BURNING OF THE PARISIANA. STEWARD'S GRAPHIC ACCOUNT.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXI, Issue 18, 23 January 1911, Page 7

BURNING OF THE PARISIANA. STEWARD'S GRAPHIC ACCOUNT.

FRUITLESS EFFORTS TO SAVE THE SHIP TERRIBLE TIME IN THE BOATS. PERTH, 22nd January. MacAlister, steward of the steamer Parisiana, which was abandoned on fire off St. Paul's Island in the Indian Ocean, gives a graphic description of the loss of the vessel. Tho fire, he states, was first discovered by the carpenter at 6 o'clock in the morning, when he found a bunker smouldering. Fruitless efforts were made to smother it, and then all hands were started to shift tho coal in the bunkers. The fireman Tait was smothered through the coal giving way. Two other hands were overcome, by the fumes, but were restored by artificial means. FIGHTING THE FIRE. Holes were then cut in the decks, and water poured through, but the fire continued to spread. The men worked like demons till five o'clock next morning, when the ilames burst out from the bunker hatch. The ship meantime continued steaming towards Australia till six at night, when the captain decided to make for St. Paul Island. ; The decks at that time were red hot. and a heavy sea was running. The v«bsel was shrouded in a pall of smoke. Suddenly she gave a heavy list, and it was feared that she would turn turtle. CREW TAKE TO THE BO ATM. After drifting tor a time towards tho island, with the fire gaining rapidly,

and the flames licking the sides of th& bridge, the captain ordered the boats to be lowered. Owing to the heat and heavy sea there Was difficulty in boarding the boats. The captain, the first and second mates, and the first and second engineers stayed aboard till the- last, and it was seven at night when they left the burning steamer. The boats were tied to the stern for a time, waiting the possibility of the vessel burning out, but the sea was so rough that they had to cast off. ISoon after leaving the ship a great explosion was caused, ship's rockets going off. The middle of the steamer appeared to be a mass of fire. The boats drifted about all night, with the burning vessel in view. Next morning they approached the ship again, but she was still burping, ana was a complete wreck. SUFFERINGS FROM SHORTAGE OF FOOD. The boats then started for the island, which wa3 35 miles distant. The mate's boats reached it in two days, but the captain's boat, in which was MacAlister, was knocking about in a, heavy sea for six nights and five days. This party had a terrible time, with only a single biscuit, and one drink of water daily. Several times the boat was almost swamped. After reaching the island the men found plenty of fish, which they supplemented with penguin and seal liesh. There were plenty of rabbits and a number of goats on the island, but they could not catch them. The crew managed to carry the ship's pets, two cats and a dog, with them to the island. LIFE ON THE ISLAND. STORE OF PROVISIONS FOUND. BUT MOSTLY UNEATABLE. HELP FROM A FRENCH SCHOONER. (Received January 3, 9.35 a.m.) PERTH, This Day. Captain Gordon, master of the Parisiana,_ declared that the origin of the lire is a mystery. It started among the general cargo, -which included a quantity of resin. Their sufferings during the time the captain's boat was battling with the sea, and their subsequent hardships on the island, caused the death of Fourth Engineer Bannon and Fireman Heine. Their remains were buried on the island. The castaways found the cache kept by the French Government on the island, containing three barrels of biscuits and five barrels of preserved meat and vegetables, but half the biscuits, which were eighteen years old, were rotten, and a large proportion of the meat was decayed and uneatable. The store containing the provisions waß broken down. During the crew's month's stay on the island a French fishing schooner called, and gave the castaways a quantity of provisions and fishing tackle, which helped to give them a variety of diet. Fish, birds, and seals were captured. After the death of Bannon and Heine, the 32 men on the island maintained a daily routine, and kept strict watchOn Christmas Day and New Year's Day tho captain treated all hands to brandy punch, and on the latter occasion ail made themselves sick through overindulgence in seal eteak. 4 seaman named Anderson received a charge of shot in the leg from the gun of the French fishing schooner's mate while hunting rabbits. A severe wound was inflicted, and the pellets were not extracted till he reached the Fremantle hospital. VARIOUS GABLES. -'■' '■— By Telegraph.-Press Association.— Copyright. (Received January 23, 9 a.m.) ILLNESS OF MR. LLOYD GEORGE. LONDON, 22nd January. Owing to a throat affection, Mr. Lloyd George, Chancellor of the Exchequer, expects to be obliged to return to the South of France. OBITUARY. NEW YORK, 22nd January. General Owen Summers, a veteran of the American Civil War, and who took part in the campaign in the Philippines, , is dead. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR. LONDON, 22nd January. A madman visited Sir Thomas Lipton'a residence, pretended to bo a policeman, and flourished a razor. Sir Thomas Lipton condoled with tho man on his grievances, and then secured a telephone and obtained assistance. FIRE IN AN AMERICAN HOTEL. NEW YORK, 21st January. The Traders' Hotel, a theatre adjoining, and a-, number of business houses, were destroyed by fire at Clarksburg, West Virginia. Panic-stricken women had to be forcibly removed from the hotel. IMPROVING THE dCCASION. LONDON, 21st January. Sir George Reid, High Commissioner for Australia, in. addressing a regimental gathering of King Edward's Horse, said the meu would find it better in e\ery way to train as Territorials than to make a ring of onlookers at football matches. FRENCH NAVAL REFORMS. PARIS, 21st January. Ths members of the Republican Left in the Chamber met to hear a report by M. Delcasse on naval reforms. They approved the remark that it was important to give France by 1920 the instrument she needed for the conduct of her policy. AUSTRIAN BATTLESHIPS. VIENNA, 21st January. Tlia newspaper Ziefc states that an Austro-Hungarian Dreadnought will be launched in June next, and a second in December. TORPEDO BOAT CRIPPLED. STOCKHOLM, 21st January. The Swedish tnrpedoer Vesta started from Karlskrona on her trial trip, and reached Copenhagen in a crippled state, having lost her propeller. CANADIAN NATIONAL HIGHWAY. OTTAWA, 21st January. Tho provincial authorities throughout Canada are considering the construction of a national highway joining the Atlantic and Pacific. British Columbia has taken the preliminary steps to construct its own section. MR. CARNEGIE'S MILLIONS. NEW YORK, 21st January. Mr. Andrew Carnegie has given £2,000,000 to the Washington Institute of Research, his total benefactions thereto being .€5,000,000. {Received January 23, 8 40 a.m.) RUGBY FOOTBALL. | LONDON, 22nd January. In the interprovincial football match, 1 Wales defeated England by 15 points to Brown, a Queenslander, played for England. FIJI HIGH COMMISSIONER. HONGKONG, 22nd January. Sir F. IT. May, the new High (jommisMnner for the Western Pacific, has sailed for Australia. COLLIERIES CLOSING DOWN. (Received January 23. 10.20 a.m.) Sl'DXEl'. Thio D.i\. Owing principally to the slackness of trade, the clomng of several Newcastle collieries is contemplated,