FIRE ON THE ANTIOPE.

Taranaki Daily News, 8 April 1921, Page 5

FIRE ON THE ANTIOPE.

LONG FIGHT WITH FLAMES. CREW REACHES AUCKLAND. Seven members of the crew of the barque Antiope, owned by the Iron and Steel Company of New Zealand, Ltd., which was damaged to the extent of £40,000 by fire in Delagoa Bay, Portuguese East Africa, on January 13, arrived at Auckland thia week by the Riverina from Sydney. They are Messrs. S. Atkins, of Palmerston North, S. Lyon, of Devonport, A. Eyre, of New Plymouth, C. McGoon, A. Lilly, of Dunedin. G. Derrick, of Suva, and R. Nancarrow. Mr. Eyre, who ia a son of the Collector of Customs at New Plymouth, is expected in New Plymouth to-day. Mr. Atkins, who was an apprentice on the barque, acting as spokesman for the party, said the fire broke out at about half-past three o’clock in the morning, when the Antiope was anchored in Delagoa Bay, about three miles from the shore, for the purpose of unloading timber. It started in the sail-looker, and, despite an exhaustive inquiry, its origin remains a mystery. The flames, he said, had been raging for three hours before the crew received any assistance in fighting the fire. After working continuously until 11 a.m., they succeeded in getting it under control, and final ty it was extinguished. Included in the cargo were about 5000 gun cartridges, which exploded, two Negroes who came aboard in a tug receiving shot wounds in their arme. The xlntiope was an iron ship, and the intense heat had caused the stern to buckle badly, owing to which all hope of salving her had been abandoned. Captain Broadbent, who was in command, decided to stand by until all matters connected with the fire had been settled The crew, however, secured passages on the Swedish steamer Viking, bound for Hobart, and there transhipped in the Ulimaroa for Sydney, where they secured passages by the Riverina. On ar« rival here they were met. by the Auckland representative of the New Zealand Shipwreck Relief Society, and provided with sufficient to enable them to get to their respective homes. The Antiope, which was abandoned to the underwriters, was 1496 tons gross register, and was built by J. Reir and Co. at Port Glasgow in 1866. and had traded in almost every part of the world under various owners. She made several voyages between Australia and New Zealand under the New Zealand Iron and Steel Company’s flag, and after undergoing extensive repairs at Port Chalmers as a result of being damaged, when entering Bluff Harbor during a hoavy gale a little more than a year ago, sailed from Wellington for the South Sea Islands, where she loaded a cargo of copra for the United Kingdom. She was detained at Rotterdam, owing to a strike of waterside workers, but eventually sailed for a Baltic port, where she loaded timber for South Africa.