FATAL FIRE ON A LIGHTER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXV, Issue 10910, 15 November 1898, Page 6

FATAL FIRE ON A LIGHTER.

A WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH.

Another terribly injured. Yabraville (Victoria) was, on November 4, the scene of a conflagration which occurred under startling circumstances, and which, before it could be extinguished, resulted in the loss of human life. The cause can only be guessed at, but it was possibly spontaneous combustion. The out re " place on board the lighter Shannon, which, loaded with a cargo of jute, was lying along side the wharf. Margaret Deutsch,_ 1 the lighterman, received terrible injuries, and another woman was burned to ea . On Thursday evening, November -A, the lighter Shannon was moored at Melbourne The jute had been placed on board, a™.™ lighterman, Joseph Deutsch, had recei orders to proceed down stream to the lop works early on the following day. Mrs. Deutsch, the injured woman, who usually lived oil board the boat, had left the lighter on the previous Tuesday, when she set out with tlie intention of visiting some friends. Her husband retired to his berth at the usual hour on Thursday night. At daybreak the following morning he heard steps coming down the companion ladder, and heard Mrs. | Deutsch enter the small cabin on the opposite side of the vessel, talking, as he supposed, to herself, though, as subsequent events proved, she must have brought another woman on board with her. Ihe lighter was then taken in tow by the tug Henry Moss, and it was about half-past eight or nine a.m. when the Yarraville Wharf was reached. The lighter could not go alongside the wharf, however, until another lighter, the Protege, had been removed out of the way, and the Shannon for a while remained in the stream. By way of preparing for the unloading of the 200 bales of jute, which comprised the Shannon's cargo, and the whole of which was stowed on deck, Deutsch commenced to remove the tarpaulin coverings. He had taken off those two which covered the after portion of the cargo, and had partly removed one which occupied the centre of the deck, when a sheet of flame burst from beneath the canvas. A strong wind was blowing, wliioh, catching the tarpaulin, twisted it into a great flapping mass to the other end of the boat. The breeze fanned the lighted jute into a blaze that increased in volume every moment, until the whole of the after part of the lighter was in flames. The heat was terrific, and Deutsch, paralysed by the appalling suddenness of the outbreak, retreated to the bow of the boat. Then, shouting wildly for help, he seized a bucket and threw bucketful of water after bucketful upon the burning mass. But the water had not the slightest effect on the flames. With every fresh gust of wind they shot up in great tongues of fire, which appeared to lick up everything within reach. The lighterman then remembered that his wife was in the after cabin. It was impossible for him to get near that part of the vessel. Before him was a fiery furnace, and on either side the river. He shouted to her .in the hope that- his voice would be heard above the roar and crackle of the flames. It was evident that she could have little chance of escape. The draught was attracting the fire down the companion hatch, and the ( crash of the breaking skylight was proof that the flames had reached the cabin. Deutsch's shouts were heard by some men on board the steamer Ouraka, lying some 40yds or 50yds further along the wharf, and they could be seen gesticulating to him to leave the lighter. At that moment a piercing shriek proceeded from the interior of the burning boat and a woman staggered up the companion ladder on to the deck for® second she stood still, surrounded by the smoke and flames. Her garments we burning, and she covered her face with her hands, as though to shelter her face from the terrible heat. Then uttering a scream of agony, she rushed to the side of the boat and leaped into the water. A fireman, named T. J. Francis, on board the Oulaka, was a witness of the occurrence, and he immediately plunged from the bow of the steamer into the river, and made towards her, and succeeded in grasping her. In the struggle that ensued both sank several times. Francis, however, succeeded in catching hold of a rope thrown from the steamer, and after nearly a quarter of an boml -N 6 aml t! ' e M ' o ® an ™'° biUlled on >0,11(1. Ihe woman was found to be Mrs Deutsch. She had received terrible burns, and was unable to speak. In answer to onestions, she merely held out her disfigured arms, and moaned as though in intense pain She as conveyed to the Melbourne flos-

1 Soon after the rescue of Mrs. Deutoh, the local fi r? brigade came upon the scene. Lines of hose were also run out from the Sugar orks, and a small army of employees from the neighbouring factories lent willing assistJnce. The Metropolitan Fire Brigade was summoned by telopbone. The flames on the burnmg lighter had increased rather than diminished. For some time the water an" peared to have 110 effect, and when the engine of the metropolitan brigade arrived of Chiefnffi me n'p men ~ m dor the char.4 of Chief Officer O'Brien, the flames were leaping as high as ever. But the additional -asistance soon produced a noticeable diminution in the fierceness of tho conflagration and by half-past eleven a.m. the fire was practically mastered.

tilt "there I 'Z thllt a ™ mour gained currency that theio was another woman 011 hoi J who had nrobably suffered death. Someone had heard Mrs. Deutsch murmur something about a woman being smothered. Most ot' those who knew best ridiculed the idea and even Joseph Deutsch looked upon it a', ah surd. Superintendent •Haydon, however donned the smoke jacket, and descended th» companion ladder 10 discover whether or not the cabin was occupied by anyone else In a few minutes he returned convinced that here was no foundation for tie re d hat a woman had been burned to death A he smoke gradually became £ Ve* t was possible to enter the hold of til Whit e tet Md CSt | ble Harris and Alexander .1 hittet '. an auxiliary fireman, descended « iVthl" I r tcW and JS way ait. In , the gloom it could be seen that the cabin had been utterly destroyed in iing through an opening 'in the partition h tween the hold and the cabin E°t being chaiTeVfromTrad^ofi' panion ladder. % P D™ " ° V '' Com profound astonishment it di ex P resse(l there had been a d [ occunantoTmV kt and was quite unable to <'iv am el » » tho woman's identity. Constabfe rS ' 0 communicated with the , Hilrri and there is now little u'll l ' ut J lonti ? is that of JohTnnSutrtt U wf ° d y time a §° Was divorced from her hush 0 ? and had recently resided in t.' f . , l ! n<; l| King-street. 7 res,ded m Lfl B le Alley, off Mrs. Deutsch died a few days afterwards.