An Extraordinary Escape.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXIII, Issue 7661, 20 June 1896, Page 4

An Extraordinary Escape.

The Western Independent has received authentic informat'on that, the torpedo destroyer Hardy navrowly escaped being Mown up with all hands la.cOy. The Hardy was making for tho Ne- die \ when through the neglect of some of the staff the boiler became dry through the complete evaporation of water. It soon grow so intensely overheated that the fire communicat.' d itself to the engine room and set aflame the tank of oil. The first alarm to the officers and crew outside tho boiler room rose from the emission of volumes of curiously colored smoke from the funnel, and in a f«w moment ' the men lushed up the stokehole, seized the fire appliances, and excitedly pusm'd the hoses bolow to extinguish Iho oulbioak. Such was the promptitude shown that tho crew eventually succeeded in averting the explosion, but not until such damage had been done i'iat the tubes of the boilers were twisted like the roolT of a tree, and the vessel was ordered back to Portsmouth for repairs. Ifc was quite certain that if the boilers had not ofi'jred the splendid resistance they did a serious disaster must have resulted, which would have cost all on board their lives. The Hardy is a first class twin screw of 4000 horse-power, with six guns, and carries about sixty hands.