Hanley-born Commander
Edward John Smith is best remembered as the captain of the ill-fated
White Star Line steamer RMS Titanic, which sank on its maiden
transatlantic voyage after colliding with an iceberg in 1912. In many
ways the image of Smith presented in the disaster has coloured how we
see the man, to some he is the villain of the piece, to others a
tragic figure. The few earlier glimpses that exist though,
paint Captain Smith in a far different light. For instance in 1911 following
the successful maiden voyage of Titanic's elder sister
Olympic, Smith comes across as something of a raconteur, playfully spinning
a yarn to deflect over- eager reporters.
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| Captain E. J. Smith Author's Collection |
'Captain Smith of the
Olympic was questioned in New York about the coal consumption of the
world's biggest liner on her first voyage. But Captain Smith shook
his head and said:
"That is a coal
story I am not privileged to speak about. I'll tell you another coal
story, though, if you'd care to hear it?"
"I'd be delighted,"
said the reporter. "Well," said Captain Smith, "It's a
story about a poor sailor. He was taken down with fever on a
brigantine. and, though the mate and captain dosed him well, he died.
They buried him at sea. "They buried him with the usual
impressive sea rites. He was sewed in a sail round which a flag was
draped, and, to make him sink, the sail was weighted with a number of
big lumps of coal. "A landlubber of a passenger participated in
the services. He watched the well weighted corpse slip into the
water. It disappeared at once, and the landlubber shook his head and
said: " 'Well, I've seen many a man go below, but this is the
first one I've seen taking his own coal down with him.' "
San Francisco Call,
29 August 1911