All the officers are stated to have taken sights, and Mr. Stewart in his evidence remarks that they all agreed. If it is admitted that these positions were correct, then it follows that the _Titanic_'s position as given by that ship when making the CQD. signal was approximately S. 16° W. (true), 19 miles from the _Californian_; and further that the position in which the _Californian_ was stopped during the night, was 30 miles away from where the wreckage was seen by her in the morning, or that the wreckage had drifted 11 miles in a little more than five hours. There are contradictions and inconsistencies in the story as told by the different witnesses. But the truth of the matter is plain. The _Titanic_ collided with the berg at 11.40. The vessel seen by the _Californian_ stopped at this time. The rockets sent up from the _Titanic_ were distress signals. The _Californian_ saw distress signals. The number sent up by the _Titanic_ was about eight. The _Californian_ saw eight. The time over which the rockets from the _Titanic_ were sent up was from about 12.45 to 1.45 o'clock. It was about this time that the _Californian_ saw the rockets. At 2.40 Mr. Stone called to the master that the ship from which he had seen the rockets had disappeared. At 2.20 a. m. the _Titanic_ had foundered. It was suggested that the rockets seen by the _Californian_ were from some other ship, not the _Titanic_. But no other ship to fit this theory has ever been heard of. These circumstances convince me that the ship seen by the _Californian_ was the _Titanic_, and if so, according to Capt. Lord, the two vessels were about 5 miles apart at the time of the disaster. The evidence from the _Titanic_ corroborates this estimate, but I am advised that the distance was probably greater, though not more than 8 to 10 miles. The ice by which the _Californian_ was surrounded was loose ice extending for a distance of not more than 2 or 3 miles in the direction of the _Titanic_. The night was clear and the sea was smooth. When she first saw the rockets, the _Californian_ could have pushed through the ice to the open water without any serious risk and so have come to the assistance of the _Titanic_. Had she done so she might have saved many if not all of the lives that were lost. VI.--THE BOARD OF TRADE'S ADMINISTRATION. The court was invited by the board of trade-- "to report upon the rules and regulations made under the merchant shipping acts, 1894-1906, and the administration of those acts, and of such rules and regulations so far as the consideration thereof is material to this casualty" (No. 26 of the questions submitted to the court by the board of trade).