THE S.S. WAIRARAPA ON FIRE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume X, Issue 1496, 2 November 1885, Page 4

THE S.S. WAIRARAPA ON FIRE.

OF THE PASSENGERS' iN • «i. r< .THEiRiiNIGHT CLOTHES.

GREAT DESTRUCTION OF CARGO,

DAMAGE I*o THE VESSEL ESTI- ,, MATED AT £5000;

(PER 01TCTBD PRESS ASSOCIATION.) Gisbornbl Sunday. A great commotion was caused when the Wajrarapa 1 stwamed^ iiito^the ;bay atfpiit this morning, and dense volumeV'bf smoke was seen issuing from abc^t a third- of the length- of the vessel .amidships. The steamer came ; (stbse.to thW snor«, ana ; soan- - ded signals'of distifesii with the whittle. Immediately ; the anchor > was dropped! tha j 'jßhip's" boats ; . were- lo,wer^d and CToVas of pagsengers were seen getting ,^to 1 ' l them. The, st#am tender vNpkp off iminediatelTt and-assiftecl m g^ttnig bitit the'pa««engers, and all werte go6n'J4»ndsd f on the beach 'm safety, iianviihowever, -with only very- scanty clothing, and some with only -bedclothes wrapped around them. :There were;abput tw ipaMengers for ha£, Auckland, : .an^ Sydney; and on their . arrival, onshore they w^retaHeln in blisses andcaba. td v tte 1 Various hotels. , Boats wentijff from the shore to the veireel; about half a 'mile distant; Smoke still coatinued to belch out .in > dense tnassflf. On arrival oh b^ard it was found that all hands were" straining every nerve to subdue the fire. The fire engine «♦ as wprkjng at its hajrdr eK'aiid^'ucketß 'were' being used over tke side; The Wairarapa left Napier at 9.30 last night and *ame along under easy steam, as. utualjtO' arrive here at daylight. TheVnight was beautifully -fine and cahn. About 4 o'clock this morning, jutt at daylight, when a tew miles south of^eck'*/Head, the alarm of fire was! raised.:: Ail the passengers w§re, awakened with the utmost expeditibn. Some of the cabins were already filled with smoke, arid several of the passengers were nearly, suflpcajed. before .they .: could^ 'viescape; ' 'All hurried ' dtf deck through the smoke and flames, taking what clothes and effects they could catch. All remained on deck till arrival m the bay. Meantime all the cnw had turned to Atrtheiralloted stations, nnder Captain Chatfield, and Chief Officer' Andersonlidooknbat the fire, ; which it was found had originated m a linen closet, and : #om tH^fe Bad spread albri^ to the ladies' 'cabiii." The fire had a pretty good hold when discovered; and despite r the utmost efforts to subdue it, it travelled aft, and spread the whole width of the ship; a It worked through into the hold and to the upper deck,, into, the. kitchen and rooms adjacent, and up through the ventilators. The vessel got red hot and part dropped off ; and the iron ventilator* all get red hot. A 1 number of ; fire " extinguishers and hand grenades were taken off^from 'the shore to assist m fighting the fire, which kept up with unabated energy until a quarter to nine, when the chief officer reported that, .it had' Beeh 'got, under, and there was no fear of the loss of the ship; It had been feared for several Hours that there waß no hope of savtng the vessel, and a nropoßa|had been made to beach her. On inspection after the; fire was got under, it was found tKat the whole centre of the ship, fpr about qne-fouth, of her length, was co i ndpl«(tely gutted, all the woodwork and fittings being destroyed. The' extent of the damage to the cargo has not yet been aicertained, tut it is known to be very considerable both by fire and water. The,liuge'. quantity of water, poured m lowerjed the vessel two feet and gave her a great' list to one side. There is a large cargo on board, including a great quantity. Uken from the lonic at Wellington. The mails, papers, plate, and twelve boxes of "jfifold were '.Sent on, shore m char|y pf th<i purser as soon as the yes,sel afropped anchor. The gold was lodged at;tAe. jßank of New Zealand. The dining. . saloQci has, not. l),e. jn tonciliod by fire, but has tieea ..greatly (laini^ed by water. Nearly ajl; the first- class rmßsenger aocomodation is destroyed, but the secondclasspaisengers* quartern were hot hurt. The water poured on to the surtace of the main deck kept the fire ttom actually

jursting through them, but the pitch ihd paint are scaled off. The flumes mot up through the skylights, which were destroyed. As saon as the fire was BU>daM,%eyJ)egftn to..olear_away and pump the water out, and a hand engine Whi sent^frpin %he short to.assist. The deck presented a great 'sriene'of confusion, : luggage, furniture, life-belts, and bedding j being strewed everywhere^ It 'is not' known what caused the fire, but the most plausible*' suggestion seems td«!bej that'ionie one muit have gone into the. linen room m the evening with a match' and ; dropped it, and that the linen smouldered some hours before the. fire broke out. Captain Chatfield states', that the men all worked splendidly, andthe. passengers say that great order and' discipline were shown. There was riot much excitement or fear shown by the passengers, the shore being so near, and it being daylight. -Some of the Indies, however, were greatly, f ,alaraued'. for ; a time. Some passengers lost nearly alls their effects, and it is reported thiat several bate been injured by the hedt. It is computed that it will cost at least £5000 to refit the vessel. Qwing^to the wire" *beinff down between here arid Napier at tbe time, the intelligence of the disaster could not be sent away at once. The wireiW.as got to .work, about 10 o'clock',' but" after ' workinac a f f e|flr minutes it waß down again, ; . hjit.ru was subse'quentlv got up. It is believed that the Bteamer will be cent back to Dun; edin to refit, another steamer being seijit to take on the passengers. The enginei and machinery are unhurt, and the vessil could go on^butthat thefe s w\no aocomModation for the passengers. Fortunately the number of passengers, wag unÜBually small for the Wairarapa. Tbjß pumpmg. gfcar and dpnkey engines forked splendidlyi \A number of th^ j rjersons who were on board say that if there' had been a few hand grenadep available when the fire was first discovered it could "easily have been gos under, but it had obtained a good hold hetore theiextinguishihg apparatus got into play. The boats were steadily lowered without accident. All the pas--sengers speak m the highest possible terms ofihe coolness and energy : of '■ tne captain, officers, and men, and say there was the utmost order and discipline^ | Weujngton, Monday. '■:0J : ;::' i .j'r T --- •■■•■• ' ; '- : a/;4j! \liater!' The Hinemoa leaves, for Auckland this evening and the Government has instruct ted Captain Fairchild to call at Gisborne to take on the Wajrarapa's mails and to render what a»«stance ihe may be able] to give. / i