked preservation of survivors memoirs and artifacts; dead at 74

From Springfield Republican
  Titanic image in color

                        

              

SPRINGFIELD –  Edward S.  Kamuda, who founded the Titanic Historial Society in Indian Orchard, died at his home Sunday after a long illness, the society announced Monday. He was 74 years old.

Kamuda and five others founded the Titanic Historical Society on July 7, 1963 in Indian Orchard.

As president, he watched its membership grow to several thousand people from around the world and the organization became one of the leading organizations for researching the Titanic and documenting the lives of the doomed vessel’s passengers and crew.

The Titanic struck an iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, killing 1,517.

“If it weren’t for Edward Kamuda, much of the information we have today on Titanic wouldn’t exist,” says Karen Kamuda, THS vice president and wife of Edward.

The historical society’s home office was humbly located in the rear of Henry’s Jewerly on Main Street in Indian Orchard. The store is located across the street from the former Park Theater, where as a teen, Kumuda’s lifelong interest in the Titanic was first piqued with the 1953 movie “Titanic” starring Clifton Webb and Barbara Stanwick.

He began tracking down the remaining survivors and sending them letters. Many would write him back and share their recollections of the voyage and the night of the sinking.

As he told The Republican in a 1993 interview  “”I was so lucky I got a hold of them when I did. Most of them are gone now.”

Over time, the society would work closely with Dr. Robert Ballard in the search of the ocean floor that in 1985 would eventually locate the wreckage of the ocean liner. He would also be a vocal opponent of efforts to salvage items from the Titanic site, equating it with grave robbing….MORE

Titanic sinking in real time


Titanic sinking in real time

This graphic video provides a frame-by-frame video depiction of the sinking of the Titanic in real time.  Check your watches, turn on your Titanic music or favorite movie of the Titanic and watch how it all unfolded 102 years ago on April 15, 1912.

 

Welcome to the RMS Titanic Speakers Bureau – Rate Information

Welcome to the Titanic Speakers Bureau; the home of some of the foremost authorities, historians and authors of the RMS Titanic alive today. From Daniel Allen Butler, Bruce M. Caplan, Wade Sisson, Ken Rossignol, to Capt. E. J. Smith actor Lowell Lytle and the great-grand-daughter of the Unsinkable Molly Brown – Helen Benziger.

The Titanic Speakers Bureau will enable you to learn more about our wonderful speakers, read of their travels, books, and views on one of the most enduring stories of all times and of perhaps the greatest sea disaster known to modern history – the voyage of the White Star Liner RMS Titanic.

Various speakers such as Tammy Knox and Robert W. Walker, are also fantasy and fiction writers with the ability to use their creative genius to bring the story of the Titanic alive using genres of horror and mysteries to enhance and develop the actual history of the ship.

Contact Ken Rossignol at 301 535 8624, ken.thechesapeake@gmail.com  for rates for speakers. Typically, speakers charge between $800 and $2,000 depending on the arrangements.  Airfare from speaker’s nearest airport to the event, transportation to the hotel and to the event as well as hotel rates apply. Helen Benziger travels with a service dog, who is quiet and enjoys attending formal dinners.

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