FIRE ON A FERRY-BOAT.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14507, 26 April 1909, Page 3 (Supplement)

FIRE ON A FERRY-BOAT.

THE MATAIiIKf lUj'HXKD TO THE WATMi'S KUOJi. The ferry-boat Matariki (mimed after the Iteiadis cluster of siars), running between Uuiiediii ami l'ortobollo uiut way ports, autl owned by ;iie t'eniusuhi Shipping Comp<uiv, was destroyed by liro at- i'ortolxjllo fccw, • and I ti.in. on tln> 15th. | Uu ' al ' lk ' ] wus ' d twin-screw steamer 01 <MU h.p., ami wa,s limit u Auckland in #SCCo" yCttr ' al " COit oi newly T.ho cirenm.sia.nces under wliioii the f, re originated on board t.ho boat a.i» -hromM doubt The Matariki loir- on he,- u,ual rim from Dunedin to FortoVdlo oit AVcuiies-ilaj-iiis.lsp.ni and armed at I'oriokuiio at b.M p.m., berthing at the joltv, and ti-e #.s. iloerangi, later on, was berthed alongside her. Al. 3 p.n,, in accoutre "111 tin; usual custom, the captain "■'"l ciw, after locking t|, o engine loum and seeing tii;a everything on Loam was Kurt?, went. ashore, and afc 1(1 p.m. Mr M'liili (the t lock kind an<l watchman) wont Iwck to the steamer, am! after looking roun# and ascertaining rhac every thing was rclire j low mi board Cjipiam Mitchell (of t.lto Moerangi) and Mr .J. .Sutherland (of the tame went over t,1,0 Matariki to their own vessel al. about the fame time thai M'Gill went to bed and I hey also report that, everything was then safe. At. about 1 a.m. M'Clili was awakened liv a nowe |i ri3i am | 011 : u Hitf up and miming on deck he found l.ho vessel in a blase, the lire luiviiiff apparently .tilted abaft tits engine rooui, in „ spate Uj**l for rttorage, and whero kerosene for dc\Miuiff ami far tlio lamps wa.-s kept. Uio engine-room door MMiill Found this to 1» tike a furnace, and, in a lutl -sti cd condition, he gave I,he alarm and called the two jnen on the Moontngi lo eame to his assistance to subdue tho fire, till; siCiliiMM' was et|tiippe,l with lire appliances, and these were immediately brought into i-eijiusition, and the three men will, the aid ol the fire hoso and the donkey en ,r in'* worked hard to keep the Haines. which by th.s lime had u strong hold, in subjection. JJr Moss, of the Tarewai, who had also been roused, panic to the assistance of Mm men who were battling with an apparently hopeless task, and with his hose ami pumps he also directed a stream of water into the ma?s of flames. Mr Barnes, a local blacksmith, and orhers came uuiekly upon the sooue, hut. (he lire had obtained the complete mastery, although some of the workers got themselves nearly loasled in t.iieiv efforts to compur it. On riie lire reaching tho kerosene in the engine-room I here was a loml explosion, a. licreer burst of Hume, ami i'., then became apparent that ll.ie vessel was doomed, Realising this, an effort was made lo tow t.ho blazing ferry-steamer out so that sho might 1» stink in deep water, but it being very low water at the time, she stuck, and all that could be done was to watch her consume a way. Tho process of dost ruction ilitl not takft lout', ih<> hull being burned down lot.lie water's edge, and the rising tide getting over the sides of the embedded yosscl put a slop lo the havoc of llaine, only io cover up the wreckage with water. The only portions of the steamer visible al high water were her deckhouse and funnel. No explanation as lo the cause of tho fire is attempted. It is conjectured thai. possibly a smouldering rag somewhere in the sfterhold was the cause, Inn of tho existence of (licit a cause there was no evidence at 10 p.m., when the night watchman retired to t;<xl after jjointf his euslomary round. The s.s. Moerangi, lying alongside the burning Matariki, was speedily got. ( ,ut of fht» way when tho alarm was jriwn, t>lw* hu<l a load consisting partly of benzino. TJio Matariki was iu>uivd for £5000 in tin? Now Zoulauil otto. but tho \v;us ' di&tribuk'il nvor tlnvv otlior-s, of which Iho "Victoria Ikkiiimiico t_\>iii|Ku>y ImUl £1000, (lio National olliie holding iK'twwii £6JO and £700. ami another olliw n hikiWvy BUiil—Uio loud ainonnf- ro-in>uiv.d Iwing £2553 6s Bil. The IVninenla SliiiH>inu r Com\xii\y will thus losi' a lonsiderablt* and it it tliat .the Wt-ir, of tht> umipiuiy. will lv t'm'ntionally IkMvy los<»rs. Tim viirwiorf, at a mwring on tlu» 15th, dctiidcil to CtU'ry on tlu* vvinkH- tiimM;tblcoi tho ilatariki with tho Moerangi, and it is uiKlovstood that iinnio<iiat<? arc to be taken to roplaoo tho lest with »n up-to-date fa*n-bojit f which it is hoped to ! have iu.reajJhicss for next lwli\i-vv ' Mb "