WOOL AND FLAX FIRES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 10, 7 October 1907, Page 5

WOOL AND FLAX FIRES.

THE TAIE OF NECESSITY FOR INSPECTION. STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER FOR MARINE. " If it had not been for the assistance of tho Torawhiti with her enormous pumping power, the Turakina today would have been lying alougsido the wharf a total wreck, and tho wharf itself would probably' have been on fire." This was the deliberate opinion of a nautical expert, expressed to a representative of The Dominion on Saturday. It does not require the exercise of much imagination to call up an even more dreadful spectacle than that. • What would, havo happened had the Turakina, instead of four days from 'New Zealand, been ten days out, when tho, outbreak was discovered—too far away, to'get into any port? In the opinion of the same expert, the vossel would most' certainly havo become i total loss, and tiioro would probably havo been destruction of precious lives. A Wave of Destruction. ■Outbreaks of fires upon a succcssion of wool ships happened about two years after the discontinuance of their system of inspection by tho New Zealand underwriters, who considered that it was not fair that they should bo at tho cost of this inspection, while tho greater portion of the benefit went to Lloyd's, who made no contribution to the cost of supervision in New Zealand. On September 27, 1905, a fire broke out-in some flax and wool on board tho Turakina, while tho vessel was lying at the Glasgow wharf. It was extinguished by the ship's chomical fire-engine, after aDout ninety'bales of flax and "wool had, been damaged, in the caso of the barque Pitcairn Island, which .was destroyed by firo at sea, the Court of Inquiry at Valparaiso found' "Tho cause of the accident is \not known; strong opinion tho disaster caused by tow." In Juno, 1906, a firo upon the Perthshire, loaded with New Zealand produce, caused about 250 bales of wool and tow to be jettisoned. •In . the same month a fire broko out on tho Waimato, supposedly among the flax and tow. Combustion of sliped wool caused a serious fire aboard the Gothic, and again in Juno, 1906, there was a like outbreak on board tho Rimutaka. ' As a result of this wave of destructive fires, a Royal Commission was appointed iu.New Zealand to investigate tho causes of such outbreaks. Evidence was takon in different places, and in order that legislation providing for tho proper inspection of wool ships might be introduced as soon as possible, tho Commissioners prepared an interim report,,containing tho recommendations which their investigations suggested, and this report was presented before tho close of last session. Their full report has recently been presented. Commissioners' Recommendations. _ Tho following were the detailed recommendations of tho Commissioners, made in their intorim report, and aftorwards confirmed:— ; 1. That section 221 of "The Shipping and Seaman Act,' 1903," ue amended by. tho elimination of tho words "out of New Zealand" appearing, in the second and third lines of subsection 1. , 2. That provision be made for the appointment of inspectors, whose duty, it shall bo to inspect the wool before shipment. 3. That such inspectors shall withhold from shipment all 'such wool as in their absolute discretion may be in such a condition, as to be unfit for shipment. ■ 4. That such inspectors shall ba empowered to desido how such wool shall be dealt with by way of reconditioning or otherwise.

5. That such inspectors shall bo empowered and directed to institute proceedings under tho Act for breaches of the law. 6. That it be prima facie evidence of negligence in packing, or of false packing, if at any time wool is found in tho possession of an owner —and tho shipper for the time being shall bo deemed to be the owner —in such a condition that it is not, in the opinion of such inspector, in a fit condition for shipment when offered for shipment. ■7. That whero negligeneo in packing is provod, such offence shall be punishable. by lino; '.' and that where false packing' is proved, such offence shall be punishable by imprisonment without tho .option, of a fine., .., 8. That the : cost of the inspection shall.' bo borne and paid by the owners of tho material, in the nature of a charge, lipon every bale of wool shipped from the .Dominion: ■

"Vjfaiit of Inspection. ' 'Meanwhilo there had been no system . of inspection on behalf of the underwriters. Flax is examined very carefully by tho Government graders before it .is.shipped, but wo are informed on good authority ■ that there is absolutely no inspection of tow, and no official inspection of wool. If damp wool happens to be'noticed when it is being handled on the wharf or in the sheds, tho observer is supposed to call attention:', to its condition, but this rough and ready system, it is understood, is tho only one that exists. _ The Royal Commission, consisting of Dr. .A. M'Arthur (chairman), Captains :W. G. Foster and H. S. Blackburno, found that "the probability of flax or tow having through spontaneous combustion been tho cause of any of tho fires which have occurred upon vessels leaving Now Zealand with such cargo on board is negatived, although on • occasions there have been suspicions. Tho highly inflammablo nature of flax or tow renders it exceedingly liable to firo from extraneous causes." Captain Blackburno, one of [ tho ' Commissioners, dissented from this negative finding. , Tho entire' Commission agreed that '.'there is no room to doubt that spontaneous 'combustion does take placa' in ■wool." The Commission confirmod its interim report, rind leconimended, inter alia, that tow should be inspected under the same conditions as wool. The Nsod for Supervision. Among tho ovidonco which came before tho Commission, showing tho urgent need for supervision, was a report of Captain Willis, surveyor to Lloyd's Register, on the conditions of twelve bales of wool found in a heated state on board the Otarama. Tv,-olvo hours after they had been opened,.aii] when tlioy must have cooled to a cer-

tain extent, tho temperature in the centres of bales reached such heights as 100, 110, 120, and 130 degrees. Other bales, which had 'been kept back from shipment on account of their condition, gave temperatures ranging from 80 to 132 degrees. Bales taken on another occasion from tho Papanui ranged from 100 to 150 degrees, and Captain Willis reported that "the majority of tho shipment appears to mo to havo been very inefficiently scoured and carelessly packed." Had not two hot bales, ho continued, been discovered in a certain store, "thero is no doubt whatever that in a very short period a serious fire would havo occurred on board tho Papanui." ' Mr. F. Waymouth, managing dircc-. tor of tho Canterbury Frozen Meat Company, stated before tho Commission:—"l,cannot make any surmise as to tho cause of the fires; it has only occurred to me that I might say that i I think it is more a matter for proper : supervision before shipping. This, I think, is most desirable in tho interests of life and property." j The Rerrart Criticised. ! Tho export whom wo quoted at tho beginning finds fault with tho' Commission's report as a very bald ■ document, which practically covcrs only tow. Tho experiments mado with damp . wool were not made, ho asserts, under , the conditions ordinarily applicable to j tho carriage of jvool. Asked what lio ' thought should bo done now in tho, ' ivay of inspection, he suggested thafc Government supervisors should .bo ap-.i • pointed, arid a tax of twopence or thrcopenco a bale should ,bo put on . wool to pay their salaries. They should bo experts aliko in respect of ~ discovery of damaged wool, in their- • knowledge of the best modes .of handling wool prior to shipping; and on the - subject of its stowage with reference to other cargoes. Tho greatest danger existed with regard to sliped,,, or scoured wool. In tho case of tho greasy wool from tho station, there was always the great safeguard that tho shearers would not shear wefc sheep. ■ ■ , '. / The Case of Tow. i With regard to the latest fire oa tho Turakina, all tho ovidcncc seomo • to show that it started spontaneously among the tow.. One of the scientifio experts, whose opinions were before tho Commission, said: "Tow'is dangerous, inasmuch as it vfill glimmer at even 257 degrees Fahr., and is therefoie one of tho most easily kindled - of fibres. When oiled it has a greater tendency to take fire spontaneously than tho fibres,, and is spect ally dangerous as regards retaining ; heat if piled up in somewhat'larger j heaps, than usual." Captain Blackburne, • nautical advisor and a men> . | b'er of tho Commission, states that I he is strongly of opinion that there ia real danger from spontaneous combus-' tion in tow.' "Before tho Commia-j sion sat," ho informed ono of our ro J • preventatives, "I was myself very incredulous about the causes of many fires being put down to spontaneous combustion, but I am now firmly con- , vinced that thero is real danger from this cause, and belicvo that many moro fires are duo to it than people , imagine. I sincerely hope, therefore, that .inspectors will be appointed soon, and that they will: bo cmpow- v ered and'directed, as wo suggest in our report, to institute proceedings under tho Act for breaches of the law. If all wool, flax, and tow werft examined before shipment, and ship-fj pcrs knew that they were liable t(i; heavy penalties for shippinig it in an ■ unsafe condition, I focl suro that tho i risk from firo would be very muqif j diminished. Thero would bo a groaK. many more fires but for tho, car«v takon by tho employees in ,the various •wool sheds and Harbour Board sheds.Wool and flax, etc., can bo very quickly, tested for dampness now- by' instruments connected to an electric bat« tcry. Mr. P. T. 11-eechell, tho Government Electrician, has patented such an instrument, which probably is already used by . those ■ interested."Statement by the Hon. 'J. A. Miliar.; ' Tho Hon. J. A. Millar on Saturday stated that lib could not v say exactly whon. legislative effect would be given to tho recommendations of the Firea on Woolships Commission. Most probably tho legislation the Govern-' ' ment would bring down would be in« corpprated in tho Shipping, and Seamen's Amendment Bill, but this would' b.o a fairly big measure, and with tha large amount of work that had yot to bo completed he doubted whether, it would bo submitted this session. .'. No unnecessary delay, however, would take place. Ho added incidentally, that with somo of' tho recommendations of the Commission ho did noi agrco. As to the cause of tho fires, ! he believed it' to bo due to slipe wool and, not to' tho wet wool. Tho ovidcnco of tho Commission seemed to point thai way. Slipo wool had been known to take firo on a follmongory floor. It secniod the Government could do little beyond preventing tha shipping of wet wool.