Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1873-03-26
The Minnesota" on Fire at Sea.

tress to which men in their various
pursuits can be exposed, there is none
more full OF horror than that of being
aboard burning ship in mid.ocean.
On land, when fire breaks out, II
nearly always happens that, whatever
be the peril to life and property strong
hand and willing hearts are near to
rescue or preserve. But at sea there
is no help from without, and if the
means for extinguishing FIRE be not in
complete order, the discipline Of the
crew not perfect, or the captain and
officers not cool and experienced, the
doom Of the unfortunates on board is
sealed, for if any escape the flames it
is only to perish by the waves. The
public, unhappily, has heard Of late
only of instances in which the ele-
ments Of safety have been shamefully
wanting, and the terrible fate Of. the
human beings on board the Bienville
and tho Missouri are still wildly in
the remembrance Of every one.
In bright contrast with the wretched
and culpable mismanagement which
doomed so many Of our fellow-beings
in these ships TO death in all shapes Of
unimaginable horror, we have now to
relate the story, as we have IL from
an eyewitness, of the diliverance Of
the steamship Minnesota from des-
truction by FIRE last Christmas Day
ALI that the public up to the present
time knows of the occurrence was
contained in the few lines of a message
by the Atlantic Gable, TO the effect
that, "The steamship Minnesota, from
New York, the 10th Of December, ar
rived at Queenstown; had been on
FIRE, five days out, and, after throw.
ing overheard 120 bales Of cotton, had
put out the fire, and proceeded safely
on her voyage" olive days out !"
That means in the middle of tho At
lantic, q thousand miles from any land
there would be any chance Of reach
ing in boats, If, indeed, it were posi-
Bile for boats TO have been lowered, or
If lowered, to have lived during the
hurricanes that swept the Atlantic
last December. We shall let our in
formant tell his story In his own
words, merely promising that the
Minnesota, Captain Thomas F. Free
man, is one Of the feet Of the Guion
line Of steamers between New York
and Liverpool, and sailed from New
York on the 10th of December last,
with only few cabin and no steerage
passengers, and full general cargo :
at was Christmas Eve, and our
small company of passengers were in
the 50 loon, not very merry, but try
ing to amuse ourselves in q sober, or
DERBY fashion. There was no temp
tation to 60 on deck, for bowling
gallo was raging, and very high sea
had been running for two days past.
A few minutes past eight the first
officer put his head in at the door Of
the saloon, and said he wanted to
speak moment with the captain
Happening to be near, l overheard
the whisper, The second engineer has
Just informed me, sir, that they can
smell fire very plainly from the coal.
bunkers.' Tho captain went out, Of
course, | following, and on the bridge
deck we could see smoke escaping
from The ventilators forward of the
smokcsisck. Descending to the main
deck, where the officers cabins are,
the increasing heat from the hole be-
| low was plainly perceptible. The
captain orderd hole to be cut In the
deck forward of the doctors room,
and while this was being done, the
chief engineer had the donkey engine
connected TO two hose. All this was
done very quickly, yet without hustle
When the hole was cut through, the
red flames below were plainly visible
The water was pumped in, and one Of
the ventilators being removed at the
collar, another stream was directed
through the aperture upon the sheet
of rcd flames coming along from aft.
Then | heard the order given by the
captain, Take off some portion OF the
main hatch; get q whip on tho fore.
boom, lead to steam winch, break ou'
cargo, and put the hose down the
main hatch Somo one said in an
swer: If the hatch is opened, the 6r'
will spread faster The captains
voioc came back like thunder: Go on
and do as | tell you, quickly Re
flecting since upon the matter, l an
convinced tho captain was right, Tor
unless the firo could be mastered D,
streams Of water directly of applied
there was no possibility saviny
the ship and the lives Of oil on board
| | got one peep below whom the hatc'
was removed, and shall never forge
The sight for, right across the ship,
few feet abaft the main hatch, was on
r