WHY WAS THE NEWS SUPPRESSED
Newark Star
A reporter for The Newark Star managed to get aboard the Carpathia and made his way to the bridge, where he had an interview with Captain Rostrom [sic] as to why the news of the wreck and the condition of the survivors had been withheld. The following was the interview:
Q. “But you have not given out the news and we have waited a week. Will you let me get it now?”
A. “You stay on this bridge with me, or I will put you in irons.”
Q. “Did you hold memorial services after the iceberg sent the Titanic to her doom?”
A. “We did. I stopped and held services Monday morning.”
Q. “Did you save the bodies that the Carpathia either did pick up or might have picked up?”
A. “What do you mean?”
Q. “I mean that of thirty-five put in one lifeboat at 2:20 o’clock in the morning only sixteen were found alive when she was picked up. At that time there were three dead bodies in the boat.”
A. “I won’t talk to you and I want you to stay here where I can watch you.”
Q. “Captain Rostrom, do you realize that this is the most gigantic story in the history of the sea, and the world will not accept your whims in giving it the information it awaits.”
A. “I realize, sir, that you came aboard this boat in spite of orders from a thousand sources and I won’t be criticized by you.”
Q. “Captain, I want to see Mr. Bruce Ismay. The American people would like to hear from him.”
A. “You be quiet. You can’t see anybody, I will tell you.”
Q. “Is John Jacob Astor, Major ‘Archie’ Butt, William T. Stead, Artist Millet, Isadore [sic] Straus, Mrs. Isadore Straus or Benjamin Guggenheim aboard this ship?”
A. “I think not.”
Q. “Do you still refuse to let me see Mr. Ismay?”
A. “I will let you see no one.”
After this he paced the bridge like a man suffering from a from a great load of anxiety, and in spite of the general impression that he was the master of his ship, seemed guilty of having subordinated his position to more powerful influences and realized the error of having remained mute.
[Note: This interview is excerpted from a longer article about Carpathia's arrival in New York.]
Q. “But you have not given out the news and we have waited a week. Will you let me get it now?”
A. “You stay on this bridge with me, or I will put you in irons.”
Q. “Did you hold memorial services after the iceberg sent the Titanic to her doom?”
A. “We did. I stopped and held services Monday morning.”
Q. “Did you save the bodies that the Carpathia either did pick up or might have picked up?”
A. “What do you mean?”
Q. “I mean that of thirty-five put in one lifeboat at 2:20 o’clock in the morning only sixteen were found alive when she was picked up. At that time there were three dead bodies in the boat.”
A. “I won’t talk to you and I want you to stay here where I can watch you.”
Q. “Captain Rostrom, do you realize that this is the most gigantic story in the history of the sea, and the world will not accept your whims in giving it the information it awaits.”
A. “I realize, sir, that you came aboard this boat in spite of orders from a thousand sources and I won’t be criticized by you.”
Q. “Captain, I want to see Mr. Bruce Ismay. The American people would like to hear from him.”
A. “You be quiet. You can’t see anybody, I will tell you.”
Q. “Is John Jacob Astor, Major ‘Archie’ Butt, William T. Stead, Artist Millet, Isadore [sic] Straus, Mrs. Isadore Straus or Benjamin Guggenheim aboard this ship?”
A. “I think not.”
Q. “Do you still refuse to let me see Mr. Ismay?”
A. “I will let you see no one.”
After this he paced the bridge like a man suffering from a from a great load of anxiety, and in spite of the general impression that he was the master of his ship, seemed guilty of having subordinated his position to more powerful influences and realized the error of having remained mute.
[Note: This interview is excerpted from a longer article about Carpathia's arrival in New York.]
Related Biographies:
Arthur Henry Rostron
Relates to Ship:
Carpathia
Contributor
Mark Baber
