John M. Smart's Son and Daughter at School in Europe, Ignorant of Father's Fate
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HE HAD JUST VISITED THEM
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But Said Nothing of His Personal Affairs to His New York Business Associates
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By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times
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LONDON, June 4----Efforts are being made here to trace the whereabouts of the two children of John M. Smart of New York, who lost his life in the wreck of the Titanic. Since his death Mr. Smart's friends have been trying to find his family and straighten out his affairs, but this has been made extremely difficult by the fact that all his personal papers were lost with him.
When here, he told friends that he had his children with him in London, but it is certain that he did not have them on board the Titanic. It is surmised that they may be at some school in Europe, totally ignorant of their father's fate.
Advertisements inquiring for information have been inserted in papers all over Europe and Australia by a firm of New York lawyers, so far without result. It is understood that Mr. Smart was a widower.
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Mr. Seward explained last night at his home at 542 West 112th Street why it was necessary for him to advertise in Europe for the missing children of his friend.
"You may think it strange, considering that I was with Mr. Smart aboard the Titanic, and was a member of the law firm representing the American Cold Storage and Shipping Company, of which he was President, that I should not know the whereabouts of his children.
"Yet that is the fact. I do not know whether they are in England or France or Italy or Spain. They may be in any of these lands or in some other land. I do not even know what the children look like. I cannot describe them or tell their names. The girl is 18 years old and the boy 20 years old. That is all I know about them except that abroad they were in custody of some friend of their mother. She died about ten years ago.
"The reason there are no records about the children in our office is that Mr. Smart always carried his personal papers in a trunk marked 'personal,' which he took with him wherever he went. He had this trunk aboard the Titanic, and it went down with the ship.
"Of his own personal affairs he was a most reticent man. He was amiable, and spoke of business affairs freely. We talked over business matters aboard the Titanic, but he never mentioned his children. I knew that shortly after his wife's death he sent the two children abroad, determined to give then a careful education in Europe. It was his plan to place them first in one country and then in another, so that they could learn the language of each.
"I presumed that Mr. Smart made his recent trip abroad to see his children. He made his home here at the Victoria Hotel, and he went abroad very early in the year. I went abroad some time later, and it was merely accidental that we happened to come home together on the Titanic."
The American Cold Storage and Shipping Company, of which Mr. Smart was President, had its offices in the Produce Exchange Building.
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HE HAD JUST VISITED THEM
---
But Said Nothing of His Personal Affairs to His New York Business Associates
---
By Marconi Transatlantic Wireless Telegraph to The New York Times
---
LONDON, June 4----Efforts are being made here to trace the whereabouts of the two children of John M. Smart of New York, who lost his life in the wreck of the Titanic. Since his death Mr. Smart's friends have been trying to find his family and straighten out his affairs, but this has been made extremely difficult by the fact that all his personal papers were lost with him.
When here, he told friends that he had his children with him in London, but it is certain that he did not have them on board the Titanic. It is surmised that they may be at some school in Europe, totally ignorant of their father's fate.
Advertisements inquiring for information have been inserted in papers all over Europe and Australia by a firm of New York lawyers, so far without result. It is understood that Mr. Smart was a widower.
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Mr. Seward explained last night at his home at 542 West 112th Street why it was necessary for him to advertise in Europe for the missing children of his friend.
"You may think it strange, considering that I was with Mr. Smart aboard the Titanic, and was a member of the law firm representing the American Cold Storage and Shipping Company, of which he was President, that I should not know the whereabouts of his children.
"Yet that is the fact. I do not know whether they are in England or France or Italy or Spain. They may be in any of these lands or in some other land. I do not even know what the children look like. I cannot describe them or tell their names. The girl is 18 years old and the boy 20 years old. That is all I know about them except that abroad they were in custody of some friend of their mother. She died about ten years ago.
"The reason there are no records about the children in our office is that Mr. Smart always carried his personal papers in a trunk marked 'personal,' which he took with him wherever he went. He had this trunk aboard the Titanic, and it went down with the ship.
"Of his own personal affairs he was a most reticent man. He was amiable, and spoke of business affairs freely. We talked over business matters aboard the Titanic, but he never mentioned his children. I knew that shortly after his wife's death he sent the two children abroad, determined to give then a careful education in Europe. It was his plan to place them first in one country and then in another, so that they could learn the language of each.
"I presumed that Mr. Smart made his recent trip abroad to see his children. He made his home here at the Victoria Hotel, and he went abroad very early in the year. I went abroad some time later, and it was merely accidental that we happened to come home together on the Titanic."
The American Cold Storage and Shipping Company, of which Mr. Smart was President, had its offices in the Produce Exchange Building.
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