| Author |
Message |
    
Glenn Hoge
Member
Username: glenn_hoge
Post Number: 1
Registered: 9-2007
| | Posted on Saturday, September 29, 2007 - 1:23 am: | 
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Hi everyone,
Among the many, many fascinating things about the Titanic, I'm intrigued by the Chinese man (believed to be Fang Lang) who survived by floating on a door until rescued by Lifeboat No. 14. I've learned a great deal about him by exploring the message board, but there are still some things I wonder:
Do we KNOW that it was Lang who was rescued, instead of one of the other Chinese passengers? Are we at least reasonably certain it was him? If not, then how did his name become attached to the man found floating on the door?
If the testimony regarding Fifth Officer Lowe's racist remarks about Lang has been discredited, what about the follow-up, when Lowe exclaimed "I'd save the likes of him six times over"? Is that bogus too?
(Apparently, there is a thread somewhere here that discusses the issues with the Collyer testimony in detail. Can someone tell me where it is?)
What do we know about the circumstances of Lang's rescue, other than the fact that it occurred? Was he really lashed to a door (as opposed to simply floating on top of it)? Did Lowe say anything about him, good or bad? Did he help with the rowing? Is there anything else we know about him?
Also, and related to the rescue, in what order were the survivors (including Mr. Hoyt) plucked from the water by Boat 14?
If anyone has the answers to any of these questions, or can point me in the right direction, I'd be much obliged. Thank you. |
Dave Gittins
Member
Username: gittins
Post Number: 3561
Registered: 4-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, September 29, 2007 - 10:55 am: |
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My Chinese e-mate has pointed out the difficulty of finding out anything about the Chinese passengers. This is hardly surprising, as they were tranferred from Carpathia to their own ship, Annetta, by boat on the morning of 19 April. Their names were recorded by US officials, together with a few addresses and next of kin.
Not one of their names is correctly recorded. The Hong Kong custom is to put the family name first, followed by two syllables. Fang Lang is therefore incomplete, as are all the other Chinese names. to make matters worse, the addresses recorded by the US immigration authorities appear to be corruptions of Chinese words. The street names as recorded never existed in Hong Kong.
The correct names of the Chinese are given in the Chinese manner, with the family name first.
Lam (given name unknown), Fang Lang, Lam Len, Cheong Foo, Chang Chip, Ling Hee, Lee Bing, Lee Ling.
I have never seen a primary source for Fang Lang being the man rescued by Lowe.
The Collyer account is utterly unreliable, as Collyer was never in a position to hear what Lowe said.
Some fairly wild claims have been made about the Chinese, but few hard facts can be gathered, other than they went to their ship as planned. Given the incomplete names, little more is likely to be found.
Dave Gittins
Titanic: Monument and Warning.
http://users.senet.com.au/~gittins/Book.html
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Michael Cundiff
Member
Username: robin
Post Number: 718
Registered: 1-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 12:50 am: |
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An interesting sidenote to this..."LINER BREMEN SIGHTS 100 OR MORE BODIES"..."The Captain said...several of the bodies were lashed to doors and gratings, denoting the desperate fight they had made for life. It was noticeable that the bodies sighted by the Bremen all had on life preservers, except some of those lashed to pieces of wood, which answered the same purpose".
Michael Cundiff
NV, USA |
Michael Poirier
Member
Username: mike_poirier
Post Number: 658
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, October 2, 2007 - 11:28 am: |
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Hi Michael
I sent you a thank you letter awhile back. I hope you received it.
Mike
Sitting on stuff is called, 'squatty toad syndrome'.
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