SHIRLEY BURNED AT SEA.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 10, 13 January 1915, Page 8

SHIRLEY BURNED AT SEA.

SIXTEEN MISSING. Particulars of the loss by lire at sea of the steamer Shirley, wellknown in the Australian trade, were brought to Sydney by the steamer Taiyuan from Hongkong. The Shirley, which was a vessel of 3-117 tons, in command ot Captain Mace, loaded in New York a cargo of petroleum, consigned to Yokohama, Messrs Dodwell and Co. being the agents in Japan v Ihe Jong vovage across the Pacific was drawing near its close, when on Sunday evening, November l[ ; the alarming discovery was made of Tire in the hold .' Tim crew, numbering 40 (including Chinese), did all they could to fight the flames. For nearly 24 hours they toiled unremittingly, but, the exceedingly inflammable nature of the cargo made their efforts from the beginning. On the evening of o-VJnday. November 2, the' crew were tumbling into the boats with all haste, glad to get off with theij- lives. When they left the ship the petrol was blazing, and‘there was not a moment to be lost. The two boats vme well provisioned,! hut the crew had no time to save the, least scrap of then personal belongings. Every man .pimped into the boat, with the dot-lies he stood in and nothing more. In many, eases it was far 'from a complete soft that the refugees had on at the time. There had been no time for tbinknig either of comfort, or appearances since the outbreak was discovered. The second engineer (Mr Beech) got his hand badly lacerated in the Lunv of the Anal operations, and another of the engineers had 1 is hand burnt by the 4 heat of one of the guys as the boat was being got out/. Captain Macc, the second officer, the eng'iieer-w end part of the crew, numbering 24, were,in the larger boat, and the first and thud officers, Messrs J-. Williams and E Allen, in the other.

It was rather dirty weather when they abandoned the ship, and she soon passed out of sight of cs.-h other in a fog that came on. The captain s boat, after some 36 hours m the; >v-iter, was picked up by the steamer Craigina,and

brought (.11 to Kobe. It was almost a miraculous chance that (lie teat was thus discovered, liny were oil the rcuU[ar t.ivi u ol «lnpp'iig / ; indeed it cannot be said that there is a regulai track between Japan and Panama. The Craigina had cleared irom New York a couple of days before the Shirley, and had preceded her by about the same time in passing the Panama. Canal. On the voyage across the Pacific, the Shirley had not sighted ■a f single boat, but had overhauled and

passed the Craigina without observing her. It was to this fortunate chance that the boat owes its rescue.

On learning that there w’as another boatload of men somewhere in the neighbourhood, the Craigina steamed round about for many hours, but had to give up the search. Unfortunately, the favorable wind \vhicli had favored the boats until about the time the. captain’s boat was picked up, gave way to bad weather and contrary winds afterwards. Some anxiety is therefore felt regarding the fate of the sixteen men who were last seen by! their shipmates on the broad surface of the Pacific in a small boat, some 4(H) miles 1 from land. I In the best pf circumstances they can hardly help suffering considerably from exposu. - .;. »