Steven Turner, author of The Band That Played On about Titanic musicians, offers his own views about the Hartley violin. He is thrilled the violin has been authenticated and adds some details to the story. First, there was a replica violin made in 1912 by a Hartley friend. That violin disappeared for decades but was donated anonymously in 1974 to Youth Orchestra in Colne, Hartley’s old hometown.
He believes the draft letter in Maria Robinson’s diary is authentic. The draft letter thanks Nova Scotia officials for giving her the violin. However there is no record whether it was actually sent or not. However he says the people mentioned in the diary “could all be traced to actual people living at the time.” With the violin authenticated, he thinks the adventures of the violin are not over yet.
Of course there still is one or two small problems that have not been resolved. First, why is there no record of Hartley’s violin being found strapped to his chest? Aldridge claims they did not inspect luggage but how could you miss it if strapped to his chest. Second, if indeed found on or near Hartley’s body, why is their no record anywhere of it being found or inspected?These nagging questions ought to be resolved.
1. The International Ice Patrol recently celebrated its own centenary on 26 April. Today it is taken for granted but back in 1912 there was no mechanism to determine if icebergs were a serious threat. Before the wireless, the only warnings would come from ships who passed through areas where icebergs were sighted and notified when they came into port. Sometimes passing ships might signal but you were on your own. Wireless made it possible to send warnings quickly to other ships but, as was learned afterwards, unless you have dedicated wireless staffing and such reports were immediately delivered to the bridge, it can end in a catastrophe.
At first the U.S. Navy did the initial patrolling after Titanic sank but could not provide ships in 1913. So the old Revenue Cutter Service (the predecessor of the U.S. Coast Guard) took on the task. However what was needed was international cooperation which was not always easy to get. Fortunately public opinion helped prod such cooperation along leading to the first International Conference on the Safety of Life at Sea in 1913. The convention was signed on 30 Jan 1914 and provided for derelict destruction, ice observation, and ice patrol service. The ice patrol service would patrol ice regions during the time icebergs were a threat and keep the trans-Atlantic lanes clear of derelicts the remainder of the year. The U.S., already involved in this aspect, was asked to undertake the management of the service and the 13 signatory nations would defray the cost. With the exception of wartime years, the patrol has been maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The countries that contribute to the International Ice Patrol are: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom, and United States of America. More detailed history can be found at the U.S. Coast Guard site or at Wikipedia .
2. Shades of Titanic? Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) chairs the Senate Commerce Committee and is making an inquiry into Carnival Cruise Lines. Of late they have been unlucky with the Triumph stranding and the Costa Concordia capsizing off the coast of Italy. So Rockefeller is looking into Carnival’s safety record. And he also asked Carnival if they would repay the U.S. government for assisting the Triumph in 2013 and for the 2010 stranding of Carnival Splendor. Carnival declined to reimburse citing that everyone must assist ships in distress and that duty does not require paying for such services. Rockefeller called this response “shameful” yet he knew that Carnival would respond this way. He is threatening hearings and legislation.
So what is going on? Well Carnival and nearly all other cruise lines are foreign flagged meaning they do not fly the U.S. ensign. And they are restricted under federal law (1886 Passenger Services Act) from going directly between two U.S. ports without first having stopped in a foreign port. Despite this restriction, the cruise lines make buckets of money for corporations that are located outside the U.S. which means they do not pay income taxes. They do pay lots of other taxes (like port fees and assorted other taxes). But many like Rockefeller think they ought to pay more for using U.S. ports and U.S. assets to help them in times of distress. The maritime unions are unhappy as well since the ship jobs go to non U.S. citizens. Rockefeller is no William Alden Smith, who presided over the U.S. Titanic hearings wanting to find out what happened and find liability against White Star. Rockefeller is just playing politics by trying to force cruise lines to fork over lots more money. And likely winning high marks for the maritime unions. Those unions ought to look at the laws and regulations that resulted in nearly every passenger liner not being flagged American.
3. A Night To Remember (1958) is my favorite Titanic movie. It has also been released on Blu-ray in 2012. Like the regular DVD version, it has the excellent commentary by Ken Marschall and Don Lynch. It also has something not on previous versions: an interview with Titanic survivor Eva Hart. So if you have Blu-ray, consider adding this to your movie collection.
Yes, this blog is back up and running. Still some things to fix but mostly everything is here. A few new postings over at the website will be moved over here in a day or so. WordPress blogs have been a hacker target of late. This blog was no exception. Fortunately I had a backup but had to make sure no virus or malware was left behind.
At least one good thing came out of all of this. I learned a lot more about WordPress in the process.
1. A ledger page of an insurance policy issued to cover Titanic has been sold at a New York auction for $25,000. The policy was issued by Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company for Oceanic Steam Navigation Company Limited. The auction was held on 23 April at Doyle New York. The buyer is anonymous.
2. A new Wallace Hartley biography is available. Nearer, our God, to Thee: A New Comprehensive Biography of the TITANIC Bandmaster by Christian Tennyson-Ekeberg has been published reports Pendle Today. The author had access to the Wallace Hartley and Maria Robinson archive. For more information on the book, go to nearerourgodtothee.com. The book is published by Green Mount Press in West Yorkshire, UK.
3. Glee may be popular but high school productions of Titanic are more common these days. And sometimes quite good as Bob Feldheim notes in a recent article. St. Augustine High School in St. Augustine, FL is putting on a large scale Titanic musical. It has an astounding 75 cast members and Feldheim liked what he saw. “Astonishingly, “Titanic” manages to be grave and entertaining, somber and joyful at the same time. The teamwork that went into this show is amazing. The acting and dancing are terrific, and the soloists’ voices will melt your heart. Unlike the ship, the play is buoyant and vibrant to the very end. If you love big-voiced musicals, and if you enjoy a story about the largeness of dreams and the fate of falling stars, you will love this show.” Glee, forget about it! You have been outclassed by high schoolers in Florida.
While watching a Titanic documentary, a commentator noted how many lives were cut short when it sank. Looking at a list of names one cannot appreciate who they really were. And sometimes it pops up in interesting ways. The Leamington College For Boys (Binswood Hall) in Warwickshire is being transformed into a retirement center so the local newspaper decided to list the notable pupils who graduated from it. And one of them was Rousell Davids Byles, who later became Father Thomas Byles, a Catholic priest, and was aboard Titanic when it sank.
Byles was the son of a congregationalist minister who converted to Catholicism while at Oxford and taking the name Thomas. He attended Beda College in Rome and was ordained in 1902. He then was assigned to St Helen’s Parish in Chipping Ongar, Essex in 1905. His brother asked him to officiate his wedding in New York, which led him to be aboard Titanic. While aboard, he said Sunday mass for Second and Third class passengers in their respective lounges. His sermon was on the need of a spiritual lifeboat to protect in times of spiritual shipwreck.
Words that would soon be put to a more real test. When Titanic was sinking, he was in steerage trying to provide comfort, hearing confessions, giving blessings. According to Titanic survivor Agnes McCoy:
“When the Titanic went to the bottom Father Thomas B. Byles stood on the deck with Catholics, Protestants and Jews kneeling around him. Father Byles was saying the rosary and praying for the repose of the souls of those about to perish. To many he administered the last rites of the Church. In the early stage of the disaster he heard a few confessions.”
He also declined to be put aboard a lifeboat allowing others to go in his place. Father Byles is one of those little-known heroes of Titanic. Well regarded back home in his parish of St. Helen’s, his death was met with great sadness. There is a memorial to him at that church. A door in his memory was installed by his brothers, along with a photograph and a stained glass window to commemorate Father Byles.
Perhaps forgotten in the Titanic story are those that went out to recover Titanic’s dead.
Peter Parsons/Herald News
Two cable ships out of Halifax–Mackay-Bennett and Minia–brought back most of the bodies. Four bodies were recovered in May 1912 by Montmagny, a government tender from Quebec. The last body was found by the cargo ship Algerine out of St. John’s Newfoundland. On Friday, a plaque remembering those from Halifax (called Halligonians) who went out to collect the bodies was unveiled at Maritime Museum of the Atlantic.
Retrieving the bodies was important and also haunting, reports The Chronicle Herald. Pat Teasdale’s grandfather Francis Dyke was second electrician on Minia and wrote to his mother about it. “I honestly hope I shall never have to come on another expedition like this. … The Dr. and I are sleeping in the middle of 14 coffins.” Yet he was glad they could retrieve the bodies and not leave them in the water. 150 victims are buried in Halifax in Fairview Lawn, Baron de Hirsch, and Mount Olivet Cemeteries.
There is a minor mystery afoot concerning four rubber tablets found on Newquay beaches. Each tablet contains the word Tjipetir on them. According to This is Cornwall, that is an Indonesian rubber plantation from the early 20th century. The particular natural rubber, gutta-percha, was cargo aboard Titanic. While some speculate the rubber could be from Titanic, others are not sure.
Jenny Wittamore, assistant curator at the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth,points out there have been many ships that carried this cargo. And a shipwreck in the 1920’s, according to an investigator, could be the source of these rubber tablets.
There is no way to determine precisely what shipwreck the tablets came from. So the mystery continues.
(1) Titanic Belfast exceeded all expectations for 2012 reports BBC News. More than 800,000 people from 128 countries visited Titanic Belfast in its first year. Some doubted it would succeed and would need 290,000 visitors to break even.
(2) Titanic:The Artifact Exhibition is coming to Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland in June. Advance tickets are now on sale through the web site. The exhibition runs from 1 June 2013 through 5 Jan 2014.
(3) Alan Aldridge of Henry Aldridge & Son was interviewed recently by CBS News about the Hartley violin. Aldridge says that micro-analysis found evidence of salt water corrosion in the wood and metal screws on the silver plate. He also says he has no idea how much it will be worth when auctioned off.
There were high expectations for this Titanic miniseries. Julian Fellowes, well known actor, novelist, and film director was writing the script. It promised a fresh look at Titanic and was co-produced by Canada, Hungary, and UK production companies. Released in time for the 100th anniversary of Titanic’s sinking, it was seen by a world-wide audience on various broadcast networks. The miniseries has an astonishing 89 main characters, unheard of in most serials of this kind. Despite the wealth of source material to draw upon, the serial is part Upstairs, Downstairs tossed in with bits and pieces of action adventure. Oh and a strange love connection that makes no sense anywhere except in a television serial.
What this reminded me of was Winds of War, the ABC miniseries drawn from Herman Wouk’s book of the same name. Wouk’s book was historical fiction using real history as a backdrop. The fictional Henry family moved through the history at different levels (high and low). Real historical figures were mixed in with fictional ones. The result was a blending that one might forget is fictional. And Fellowes follows that formula by blending real historical characters with fictional ones. One character I thought that played well was Captain Edward J. Smith. Smith was known as a tough captain and did not tolerate officers or crew disobeying his orders.
Smith’s depiction in A Night To Remember was of a captain barking out orders after the iceberg hit. This serial gets it right (and also a little wrong too). The serial implies he had to be summoned when in fact he came out right away. He summoned Thomas Andrews and they both went below to access the damage. That was when, as depicted correctly, he realized the impact of what was to happen. Nearly over 1500 people were going to be thrown to the sea as the lifeboats, if filled to capacity, would hold 1,178. That realization is perhaps why Smith went into shock later and never barked out orders. He had to be asked to lower lifeboats and other things.
Other things seem out of place, such as Murdoch having reservations about increasing speed due to icebergs. Or the justification for sending out lifeboats half-full to prevent them from splitting (they were fully tested by Harland & Wolff). Ismay getting into a lifeboat as it is going down (which did not happen). We also have Catholic vs Protestants, Irish home rule, social revolutionaries like Lord Manton’s daughter Georgianna agitating for women’s rights, or violent revolutionaries like Peter Pubov (based upon the real figure Peter the Painter). More nauseating are some characters who just are rude, unpleasant, and would make you long to grab a lifeboat and row away (Muriel Batley, Lord Manton’s wife Louisa, Grace Rushton).
More confusing was how the serial was presented. It jumped back and forth in time in each episode. Instead of showing the whole thing in one continuous stream, we switch back and forth to learn more about various characters or historical situations. I found this odd for a historical drama. Italians were probably incensed at how they were treated on Titanic. One scene has the waiters for the Italian restaurant locked up and left to die because they did not want them running around on deck (fiction). There are genuinely sad moments as well, like when Jim Maloney finds his daughter Theresa below but they are trapped by a locked gate. Or when Annie Desmond finds Paolo in the rescue lifeboat dead.
In the end, Titanic was not the worst serial ever done but just not that good. Fellowes tried too hard to convey the social, political and other issues of that time. Nor was it all historically accurate in many places either (like the fictional debate over lifeboats). People who know Titanic history will shake their heads at the many historical inaccuracies conveyed. If you are going to do historical fiction, at least make the real historical characters do and say what they actually did.
Final score: **1/2
What to watch for: Good acting, decent sets.
Titanic(2012) is available on dvd and streaming (Netflix).
(1)The letter written by Titanic band leader Wallace Hartley to his mother was sold at auction for £93,000 (approx $141,600) reports Agencia EFE . Henry Aldridge & Son conducted the auction. The letter was sold to a private collector.
(2) Colne’s Titanic Museum plans to relocate away has resulted in a petition to keep the museum reports Pendle Today . Nigel Hampson, curator, says that he would prefer to keep the museum in the hometown of Titanic bandmaster Wallace Hartley. However the current place is too small, he notes, and needs better access to those with disabilities. Hampson wants to find a solution and residents have provided suggestions.
(3) Titanic musicians were remembered at Ballarat’s Titanic Musician Memorial. The memorial each year has a memorial band that plays music in its bandstand. Nearer My God To Thee is always performed at the event.
Note: The article implies there is only one memorial to Titanic musicians. There is one in Southampton. The first one was erected in 1913 next to the old library. It was destroyed during WWII by a German bombing raid. The memorial has been rebuilt and dedicated to all musicians who died aboard Titanic. You can read the Wikipedia entry here.
(4) More reaction to Clive Palmer’s Titanic II is reported in Irish Examiner. Opinion is stil divided, writes Hazel Gaynor. Dave Fredericks, descendent of a Titanic survivor, is supporting a petition to block the ship. Michael Molloy of Addergoole Titanic Society is more open to it. As is Molly Brown descendent Helen Benzinger. While many in Belfast wish it were being built there and not China, the replica will be welcomed.
Source: Sinking Feeling: Unease About Titanic II Plan (18 April 2013, Irish Examiner)
(5) An appeal for funds to restore the headstone of Titanic chief engineer Joseph Bell is being made. His memorial at Farlam Church in Kirkhouse is deteriorating. Approximately £2,000 is needed. You can view the memorial and make a donation at josephbellengineer.wordpress.com.
(6) The original ledger page of the insurance policy taken out on the Titanic by the Atlantic Mutual Insurance Company will go on the block at Doyle New York, one of the world’s premier auctioneers. Estimated at $30,000-50,000, the insurance policy was written on behalf of the Oceanic Steam Navigation Company Limited, better known as The White Star Line. The auction takes place on 23 April at Doyle New York
views about the Hartley violin. He is thrilled the violin has been authenticated and adds some details to the story. First, there was a replica violin made in 1912 by a Hartley friend. That violin disappeared for decades but was donated anonymously in 1974 to Youth Orchestra in Colne, Hartley’s old hometown.
