The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-09-27
The Boilers Were Not Covered with Felt,
but Were Surrounded with
Dry Sawdust.
Where the Fire First Broke Forth--.The Hold
Of the Ship Hot and Soothing Hell Of
Flame.--The Efforts to Save Her.
The Escape-A Beat PrOvisiOned with
Two Cabbages and Three Gal
Ions OF Water.

II
Il Hill, OF Boston, conducted good portion Of the ex-
Il animation. Inspector Mathews was present and
asked or two questions of the witnesses, which
had Tor their object apparently the eciting of proof
that his inspection OF the boilers OF the Inflated ship
|, had been perfectly correct and complete. He es-
tablshed this fact according to the individual tes
timony of assistant engineer william H. Best, who
|, was first upon the stand. 1t seems however,
from other OF his admissions that the boilers In
N stead Of being covered with felt, were surrounded
\ with sawdust which was perfectly dry. The steam
A stacks had no substance around them where they
passed through the woodwork to protect the
latter from the danger Of fire, except narrow
zone of air, which Of course formed Of the best
r conductors Of heat.
The boat in which the assistant engineer en-
parked had no provisions aboard save only two
heads Of cabbage and had very little water besides
4 o demiohn holding gallon, which, when some
distance from the ship, Captain Maury consented
to spare them from his own boat promising to fall
alongside and give them food before nightfall.
But this he ala not 49, Before they could land at
drowned by capszi5 4 of the boat
To-day one Of the Messengers will be examined.
He is q merchant down town, and on his return
the disaster. AS many Of the officers of the ship as
are within the reach Of the commission OF investi-
CATION will be examined as soon as they can be
brought before them.
THE FIRST ASSISTANT ENGINEERS EVIDENCE
.
Vile on her last voyage joined her ten or twelve days
%s On the wss o% the to ' oS
going the engine to the deck reached the
captain in
@ s esve e @ S ey @
given to stop the engines; In few moments more the
a.
ssi and 0PS Ssn a E' s s
S5is$ss$ s S;
SsI
81 sea s us the S IL s ssH
ss5 s5S 81 Sss nss
quarters hoSri sent tho men to bring the Ares
isS ,Si ,s
,S dras s,1S:, ss
Ss sSsld Are anywhere around TIC boilers
nS Saas s IL saa s f. * sssSS s
very dense; came up the engine room second as
he %
thing could; told HIM that had and he told me TO
s'i 'ss!
n
SasTss The sailors in
81
low him we did So s%w the Captain and Chief Engineer
fest n the wo p @ TIVE cs s
ssSr the and myself four ladies' six
t%s formed our 6aSaea he beat had Taddss and
Sa sSi lie Ms% af boat e about
By fis est SUN BY DAY AND ny THE NOON ny NIGHT;
SS n 70 S ssaSS at tST
adj Sop j.
before w entered Sem I'LL "aeis0
THE SIZE OF THE STEAM PIPES
there were eight Of them; there coupling laid
% P ~ fat out The Tie
a. VIZ e 's On
we aouE mould cGp S the s do not think
'Y' any sHS%Sass e 81 sn"s dP%as
es III lie
T hs he aps
slut up the fore hatch was than 10
eas and haS he and
woud SE yo OF n"G ehn hat the fire originated
the iS q" Sfsnsisa
O. Had The donkey pump been used previous the
had InS % By false alarm Of c
result Of the trial. the pump threw three streams Of
O. Iiavc you eyer noticed anything defective about the
MSsn vau No on ws sw oRs sSSg
% S h wa, S S hero wS Sn
aOUa a the eeps92S had surplus Of
and " sas
aG h
wassr aneed
alongside and gye provisions the captains boat
from him was the demohn Of water
MatAey.ew long sfT The IRE was si;s c,ya
cred dd you go down around the boilers A. was down
hf a% %S hall aH on &
ss
aS ma aS e PS back nan any ny e r the bSEha
double, and think there a OF from four to six
FILLED WITH sAwpys1; ,,, had
strips two inches square running perpendcnarly GOV,
rsa O w rG to gyG FOR aT S dad 6 s
bulkcad two ieet rom the boiler; could carry bar
Q We're the boilers feltcda A. No
rhsy very Wen prosssd; they ample space
a9uTd them 80 az to eays OF air. orros
the hydrosiac pressure 70 her boiler, 4. Twas.
oItwas applied by the donkey pump that occoslon'
remember hSw much the
allowed am h9i nc eer n wnea a I MAS 'y OF
any difficulty
81 You stated that there twenty-five people In
YOUR boat-what became Of themg A. Nine were
Drowned; thirteen landed on the beach.
q. This boat was capsized in the SURF a: Yes, sir .
q. DO know of other persons who were lost?
A. I have no positive knowledge Of any.
THE BOILER BUILDERS EVIDENCE.
The next witness examined was J0hn III. NC
.Curdy a builder of steam engines and boilers, who
testified that he had constructed and put on board
the boilers of the steamer Benvllle Amid some
unmportant evidence he said that the boilers OF
the III nvile were placed In the hold In SAFER
manner than those Of any other vessel which nc
had ever boarded. There was large space De-
tween the boilers and the bulkhead, and they were
well protected on the after end by sheet iron.
O. How were they at the sides ? A. The spaces
were larger than ever saw before.
rlla.n xan ainaf on hnrn n1io md mil