STEAMER HEATHOENE.

Gisborne Times, Volume VI, Issue 271, 25 November 1901, Page 2

STEAMER HEATHOENE.

A FIRE ON BOARD.

V SEA MONSTER SIGHTED,

Tint steamer Heiithdenr, which arrived at Wellington on Friday from Now York and tne South, had an unique experience on tne voyage om,

A lire broke out in a part of the vessel close to where lb,ooo cases of petroleum were Stored. After great efforts on the part of tnc officers ami crew, the flames were suppressed, but not before the steamer nad been in imminent peril, for a wooden partition separating the petroleum from the spot where the fire was raging had been actually burned through. Whilst the captain and his men wen:- bc-low iight■ng the flames, the captain's wife (Mrs Mil burn i and her daughter steered the vessel, one keeping the lookout whilst tho other controlled the helm. Miss Milburn (the captain s daughter), who is only lo years of age, is said to be able to steer a ship as capably as any sailor. The Heathdene put into Albany after the tire, as announced in the cable messages at thm time.

As if the fire on board did not comprise sensational incidents sufficient for one voyage, the crew of the steamer report also that when she was 10 miles off Natal I an extraordinary sea monster was disI covered, presumably the sea serpent a-min I This creature, which was of abnormal' size, had a white fin, rising 10ft high from the water, and a long white streak running the whole length of its body, which Otherwise was black in color. An officer of the steamer, ,vho has a fairly oxtensivo knowledge of the varied species of fish in tnc ocean, declares that ho lias never seen anything like this monster.