HOW THE FIRE BEGAN.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1244, 28 September 1911, Page 5

HOW THE FIRE BEGAN.

MORE ABOUT THE POWDER. MANY BODIES RECOVERED.' Paris, September 26. Further particulars regarding the. loss of 'the. battleship Liberto at Toulon' show that tho Liborte's' bugler was hurled aboard tho battleship Republique. When tho body was found ho still held his bugle in his hand. Splinters of shells struck the Foudre, a gunnery school vessel which was two miles distant, killing tho commander. Mutilated bodies were picked up throughout the day. An officer declares that the fire spread so quickly that it was impossible to flood tho magazines. Tho rescuers hare been all day boring holes in the plates in the hope of rescuing any who may bo imprisoned. Powder at Fault. All tho powder in tho Liberte's magazine had been freshly shipped, and was likely to remain good for forty months. During the recent hot weather tho temperature in tho magazine was above 85 degrees, which is not considered dangerous Tho ammunition in storage had been subjected to special tests, the results being entirely satisfactory. It was at first thought the fire was duo to a short circuit, but it is now positively stated that it was duo to decomposition of the powder similar to that which caused the explosion on tho battleship Jena. • Bodies Pierced Through. Admirals who were Teturninjr from tho funeral of the victims of tho recent explosion on the cruissT Gloire, viewed the bodies of tho Liberte's victims 1 . Tho majority of tho bodies were, however, so charred as to be unrecognisable. Some had been pierced through and through by fragments of shells. M. Delcasse, Minister for Marine, in an interview, said ho believed tho fire originated outsido tho magazines. A fire occurred in the evening near the forward casement of the battleship Patrie, but was extinguished early, only slight damage being done. Good Discipline on Board. Tho men, when ordered to flood the magazines on tho Liberie, rushed on deck declaring that it would bo certain death to approach tho sluices owing to the poisonous fumes emanating from the magazine?. Then the men wero ordered to their stations, and the panic immediately ceased. They, went to their post with the supreniest courage. When another explosion occurred an order was given to leave tho ship. Tho operation was carried out in good order; there being perfect discipline until tho annihiiatory explosion occurred. Many bodies and portions of bodies have been recovered. A heap of fifty corpses is visible, among tangled masses of wreckage. There is a man alivo in tho turret; Food has been passed to him. ITo states ho is surrounded by fifteen bodies. A strenuous effort is being made to release him. The Death Roll. Tho newspapers generally accept tho spontaneous combustion theory. Several allege a connection lietwecn tho fires on tho Liberto and tho Patrie and tho sabotage at tho Brest dockyard. According to some accounts, the first explosion occurred in a magazine containing ammunition for small guns. The injured included Lieutenant BesEon, nn admiral's son, who was found clinging to the Republique's cable. Tho dead or missing are officially estimated at from 350 to -100. NOT ONLY A FRENCH LOSS. COMMENT BY "THE TIMES." London, September 26. "The Times" says:—"Franco's loss is not solely personal) it is a material loss of great moment and p'avity, tuaswuci u j

the sudden extinction of so considerable and effective a unit as tho Liberie is a strategic disaster not incapable, in certain contingencies, of appreciably affecting tho balance of tho naval power of Europe, especially in tho Mediterranean."

The Prime Minister, Sir Joseph Word, has sent, the following telegram to tho French Consul at Auckland: "Tho people and Government of New Zealand aro greatly shocked to learn of the disaster to the warship Libcrte at Toulon, involving such terrible loss of life; and tender to tho Government and peoplo of Franco their sincere sympathy in this sad catastrophe."