TALE OF A BURNING SHIP.

Evening Post, Volume LXI, Issue 30, 3 August 1895, Page 1 (Supplement)

TALE OF A BURNING SHIP.

A terrible story is that of the baandonment of the British vessel Why Not. The Why Not is a schooner of 80 tons, owned by Mr. T. N. Jones, of Bangor, and commanded by Captain Wilkinson, and has been trading between St. Brieux and tho Channel Islands. She left St Brieux recently for Guernsey, laden with fodder, and carrying about 20 French* passengers. She should have reached Guernsey next day, but nothing further was heard of her till the morning of the fourth day, when the crew arrived in one of the ship's boats at Erquy, near St. Brieux, and reported that they had abandoned the vessel on fire, and that the passengers were on board. A brief telegram from Paris gave the conclusion of the story. It says : — " A despatch from St Brieux, published by the Figaro, states the captain of the Brittish vessel Why Not is kept under observation by the judicial authorities of the Erquy in the Cotes dv Nord, as he is accused of having abandoned on the high sea 20 French passengers on board the Why Not, which was on fire. The telegram adds that the captain and crew left the ship in a boat, and that the passengers ran the Why Not ashore -at Erquy, one of their number being drowned." A Jersey correspondent was the first to send details, stating that the majority of the passengers of the vessel reached Jersey by the steamer Commerce from St. Brieux. The Why Not left St. Brieux with 20 male and female passengers, who were proceeding to Jersey for the potato harvest, and among the cargo were 10 tons of hay and straw, and a quantity of lime. The Why Not proceeded slowly because of the want of wind. At about three p. m. the next day a fire was suddenly noticed '* in the held. There was no panic, but all set to work to subdue the flames. Suddenly, a bucket was dropped over board, and the ship's boat was launched to recover it; and into this boat the captian jumped, followed by his three sailors. One of the passengers, seeing what was being done, swam after the boat, and was apparently reluctantly taken on board. According to the story of the passengers who were left behind bewailing their fate, the boat landed a few hours later a^Erquy, when the captain suggested that it was of no use to send help. Those still aboard the Why Not did not, in their wretched j predicament lose courage, but one j of them seized the .helm, and a breeze springing up twelve hours later, she drove ashore at Erquy. In the interim one of the paesengers, who tried to save himself on some timber, was drowned. The passengers who returned to Jersey confirm the story already told of the abandonment of the ship by the crew, and the perils to which the passengers were subsequently exposed, Jean Burlot was the man who, though ignorant of seamanship, took charge of the Why Not after the abandonment, and succeeded in stranding her on Erquy beach, after threading a way through many dangerous reefs. He tells the following story : — " Though I do not understand how to steer, I seized the helm, and another passenger, Yves Marie Tremel, who had his eyelashes scorched by the hot smoke, was on the look-out. Tremel called to me how to turn the tiller, right or left. When the moon rose we steered straight towards her. The passengers were then getting much discouraged, only four or five retaining courage to make an attempt to subdue the flames." Tremel made the following statement : — "I believe the fire broke out in the lime under the fodder, owing to water being used to wash the deck with penetrating. We had no time to prevent the sailors leaving the ship, as they got away too quickly, so Burlot and myself set about the task of infusing courage into the passengers, who were weeping and praying by turns. We encouraged the women to pray and the men to work, but the fire made steady progress, and the smoke was blinding. There were no flames in the fodder,- but when once the fire reached the captain's cabin, we thought we were about finished. I threw water on the flames, but this did not resist their advance. Judge of our delight when we felt the vessel aground, for we had been picturing death either by water or fire. When the vessel grounded we were unable to see the shore, but we shouted and our cries were replied to from the land. A fishing boat came to our rescue, and all were landed much exhausted." It is stated that the St. Brieux authorities will endeavour to secure the Legion of Honour for Jean Burlot. Francois Tremel, who swam after the Why Not's boat when the crew pulled away, says the crew were unwilling to receive him, and he believed, "they would have liked to throw him overboard."