BURNT OFF HAAPAI.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 727, 28 January 1910, Page 5

BURNT OFF HAAPAI.

BARQTJE. ONE VAST FURNACE. ' DANGER OF COPRA CARGOES. (By Telefrranh—Special Oorreanohdent.! / Auckland, January 27. The chief officer of. the '.Norwegian barque Imacos, wrecked. at; Haapai, tells rather .an interesting story.of the disaster. ; ■.. -; . 'officer's name is; Mr.. Gustav Svenningen, and, in the coarse'of au inter>iew, he stated that the Imacos, whict; was loaded'with 919 tons' of copra, left.' Haapai :on January : 14- in charge of a native pilot, and, while sailing through the southern passage (jf .Lefooga harbour, she struck a 'reef, and'-.knocked a hole in •her port bow abaft of the collision bulkhead. -. The: vessel started to make water rapidly, and, to.'save her from sinking, in deep, water,: the pilot got her back into the harbour, .where she settled* on the • bottom. Next morning -the! wreck was surveyed by Captain Andersen and Mr. Gi Batty, shipwright,, and tliey reported . 14ft. 'of water in the hold, and a '.large' hole, in" the port bow.. - She lvas apparently resting on; a .flat mud. bottom,, with her decks nearly awash at high-tide,: and was aground fore and aft; Caotam Grandsen and his crew saved all. their"personal;.belongings, a. lot of, the .vessel's gear, and part of the cargo, which was sold by - auction to. Messrs. Brown, • Chatfield and Mitchell for ,£285. »; Salvage, operations were, .begun on the following Saturday' afternoon, under the direction of Mr. Brown.: The latter-had (iccasion to go . down: the. after hold with a hurricane lamp, and almost instantly there was. a tremendous explosion. The resulting sheet of flame .at .once-en-veloped Mr. Brown,, burning his right arm badly and singing his.-.whiskers: and•most'>bf his: hair. The.flames,spread almost. at once to the hold where .the salvage operations were going on,.and,there was a wild; scramble of the workers for safety.- Two' Tongan,-natives .and-' one of the crew, of the vessel;received burns, but 1 theV 'were 'not' so . severely: hurt as Mr. Brown. ' • The inflammable nature of the vessel's cargo,, caused .the;; fire to spread with amazing rapidity, and she was soon one vast furnace, the' column "of smoke and flame rising to a tremendous height above ier decks. All on board got- off - safely, and native boats la'y all round at a safe distance, while, crowds, of -.natives watched ; the display from the beach. The. immense, neat generated: ..by, the -cargo caused the ! hull of the vessel to become white , hot, and ; every bit -of the wood-work'was'-burnt up. The water round her seethed ' and • bubbled like a' boiling spring. --. Dr.'' Bolton, : tho Tongan : Government' medical' officer at Haapai, - attended to ,the -painfuljvounds received . from■ -the burns experienced, and the patients are all doing we 11..; - • • The cargo .wa!s.insured, for . i!20,(100 and: the'; vessel' for =£3000. '.•