Nearly all this time, until 11.30 p. m., the wireless operator of the _Californian_ was listening with ’phones on his head, but at 11.30 p. m., while the _Titanic_ was still talking to Cape Race, the former ship’s operator “put the ’phones down, took off his clothes and turned in.” The fate of thousands of lives hung in the balance many times that ill-omened night, but _the circumstances in connection with the S. S. Californian_ (Br. Rep. pp. 43-46), furnish the evidence corroborating that of the American Investigation, viz., that it was not chance, but the grossest negligence alone which sealed the fate of all the noble lives, men and women, that were lost. It appears from the evidence referred to, information in regard to which we learned after our arrival in New York, that the Captain of the _Californian_ and his crew were watching our lights from the deck of their ship, which remained approximately stationary until 5.15 a. m. on the following morning. During this interval it is shown that they were never distant more than six or seven miles. In fact, at 12 o’clock, the _Californian_ was only four or five miles off at the point and in the general direction where she was seen by myself and at least a dozen others, who bore testimony before the American Committee, from the decks of the _Titanic_. The white rockets which we sent up, referred to presently, were also plainly seen at the time. Captain Lord was completely in possession of the knowledge that he was in proximity to a ship in distress. He could have put himself into immediate communication with us by wireless had he desired confirmation of the name of the ship and the disaster which had befallen it. His indifference is made apparent by his orders to “go on Morseing,” instead of utilizing the more modern method of the inventive genius and gentleman, Mr. Marconi, which eventually saved us all. “The night was clear and the sea was smooth. The ice by which the _Californian_ was surrounded,” says the British Report, “was loose ice extending for a distance of not more than two or three miles in the direction of the _Titanic_.” 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_. A discussion of this subject is the most painful of all others for those who lost their loved ones aboard our ship.