After leaving Queenstown the speed of the _Titanic_ had been gradually increased. The run for the first day was 464 miles, for the second 519 miles, and for the third day, ending at noon Sunday, it was 546 miles. Testimony given before the Court of Inquiry under Lord Mersey, showed that the Chief Engineer had arranged to drive the vessel at full speed for a few hours either on Monday or Tuesday. Twenty-one of the twenty-nine boilers were in use until Sunday night, when three more were "lighted." It is evident that the engines were being gradually speeded up to their maximum revolutions. Both on the bridge and in the engine-room there was a manifest reluctance to allow anything to interfere with the full-speed run of the following day. This is the only possible explanation of the amazing fact that, in spite of successive warnings that a large icefield with bergs of great size was drifting right across the course of the _Titanic_, fire was put under additional boilers and the speed of the ship increased. It was shown in a previous chapter on "The Dangers of the Sea," that one of the greatest risks of high-speed travel across the North Atlantic is a certain spirit of _sangfroid_ which is liable to be begotten of constant familiarity with danger and a continual run of good luck. If familiarity ever bred contempt, surely it must have done so among the captain and officers of the _Titanic_ on that fatal night. One looks in vain for evidence that the situation was regarded as highly critical and calling for the most careful navigation;--calling, surely, for something more than the mere keeping of a good lookout--an imperative duty at all times, whether by day or night. Yet the fate of that ship and her precious freight of human life hung upon the mere chance of sighting an obstruction in time to avoid collision by a quick turn of the helm. The question of hitting or missing was one not of minutes but of seconds. A ship like this, nigh upon a thousand feet in length, makes a wide sweep in turning, even with the helm hard over. At 21 knots the _Titanic_ covered over a third of a mile in a minute's time. Even with her engines reversed she would have surged ahead for a half mile or so before coming to a stop. Should she strike an obstruction at full speed, the blow delivered would equal that of the combined broadsides of two modern dreadnoughts. [Illustration: Photograph by Underwood & Underwood, N. Y. The elimination of swimming pools, squash courts and summer gardens would cover the cost of additional bulkheads and inner skins. SWIMMING POOL ON THE TITANIC]