FIRE ON BOARD A MAIL STEAMER.

Otago Witness, Issue 953, 25 April 1889, Page 17

FIRE ON BOARD A MAIL STEAMER.

, RETURN OF THE MABil'poM. . , Auckland, April 24!.

The Mariposß/wbibJj' left* for 'fean opi^nday'last, returned to port a**^f-pa«t'* o'b^c^'thjs'mornipg.; ' Tip cause of &viw } return I was ap outbreak pf fir,e"amqng.* quantity of. flax that had been stowed in the toehold. In*mediately the fire was discovered measures were tikiDnibeXtirigaisn it. ' Th'e/h"atcbe's wer.e' Ke,p^ olofee shu^wliflesteam^Wa^tuVned bn into the hqltf. 'Xttkr^bM^a'hvsiilfon^'th'e^ was extlfa'g^hedj'biikitiwas' inadvisable to pf bcee'd'on, 1 We ' voyage until the' extent'df th<9 damai?h'ad* r a>6wW^ed.' >' 'The hatches' had n6t' beeii removed up- 'to the fttietf 'htif but an' ek'aminaiiby'of her" hold /is now, 1 being m'aldq. THe^gre'atest'gopd order; was' observed throcigHHui'thedcctffr^ce. . Th'e^aHp'P^a was' 22o'miles 'distant tPhen'tba firewais' disc'dvSred^ it, bf r'emoving'.tb'e flax' failed,, the nie l^ being nearly suffocated. .The VoWei'a speed : was rei duced dtie'half, and'sheyks'Jput back for Auckiaiia? Th^atbhes^e^e then' battened ddwh f and the fire stdothered'wifch' steam "at mid* riigh'fc'yestefaay: "Airhand^b'ehaved splendidly, and the passengers exhibited no alarm. A large quantity of flax has beWdamaced, but the ex* tenVaha'dmou'niro'f tte i^nr^arietfotyet asoertained., jThe mails .were' uninjured. The NewZealand tasA\9 i.are ft§ dry as ,w^en, shipped, but two bags of the, Sydney .mails were soaked, but I these .contained, 'sacks, only. <''..' .' ■; knBmoiSAVFAikmGyLARs: The^lti^r'ipbsa^ left" Q d\ipr Stjn Francisco at, 4 o'clbck' on Monday (V ajtfcernogri. FineJ' weather was experience^, and .1 fresh nmtß'ela winMrevailed niitil^.SO on Tue,^y Wording, Steamer was {| 2^o' mi^ea distant. ,jAri alarm of^fire^was then given, and 'as dense yolume^of siiabke' were issuing from the mail room, 'tne outbreak first supposed to be th'erej. |,W6'sm v pke' was' coining through tp ( e rr yen« tilatprs',' and ,'was'vety and J a j^pse w,as promptly, b'rough't,toy'bear. It howeverj'bHa^ the fire "was not in the mail room, and as the smoke , was also very dense forward the,hat6h'eß of the forehpld were lifted, and volumes' of smoke, v burst 'forth. Captain Hay* ward gaVe directions to break oat' the cargo'! to ttie I lo'wer ! |prehdld,Vhere a l^rge qiianti^y of "flajf 1 and the 1 'seat'of ' the' fitje wistj easily fixed. . The tip piii 'the enginesh'aif speed, and r in this way the draught down the hatch ,wa> reduced , to a mimmum. A hose was Kept braying upon the burning material with' a force of water, and about 30,^8)68 of flax 1 were jgot put,-~all hands'belonging to, captaiti atiii' crew of the wrecked vessel Red Cross, who. were on board, working splendidly. The smoke and heat 'experienced 1 became ; . so : severe that on ; e mtiSa! ,was' ,cirrikd ' :p: pn f de*ck' \ insensißle/ and ' it iook two hours' nm^ingy'to bring' ,bi?n ro^nd. It then became apparent that if the fire could , npfej be eztinguished 1 in this manner, the u me'n being unable to live down thenold.apd Captain Hay ward , resolved to , mike' 'an .attempt to smother the fire. ' He'fherefore bad the hatches put on the,hp|dj' r |agajh' < anb\[Jdloß^ly l< 'b < 'Mened down, and'thjen ,g 4 aye'. > 'ihe' order lt'o .turn on jbhe steam pipe.. This h'aving k been done, holes were cut id the ; deck and the' hose brought into p|ay againjand at midnight'Jof yesterday all danger w^s at an end, ahd'the smote ceaised 'to 'cbme,up fromf'the npldl!" In the Idaptam B[ayward had ' 'decided to return ' to' Auckland, ahd the Btpamer'B head was.p'utaDout and 8 o'clock yesterday ,mp^ning, : &ve;lißdirs*;befjdrß the fire' 'was' extinguished. 'It was sible to ascertain the exteiit of the damage, and it was considered itoDrade'nVto'push ''jforwijtd into tropicalAatitudeS where, the great "heat prevailing migW; ek^ie'a jfeburreride 1 of the disaster. , , Auckland was reached aboutSa.m. to-day. The Ma'rip'psa was.o^ttnefi'at I the l^a'e l en' street wHirf at 7, o'clock, and' the work of discharging' tho car^o of 'flax waa at once proceeded with. The'e'ffeijts'pf .the fire 1 were seen onctiarred and Bmpkedbwfes dre^che'^wiW/wa^rj'wbiob were l^nded'on^'tne wfa'arfib' j&e piresene'e of crowds'. .'"Capiatn'l&aywar^'sta^ffthatTOth passenger^, and crev/' beh|ived ''admlraßly.^ There yw^eve^iin^bin^^ppjroailbing^ a. pVnib on boarq^', s "'lttjmf pas'sfenger's] Vblun'teefed^ their services', 1 b'uV they "we're 11 not required.' The crew laboured,mpßt^nercetically in the midst of intense h^Wa'rM were so per* sisußiip ? n ib^ir' eflorlis' 'that were .almost suffocated. t ' ti Al ! German ' seafnan, ' who' 'ydlunie^rJßd 'tb'go dbwii the hawhway t<S puib out the firewhe'n'tfre hatches were'.firstjremoved, ,was almost suftbckte.d'.Vand M after'|b'e'was brought oa deck' was tw/r hours "'fn coining r'ouna^ three ofch^r men dropped down,,in a state, 'of euffo'ca* ''fibv,', "and'j.were" t^ei " ( off unc6nscioaS; v and seve'ra| officers |were very much exhausted, and an&jjip^ •'a^yerely, frbW., smdke.' The flrkt Suspicions thati the jpafeeng^lrs' had ,of danger waa'/whea* tl^6 '! epgineß'';<Jf : ''the " ship" were Stepped ju'it after t daylight^ in the morning. ' |ifq piiQ "Reined to' .W6w "pn^ wu^/ yWti { all Were apprenensiv^ that $1 was right. , ! Nanib' erless were the BufmigesjM to what h'ad : hkpi>ened. Some, said tlie 1 b"earings^ of he,,, engines were hoi; and they had^ been stopped to cool; others de^lared^Kat l^© 1 crank pin had gone, bat none seemed to guess, the rSalJc'ause/ of the stoppage. : The ' officefe - were -pledged to ' $ conspiracy of "silenpeVaiid thecrew^ereW^y retUwnt.^ Iv answer to m'qiairies they ' said withau air of indifte*rehce|uat) Bpfeed Iba1 bad 'been' slackened for » bit fbripme p'iirp'osei' bat' 'that she would sooni go ahead fcjlain. 1 7 '•" '"•'- ■ '"'/•' .. ' Lieutenant Mdvtj of the 1 U.S. navy, was da board, anA4ie sjaxß^tS5 jaxß^tSL h J?,I went'tb^ breakfaat I witifiessed'a'Bight socn-as I never ex» peitedTto:&!£ve' J ft6eU' 'There -wereiiWJthA^hip t-p'r fire^thß^pajweaf»r^«s'ibj)wdikftosfipg)thal|

wash was the casei and yet not . the slightest sign) of fear— not even on the faces of: the ladiesrand it was a surprise to me, and I consider such a result was entirely due to the tact of Captain Hayward and the splendid discipline maintained, on board the ship. The passengers showed no sign of fear, but were sitting about amusing themselves as much as ever. Some were playing oards, others smoking. It was a great surprise, to me. I have been going to sea 25, years, and , have no hesitation in saying that, on board t a : man-of-war, with trained men and no women, ( you could not have made a scene like that/ There were 200 passengers on the vessel, and the danger of a panic may therefore be seen. By 3 o'clock the fire was completely under patrol, there being 4ft of water in the freehold, and the flax was kept saturated with The fire must have begun within a very fewhours of the ship leaving the , and if it had gained much more headway before it was discovered, the majority of the people 'on board must have perished. 'The women and children alone would have, filled the boate,and these would have had little hope of teaching land against the southerly wind and heavy sea that was running. The flax oa board the steamer comprised 580 bales. Of these 118 were shipped by Arnold, Cheney, and Co. on behalf of Solanderd and Co.) Nelson, consigned to Peabody, Boston, and insured Cor £450 in the South British office. The remainder waa sent by Johnston and Co.> Wellington. When the Mariposa was berthed at the Queen street; wharf the mails were discharged and spread out on the wharf. It was found that the New Zealand mail was quite uninjursd, and as dry as when shipped. That from Sydney included two bags saturated with water, bu.t which were fortunately empty. Experts were set to work at, once to find out the condition of the ship and cargo. Captains Worsp'and Clayton, the former of _ whom is marine surveyor for the Underwriters' Association, examined the vessel, and found there was no injury beyond a slight charring of the deck where holes had been cut. The hold where the, fire broke out is of, iron. They found that the outside of the bales had been charred, whilst inside was uninjured, this going to show that the fire had not , originated from spontaneous combustion. Some of the flax was stowed in the after hold, where it waa not touched by either fire or water, and it was remarked by many persons that some, bales were not so dry as they should have been before being shipped. It is possible that a match dropped into a bale while putting it on board. The flax had been stored in the sheds at the Auckland wharf for over three weeks. The whole of the flax having been discharged,,the Mariposa left agaiu to-night for San Francisco. As the vessel moved off, the band on the wharf played several airs, , and the captain and crew were loudly oheered.

AN ACCOUNT BY AN EYE WITNESS.

Wellington, April 24. The following appears in to-night's Press, and it goes almost without saying that it is from the pen of Mr E. Wakefield, who is a passenger: — At 6 o'clock on Tuesday morning the Mariposa slackened speed, and almost immediately slowed down till she was making scarcely any way. In answer to inquiries as to the cause of this by the passengers who were on deck, the officers were very reticent, merely saying, with an air of indifference, that " Speed had been slackened for a bit for some purpose, but she would soon go ahead again." It was at once noticed that something very unusual had occurred or was going on on' the deck before the pilot house, which usually forms part of the cabin promenade, but was now fenced off with a cablg. None of the crew were to be seen anywhere about the ship excepjb , around the fore hatch, where a number of them were crowded, under the command 'of Captuin Hayward, apparently working with all their might and main at some operations in the fore hold, while hose pipes lay all along the deck. Smoke and steam were issuing from the fore hatch, and though no passengers' were allowed to go forward ,ii Boon became known that the cargo was on fire. At this time most of the passengers were in bed or in the ' bathroom, and the few who were on deck and learnt the actual state of the case were easily made to understand the necessity for self-control and for making as light of the matter as possible, so'as to avoid a panic, especially among the women and children, who, numbered between 50 anc( 60. One or two' of the ladies sleeping in the deck cabins were, aroused and came out' on deck in a state of alarm, but were quieted by assurances there was no danger, and all, without a single exception, behaved admirably.

NOT THE SLIGHTEST PANIC or disorder of any sort occurred, but everything •went on throughout the crowded ship just as if she were steaming safely on her course, and the social hall was well filled with ladies and children by half-past 7. It happened that there were on board as passengers Captain M'lntyre, of the ship Red Cross (recently wrecked at Tongatabu), and 17 of his crew, and Captain Hayward readily accepted the proffered help of this fine body, of men under their own commander. Even with their assistance, however, the labour in the forehold !

"WAS TERRIBLY SEVERE,

By 9 o'clock four men had dropped down, in a state of suffocation and been taken aft unconscious, and several officers were very much exhausted and suffering severely from the smoke which now pervaded the ship ; still the

MOST COMPLETE CONFIDENCE

was felt in Captain Hayward, who never left the fore hatch, and whose coolness and firm good sense almost did away with the idea of danger. The boats were got ready without attracting more notice than was necessary, and so well was the impression pf safety maintained that

BREAKFAST WAG SBHVED just as usual, and very fairly patronised even by the ladies and children. By 10 o'clock the work of getting out the flax was in full progress, the men going down in shifts to fix the tackle on the bales in the great heat and stifling atmosphere of the hold, and others rolling them along the deck. This went on all the morning until about 50 bales had been brought op and pileel on deck, filling up nearly all the 'space forward. The flooding of the hold where 'the flax was stored went on simultaneously, the watertight compartments being closed. The flax and water and smoke together made it impossible for the passengers to remain on deck, arid a good deal of discomfort was felt, but everybody seemed determined to make the best of it. , ' '

(Feom Our Own Correspondent.) Auckland, April 24. The insurance company's experts are divided in. opinion as, to whether the outbreak of fire f among the flax cargo of ,the Mariposa was due to accident or spontaneous combustion. The flax appeared to be in part badly scutched or cleaned,, the resinous matter being largely in it. It is feared the misadventure will check the export' of this article, as freight and insurance rates will be raised.

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