SHIP LANGSTONE ON FIRE. NAPIER FIRE BRIGADE TO THE- RESCUE. GREAT DAMAGE TO SHIP AND CARGO. AN ALARMING OUTBREAK; Napier, Nov. 13.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 317, 17 November 1888, Page 3

SHIP LANGSTONE ON FIRE. NAPIER FIRE BRIGADE TO THE- RESCUE. GREAT DAMAGE TO SHIP AND CARGO. AN ALARMING OUTBREAK; Napier, Nov. 13.

33etnveeni,mno to ben o'clock last oven" ing fire was .discovered by the watch, on duty on the barque *Langxtone, lying in the roadstead waiting to complete her loading for tho voyage home. , At, first thp signs of firo observable did not betoken anything serious, but a hunied examination served to show lhat great danger » tlneatenefd the ship, and that anxious , times .were in store for the officers nnd crew. The captain was on shore when, /the, discovery wa,s made", and blue lights*' weue burned and rockets sent up for the doublo.purposc ot infonxHug bhe jslappe/rjbhat'h'is vessel 1 was in peu,l,'and of summoning asKistah'ce in copihg with ah outbreak too gravo to bo dealt with by the •cfcw'bf the. Lang-bone alone. r L'ho rockeU arid' blue ligtit'£ NVeVo seen at 'the £>pit' aiiij oh tlio hills, blit/ appear to have ,b'qon regarded "as a proof that some pleasurable event was being celebrated by a pyrotechnicdis'play. , Tlie signals, however, were correctly interpreted by theotficersof t'heship Piako, winch was also lying* in the roadstead loading, And the la'ttbV vessel'.s crew were put 6[V board the Langstone very'promptly, and the united crews worked very hard in trying' to gefc ( all tho hatches thoroughly battened down. While this was being dorto signals to the shore continued to be made,' but, as the vessel nould bo descried apparently lying peacefully at anchor, and with no visible signs to show that she', was' in 1 a different condition to the Piak6, the "fiie display" theory 'continued to hold good with 'those on "shore. At last, finding that assistance from the shoto was necessary, the chief officer of the Langstone sent a boat's crew ashoro with news that the vessel was on fire and that help was needed,. By this 'lime it was about 10 o'clock , The Spit manual engine and" the Brigade were soon in readiness to start, 'and the s.s. Weka was engaged to talce the men and engine Gut to the vessel. It took some time td get steam up in tho Wcka'b boiler, and meanwhilea telephonemessage was sent to' Napier 4 Firo BrigadeStationstating what was wrong, and advisiug the brigade to be held in readme,33. Whon steam' was finally gob up orf board the Weka and ' she was ready to ' leave tlie > bVeastwork with ' the Spit engine, it ' was arranged by means of the "teie'jjhdiie connecting the two fire stations' 'that as soon as tho Weka Vfeached ' the 'Langafcone and it was blien leai'ndd whether the steam-engine ironi town wduld be required or not, signals should be given so that tlie" town .brigade coukl be apprised of w_hat Was expected of them. When the Spit men got on .board the' threatened vessel, they were- infornled that all the assistance J thab could be brought to bear was necessary, and by a previously arranged code this 'was signalled by blue" ' lights > to the Spit, and thence bhe ' message' /was belopboned bo town.; Tiie-sdcond summons' reached" the station abaufr a-,couple~-,o'f ' minutes after Mmidiiighfe',:; and the bell was set clanging loulily to Citii all the men together. The engine being quickly horsed arid manned, was at once driven off to , the Spib where . bhe s.s. Ahuriri was lying getting up steam with all possible speed, in order to take out the engine and members of the, brigade. Shortly before the steam engine reached the spib the Langstone or the Piako was firing guns and a little later bhe Langstone was sending up rocket after. rocket betokening a very serious . condition of affairs on board. , Ju^t beforq bhe sbeam. engine was gob on board - bhe Ahuriri, a ship's boat and crew came alongside the breastwork, and (iesired to know when the steamer would go out to the Langstone, as the fire was far too great to be coped with by the manual engine, and thafc if bhe vessel was, to be saved, bhe assistance to bs rendered would have to be given promptly. Upon arrival at the vessel, it was found thab • she was in a very seripus plighb indeed. The efForbs of the. combined crews ot the Langstono and Piako had resulted in the hatches being successfully battened down, but eddies of pungent smoke curled upwards as they escaped through the cran ivies and served to show thac a considerable, body of fire was down below. There was also bho testimony of the officers and crew to thab effect, they having had an experince of the danger in the most pronounced fashion when they were , light-, ing the smoke in getting on the,, hatches. The manual engine was kept going by le lays of seamen belonging to the Piako and Langsbono, and ,was pouring a good jet of water down the hold whcie bhe seabof the lire was known,,to be, bub, it' was quite evidenb bhab unless a more copious stream could be brought bo bear, the firc,was bound to gain. When tb.e ste,am fire engine v \vas sob to work, a .perceptible- diffeience was made, not so much in tho volume of escaping smoke, which was nob apparently great, but so to speajc in its fierceness, as it did nob lorco its v\ ay .through the crannies with such vehemence. _Tho .water from bhe hose of bhe vtwp' engines was , conducted below through hples broken, in the, deck over the forehoid, where the main body of the fire was, situated, the densest heat and smoke coming from under the galley close; by the, foremast. i , • , . <,/ i." . , A, n ' enormous -quantity of water' was. p^rajao^dciwjg the, farehold, bhe vessel's nose sinking deep in the,:sea as bhe weight began to ,tell. After about an hour's pumping by the steamer,** and of,, course the longer, time the manual was at,, work, the efforts of the two- brigades seemed to, be getting the better of the fire, as the red glow from belo,w was ,seen to be lessening, and bhe smoke grew less in volume.