BOY WIRELESS SAVED THEM
New York Times
Rescues Resulted from Coltain's [sic] Untiring Devotion to Duty
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Harold Thomas Cottam, the wireless operator of the Carpathia, through whose efforts more than to any one [sic] else the saving of a part of the Titanic's passengers was made possible, is only 21 years old. He is an English boy, born in Nottinghamshire, where his father is a builder and operator.
One glance at young Cottam gives one the impression that he is as alert as he is young. Had it not been for this alertness, in fact, supplemented by his untiring devotion to his work, the story of the Titanic's disaster might have ben [sic] a different one.
When Cottam was only 17 years old his father sent him to the British College of Telegraphy, a private institution in Clapham, London. He remained there eleven months, and at the end of that time was awarded a diploma designating him as a fit man to transmit and receive either land, cable, or wireless messages. It was young Cottam's one ambition in life to become a successful operator, particularly in the eyes of the inventor Marconi himself, whom he hoped at some time in his life to meet.
Cottmas [sic] was first assigned as second operator to the Empress of Ireland, plying between Liverpool and Quebec. After a few months of service on this steamer he was made Marconi operator of the Liverpool
land station of the British Post Office, where he remained sixteen months.
Next---and each step was a decided promotion---Cottam went aboard the White Star Australian steamship Medic, sailing from Liverpool to Sidney, Australia. He remained here for nine months.
Last February he was chosen from a number of applicants as the chief operator of the Cunard liner Carptahia. [sic] His trip on this liner to New York last week was his first trip. It was the first time that young Cottam had ever been in New York.
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Harold Thomas Cottam, the wireless operator of the Carpathia, through whose efforts more than to any one [sic] else the saving of a part of the Titanic's passengers was made possible, is only 21 years old. He is an English boy, born in Nottinghamshire, where his father is a builder and operator.
One glance at young Cottam gives one the impression that he is as alert as he is young. Had it not been for this alertness, in fact, supplemented by his untiring devotion to his work, the story of the Titanic's disaster might have ben [sic] a different one.
When Cottam was only 17 years old his father sent him to the British College of Telegraphy, a private institution in Clapham, London. He remained there eleven months, and at the end of that time was awarded a diploma designating him as a fit man to transmit and receive either land, cable, or wireless messages. It was young Cottam's one ambition in life to become a successful operator, particularly in the eyes of the inventor Marconi himself, whom he hoped at some time in his life to meet.
Cottmas [sic] was first assigned as second operator to the Empress of Ireland, plying between Liverpool and Quebec. After a few months of service on this steamer he was made Marconi operator of the Liverpool
land station of the British Post Office, where he remained sixteen months.
Next---and each step was a decided promotion---Cottam went aboard the White Star Australian steamship Medic, sailing from Liverpool to Sidney, Australia. He remained here for nine months.
Last February he was chosen from a number of applicants as the chief operator of the Cunard liner Carptahia. [sic] His trip on this liner to New York last week was his first trip. It was the first time that young Cottam had ever been in New York.
Related Biographies:
Harold Thomas Cottam
Related Keywords
Marconi Telegraphy Radio
Relates to Place:
New York City, New York, United States
Contributor
Mark Baber
