A Steamer on Fire

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIII, Issue 220, 23 January 1911, Page 5

A Steamer on Fire

ABANDONED IN MID-OCEAN. SURVIVORS RESCUED BY PASSING STEAMER. By Cable—Press Association —Copyright. Sydney, January 21. Reports from Albany state that the fire on the Parisiana started on December 11, and continued till the 14th, when the vessel, which was in the vicinity of St. Paul's Island, was abandoned. The crew landed on the island, and were taken off by the British Transport on January 11. The fire broke out between decks, where a quantity of resin was stored. The bulkheads were cut away, and the fire attacked from different parts, but unsuccessfully. The vessel was soon an inferno; the beams and stanchions were all aglow at white heat; and bent and twisted in all shapes.

A SEETHING MASS OF FLAME. Next day the coal got alight, and soon the steamer was a seething mass of flame, violent explosions occurring at intervals. That night the captain decided to abandon the vessel and make for St. Paul Island, which he calculated was 41 miles to the eastward. TAKING TO THE BOATS. Two boats were used, the captain taking charge of one, and the chief officer of the other. The crew took any of their possessions they could carry, but owing to rough weather all surplus baggage was thrown overboard.

» Just as the boats left the ship a tremendous explosion took place, and great rents were made in the ship's side. PART COMPANY IN THE NIGHT.

The boats had lost sight of each other at daylight. The, chief officer's boat was the first to make the island, on December 15, and the captain's arrived the following Saturday afternoon (December 17).

A fireman named Late was smothered in the bunkers prior to the abandonment of the ship, and before reaching the island two other deaths occurred, due to exposure. The unfortunate victims were Cannon, the fourth engineer, who was consumptive, and another man named Heine. They were buried on the island.

The Parisiana's crew climbed the top crater of the island, and erected a flag upside down. The British Transport was sighted by the castaways, whose food was almost exhausted, and who •came off in their own boats.

The British Transport was bound for Melbourne, but the captain decided to call at Albany to relieve anxiety regarding the Parisiana. WAS IT CHANCE? The shipwrecked crew owe their rescue to the fact that the British Transport was in light trim, and was driven farther south than usual by bad weather. Otherwise the vessel would not have been in the vicinity of the island.

The captain and officers of the Parisiana are reticent. The Parisiana had 10,000 tons of cargo for Australia and Mew Zealand valued at between £175,000 and £200,000. The estimated value of the vessel was £50,000.

A TERRIBLE TIME. FIRE-FIGHTING IN THE BUNKERS. • BOAT BUFFETED BY BIG SEAS. Received 23, 12.25 a.m. Perth, January 22. McAlistcr, a steward on the Parisiana, gave a graphic description of the disaster. According to his story, the fire was discovered by the carpenter at six o'clock in the morning, smouldering in the bunkers. Fruitless efforts were made to smother it. All hands started to shift coal in the bunkers, and a fireman named Tait was smothered through the coal giving way. Two other hands were overcome by the fumes, but were restored by artificial means. Holes were then cut in the deck, and water poured in, but the fire continued to spread.

THEY WORKED LIKE DEMONS till five next morning, when flames burst out from the bunker hatch. The burning vessel continued steaming towards Australia till six that night, when the captain decided to make for St. Paul's Island. The decks by that time were red-hot. A heavy sea was running, and the vessel was shrouded in A PALL OF SMOKE. Suddenly she gave a heavy list, and it was feared she would turn turtle.. After drifting for a time towards the island, with the fira gaining rapidly and the flames licking the sides of the bridge, the captain ordered the boats to be lowered. Owing to the heat and the heavy sea there was difficulty in boarding the boats. The captain, first and second mates, and first and second engineers stayed aboard till the last.. It was seven o'clock at night when they left the burning steamer, and they were tied astern for a time, waiting for the possibility of the vessel burning out. But the sea was so rough that the boats had to cast off. Soon after leaving,

A GREAT EXPLOSION caused the ship's rockets to go off. The middle of the steamer appeared to be a mass of fire. They drifted about all night, the burning vessel being in view all the time. Next morning they approacheil her again, and the ship was still burning, but a complete wreck, so they started for the island, which was thirty-five miles distant. The mate'? boat reached its destination in two days, but the captain's boat, in which was MeAlistcr, was knocking about in the heavy sea for six nights and five days. It was a terrible time, the rations being only a single biscuit and one drink of water daily. Several times the boat was almost swainpetl.

After reaching the isl.uid tlicy found plenty of fish, supplemented by penguin and seal flesh, and there were plenty of rabbits and a number of goats on the island, but the castaways could not catch them.

THE SAILORS SAVE THEIR PETS. They managed to carry the ship's pets —two cats and a dog—with them to the island. The Parisiana left New York eightytwo uays ago with about 000 tons of general cargo, consigned to various Australian and New Zealand ports, about 3760 tons, including 7fio tons of steel rails, being for Melbourne. Amongst 'the cargo was a quantity of oil and turpentine.

Built in 1009 bv Messrs. Furness, Whitby and Co., of West Hartlepool, for the Northumberland Steamship Company, of Newcastle, the Parisiana was classed Al at Lloyd's, her principal dimensions being as follows: Length 410 ft; breadth, 52ft; and depth, 27ft (tin.