BETWEEN TWO DEATHS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7667, 28 March 1903, Page 4

BETWEEN TWO DEATHS.

. — « thrilling'experience. A graphic story of the terrible experiences of the captain, and crew of the Manchester Merchant Was told to a correspondent at Queenstown on- Jan. 20, by one of the actors in that fearful drama- of the sea. Laden with a cargo of cotton, turpentine and resin, the steamer had nearly completed her vo3~age from New Orleans, and was almost in sight of the Irish coast, when flames were seen bursting out on the cattle deck. The fire was apparently limited to the forward part of the vessel, and Captain Couch and -Ms officers and crew" fought like heroes to confine it there, but the cattle deck gives a clear sweep from end to end of the ship, and their task seemed an impossible -one. Dense, black, resinous smoko poured through the ship in suffocating volumes, and to breathe it meant asphyxiation, but the men, greatly daring, located the exact site of the fire, and made magnificent effort3 to jettison the burning pot-ton. But the iron sides of the ship were red-hot, and after a f-aw smoking bales had been thrown overboard the crew was compelled to desist, half-dead from the hea^ and smoke. Another peril soon threat-' ened the ill-fated ship, for the acrid vapours of the fire, compounded of bxrrning turpentine and cotton, and intensified by "the resiu, pen-etrated to the engine-room and stokehole, and rendered further work below impossible. For a while relief was sought by the expedient of .sinking the steamer by the storn, but the inrush of water did nob reach far enough to extinguish the flames, which were by this time- wholly beyond control. The decks were now red-hot, and almost every man on board was Tendered haif-unconscious, while the captain and his officers were blinded by the smoke and flame. Just when all hope was given up a shout from one of the crew indicated that land was in sight, and. a little later the Manchester Merchant found herself in Dingle Bay.- Spurred by the sight, one of the officers plunged through the flames and succeeded in letting go the cable, and the ves-sc-1 anchored in six fathoms of water, in which she soon afterwards sank.