A VESSEL BLOWN UP.

Feilding Star, Volume XV, Issue 20, 24 July 1893, Page 2

A VESSEL BLOWN UP.

LOSS OF LIFE. (per press association). Sydney July 22. Great sensation was caused to-day by an explosion on board the German barque Argo, of 985 tons, which recently Arrived from Hamburg. The Argo had discharged her inward cargo and having taken in some 1450 tons of coal was on the point of sailing for Valparaiso. The captain was ashore concluding final arrangements, and the crew were getting everything in readiness to depart, when a terrific explosion occurred. The report was heard a considerable distance and there was considerable speculation as to what bad really happened. The explosion originated low down among the coals in the forehatch, and extended right aft. Tlio cabin poop was blown clean uf>, and the whole deck was hoisted bodily, and there is a gap of 20 feet in the deck. The port boat was blown half way up the main mast, where it caught. The starboard boat was thrown into the water. As the explosion occurred a dense volume of smoke and flame arose, with a report like the explosion of a powder magazine. • The chief officer, Mr Arfsten, was thrown with terrible force against some object and killed outright. A passenger named Chamberlain was thrown overboard, but caught the wreckage of the starboard boat and floated until rescued. Mr Kloplarch, the second officer, and Ffeifer, a sailor, have been taken to the hospital, together with Chamberlain, who lies in a critical condition. The men, who were aloft unfurling the sails, were shaken off the yards. Many of them jumped overboard and were rescued. The cause was undoubtedly due to a large collection of gas, which found vent and was ignited near the galley. The vessel is insured in 1 Hamburg, but the amount is unknown. The cargo is not insured.