FIRE ON BOARD SHIP.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 8703, 27 January 1894, Page 10

FIRE ON BOARD SHIP.

TO THE EDITOR Of THK PBISS.

. Sir,-—I read with much interest the letter from Mr Harris re fire on board the s.s. Kaikonra. - The suggestion Contained in that letter is undoubtedly a good one, and if the Board of Trade would only insist on every passenger vessel carrying proper appliances for of fire, instead of worrying the ship owners with some of their prohibitive rules and they would be taking, a step in the right direction. Many lines of steamers carry portable fire -• extinguishers, besides the ordinary water appliances, which, are placed in different parts 0f... the vessel, they are exactly what Mr Harris refers to, only on a smaller scale, and can be carried about on a man's back. The P.S.N.C. and Chilian Steamship Company's boats on the coast of Peru and Chili have them. The passenger boats of the London Steam Navigation Company and, if I am not mistaken, the P. aud 0. and Orient Line are also fitted with kheui.

No one except those who have had to fight a fire know what a dreadful foe it is, and of all places .on board ship. Can any one imagine a more fearful position to be in than to be on board one of these steamers with, -ay, two or three hundred, fellow passengers, far away from all help, and a fire raging onboard. aNo*, sir, icjias been proved that these chemical engines are undoubtedly the best means of coping with a fire, especially one that is confined; to an enclosed space like a ship's hold, and I contend that ship Companies who carry a large number of passengers should be compelled to carry one or more of these appliances, so as to protect, as far, as possible, the valuable lives in their charge. Fortunately the two fires that have happened lately have been on board vessels which were - within reasonable distance of help, and in a part of the world where the weather and sea is moderate, bus suppose it had happened half way between here land Cape Horn, most probably in wild and stormy weather and a mountainous sea running, tvhen any vessel requires every ounce of buoyancy she has got, what would have been the consequence ? In the Ruahine case they dare not have flooded, the hold to the extent that they had to-do in order to put the fire but, for the simple reason that the extra amount of Weight in an already loaded ship, would put her so deep in the water as to make her dangerous, and if I am informed rightly' they had to flood this vessel's hold twi_» before the fire was extinguished. I trust that in the interest of the thousands of passengers who year afterc year travel in these large passenger stwaners, some steps may soon be taken to compel the different Companies to carry the best and moist approved appliances for the extinction of fire* . I may add that the outside public do not always hear of every fire that occurs onboard ship.—Yours, Ac. WA-JDERKR. ,