The Burning of the City of Montreal.

Evening Star, Issue 7326, 26 September 1887, Page 4

The Burning of the City of Montreal.

The cable has informed ua of the loss by fire of the Inraan steamer City of Montreal while on the passage from New York to Liverpool. Our American files to hand contain the following particulars : THE CAPTAIN'S STORY. We left New York on August 6 with 135 passengers" aboard. No special incident occurred, except extremely fine weather, until the 10th, at 9 o'clock p.m., in latitude 43deg 38min N„ and longitude 53deg 54min W., with the wind light from the northwest, when fire was discovered in the after main hatch among the cotton. Fire hoses were instantly connected, and fire annihilators with hand grenades were also used freely. Every effort was made to extinguish the flames, which overcame all our efforts, and finally spread to such an extent in the upper and lower between decks that we saw the ship was doomed. From the beginning of the fire active preparation had been made for launching the boats by putting in provisions. At six a.m. the flames furiously burst out from the after hatches. The vessel was then almost enveloped in long tongues of flames. The boats were now quickly lowered, notwithstanding it was a difficult task, as a very high sea was running. The women and children were first put in, and then the remaining passengers and the crew. I may say the boats were not manned by their respective crews, as the circumstances did not allow that to be done, for the men had to fight down the fire to the very last, and could not have been at the boats at the same time. Accordingly as each boat was loaded it left the ship's side, and all got safely away. However, by Bome unfortunate oversight, about twenty people, who were busied in trying to save something and were out of view, were left on the burning vessel. When this was discovered No. 3 boat returned and took off six, and No, 5 boat also returned and took off another six. While this was going on a barque was sighted coming down on us. She proved to be the Trabant, of Germany. Soon all our boats got alongside, and all the persons were safely transferred to her decks. While this transhipping was going on one boat returned to the City of Montreal and rescued the remaining people, the vessel then being in flames from stem to stern. When all aboard the Trabant we noticed that No. 8 boat was missing, but soon afterward observed her running before the wind, using her oars for masts and Bails. She sped away from us in direct disobedience to my orders as previously given. We lost sight of that boat, and have not seen her since. A PERSONAL EXPERIENCE. The Rev. J. M. Donaldson, of Adelaide, Australia, has furbished the following pereonal narrative: —" AH went well after leaving New York until the following Wednesday night. About ten o'clock that most terrible of all alarms at sea, the cryof • Fire!' was given throughout the ship. Most of the passengers had turned in. Some of them were in their first sweet sleep, from which they were rudely aroused by the smoke, which increased rapidly, and began to fill the cabins and darken the lights throughout the ship. In a short time all were hastily dressed and on deck. The utmost energy was shown by the captain, officers, and crew in seeking out the locality of the fire, and in attempting to extinguish it. Their efforts seemed at one time to have succeeded, as the hatches were covered up in the hope of keeping it under, with a view of running the vessel to the nearest port, which was St. John's, Newfoundland, about 400 miles off. The course was shaped for this, but the lull in the smouldering fire was delusive, for, though checked in the after hatch, it unexpectedly burst out from still another hatch amidships, and, from the force and violence of the combustion, it soon became evident that all hopes of saving the ship were at an end. About eight o'clock in the morning the fire had so gained that the inevitable moment had come to leave the ship. All the passengers wer« assembled on deck, eaon one encased in a ltfe-preserver. It: was a mature of human misery and of the most helpless despair such as my words cannot clasped to their bosoms, with a fervency proportioned to the danger, ■their helpless children; husbands and wwes «mb»«io each other for what they felt migMrbe in all probability the last time."

Discouraging cries Were heard that no land was in sight, and no succor appeared within the wide range of the horizon ; but all this had to be faced. It is satisfactory to relate that every boat was lowered in due course without the slightest hitch. All the passengers were got into the boat without the least accident. It is much to the credit of the passengers that there was no panic, no rush, no undue excitement ; and that no attempts were made to evade the rule that women and children should go first. By an oversight, which was the fault of the persons themselves, a few of the passengers and crew were left behind on the burning ship, because they had gone aft instead of forward, and were hidden from sight by dense clouds of smoke. But they were in due time rescued, and thus all were freed from the danger of burning, and had only to face the milder danger of drowning. Among the nineteen left on board there was a fine brave young fellow belonging to the ship, named William Mitchell, who thought he would take a last survey of the horizon from the vantage of the steamer's bridge. Who can describe the joy which was his and ours as we laid by, when he shouted " I have discovered the masts of a ship just rising within the range of vision." A moment's careful survey with the captain's glasses discovered that the approaching vessel was a barque under full sail, which was bearing with a fair wind straight down upon us, her crew having evidently seen our condition. As soon as the joyous vision greeted our eyes every heart in the boat was cheered with hope, and not a few people bowed their heads in thankful prayer. In due time the deliverer drew near, hove-to, and awaited the arrival of the boats.