Fire on the Mararoa.

Pahiatua Herald, Volume II, Issue 217, 19 October 1894, Page 3

Fire on the Mararoa.

Port Chalmkks, October 17. A fire broke eul on board the s.s. Mararoa at 3.30 this morning at Port where she is undergoing her periodical overhaul. The flames had a good hold by the time the firemen arrived on the scene. After an hour’s battle the brigade got the fire under. About JJSOO damage was done. The chief officer (Mr Meredith) thinks he was the last person in the engine room the night previous. There was then no fire in the furnaces, and everything was apparently safe. The engine-room is close to the forecastle, where the fire broke out. The doors from the firemen’s quarters in the forecastle to the engineroom were left open, as usual, for the purpose of giving access in case of fire. There is little doubt that the fire originated in one of the bunks, and not in the engine room. Mr Alfred Skakesley, foreman of the local brigade, was working aboard the Taviaai in the graving dock when the alarm was given. Proceeding to the scene he went down the Mararoa’s engine room with his comrades, but after being there a short time complained of feeling very hot and queer. He was persuaded to go on deck, and on reaching the wharf staggered and fell. Medical assistance was summoned, but life was extinet. The doctor’s opinion is that failure of the heart's action was the cause ef death. Deceased was 43 years of age, and leaves a widow and two children. Mr Shakesley had suffered from influenza, leaving his heart weak, and his death is attributed to this cause, accelerated by over-exertion and excitement. The oircunistanoes of the fire point strongly to incendiarism. The Mararoa is valued at jC60,000. As is the rule with the Company, half that amount is held by itself, and the other half is in a London office. The general impression in shipping circles at Port Chalmers is that the fire is the work of some tramp, who may also have started the fire in. the Tavinni ia the Graviag Duck. In the Mararoa’s case, only a person familiar with the run of the ship could have got to the place where the fire started without breaking his ueck.