Today’s guest post was written by William B. Roka, a longtime
volunteer at the National Archives in New York City. You can
follow “Titantic Tuesdays” on Facebook as they post records and
images in remembrance of the 100th anniversary of the sinking of
the Titanic. On the morning of May 1, 1915, Pier 54 on the
Hudson River was awash with people, luggage, and cargo. A great
transatlantic liner was readying to sail back to England. There
was somewhat ominous tone to the activities: small notices about
war zones had appeared in various newspapers. The captain of
this great vessel had spent the day before at the New York City
offices of Hunt, Hill & Betts. He had been asked to testify by
lawyers involved in the limitation of liability case related to
the Titanic disaster, which was dragging into its third year. He
was asked a series of questions about the size and design of
ships on the Cunard Line, the difficulty of sighting icebergs,
and his reaction to iceberg warnings. These questions were
important because th