EXCITEMENT IN DUNEDIN HARBOR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81918, 25 February 1907, Page 2

EXCITEMENT IN DUNEDIN HARBOR.

A LAUNCH ON HltK t'ASSENGEKS LAN'DKD L'NHEt! DimCULTIIOS.

Per Press Association. Dmiediii, February 24. There wns considerable [excitement 'it tli« wharf yesterday afternoon, tin- event being the. burning u f the launch Miilai in Hi,, slcaniur h-i-in "'"' U "' " s,: '"' '"' l>a*cngcrs uiul.-i----somewhat thrilling circumstances it appeared that Die Miiilai loft (j,.! wharf about 2.:)0 p.m. f of (|„. j|„ ~. kiiik, carrying some sixteen or ~cvciitocn oxcurtioiuists. As s(ie reach.l I the iniildle of tli,. basin, a flicker ol Name was observed amidships by (hose who were watching from tin-' whan. This very speedily developed into n substantial hlazc,'the. whole fur,, pari, of vim vessel being: enveloped, while! there was, of course, much, danger ol the Haines reaching 1-lio benzine tank.; and cnusiiiLr an explosion, which would probable have bee,, fatal to everyone •mi board. In this emergency, .).' Me Phersou, who was in charge, at. once put the launch about and beaded for the dredge Vulcan, which was lying at I lie end of the Kali ray-strcet, ' Wharf. | I! took some three or four minutes to reach 'Hie Vulcan, and by that lane lielaunch was fairly ablaze. The pa-ieu-jicr.s scrambled out of her and on to tliii dredge, as fn-.t as poss.blc, and in the hurry three passengers—a lady and two gentlemen—fell into the water, if, appears that the lady missed her footing, and. stumbling, drew in two gentlemen witli lier. " She went, clean under, and those who were lending a hand had two accidents to cope with at 'once. Mr Sullivan, the owner of the launch, was now on the scene, and gave wdiat directions were necessary. The people who were struggling in the water were fished out, and meantime McPhersou and others were busy tilling the launch with water by means of buckets, besides which a hole was brqkcu tbiougk her Having lauded the passengers, some of whom had their clothes and hair badly singed, the next thing was to get 1115 burning vessel a.ray from the ,licd;;v. With that end in view, a launch was brought alongside and towed her, now blazing furiously, away to shallow Mater round past the boat-sheds near the Jetty-street Wharf, where she was sunk. The Mnilai cost about £2OO, It is surmised that the conflagration was caused through some one throwing down a lighted match, which ignited the vapour of the benzine.