The Osceola times., 1880-11-20
FIRE AT SEA.
burning Cotton In the Hold Of Vessel for
Two DAYS.
New orleans Picayune,


New orleans Pioayune
The English steamship Timpsah. Cap
tain Corkery, which left Galveston in
the early hours of Monday morning last,
ON her trip TO Liverpool, had a remark
able escape from being burned at sea.
The experiences which her officers and
crew went through, commencing ON
Tuesday morning and ending Yesterday
when the vessel reached this port. will
probably be remembered by them as
one OF the most exciting in their seafar-
ing career. The Timpsah left Galveston
on Monday morning at 1880 o'clock. hav-
Ing ON board n cargo of 3,7j4 bales of
cotton. The vessel took the usual course
OF eutward-bound craft. and nothing of
unusual interest or note occurred during
lhe following twenty-iour hour. On
tuesday morning, shortly after 3 o'clock
The engineers who happened TO be eft
duty and asleep in their cabin were
awakened by the suffocating fumes of
smoke, which filled their room. Their
caDlh and mess room both adioined the
after hold of the vessel, from which the
smoke was issuing. Capt. Corkery. who
was asleep, was quickly informed of the
condition of affairs, and lost no time in
cllllng all hands on deck. There wasno
confusion even under these exciting
circumstances, and the orders of the
Captain were obeyed with that alacrity
and precision which show the nerve and
coolness of crew. The first thing done
was TO cover up every aperture which
might possibly let draught of AIR into
the burning hold. A quantity of pipe
was procured and attached to the main
boiler. A small hole was then cut
through the deck, and the pine was
lowered through for the purpose of
pumping steam into the burning hold.
The work of pumping never ceased until
the matches were opened yesterday. In
addition to this, the decks were
thoroughly flooded with water. An
hour after the discovery of the fire. CAPT.
Corkery became convinced that it was
impossible to subdue the flames with
the appliances on hand, and ordered the
vessel TO be headed due north in the di-
rection Of the shore. In the meantime
the heat was increasing, and no one
could tell at what moment the flames
might burst through the decks and en-
velope the entire ship. The life boats
were gotten ready and placed in posi-
tion to be lowered at any moment.
The vessel was then about 200 miles
south of the ietties, and it is doubtful If
man on board had hope of bringing the
Timpsah into the Mississippi River.
Nevertheless the precautions of forcing
the steam in the bold and flooding the
decks with water were kept up, and, as
subsequent events proved, were the
only things which prevented the de-
struction of the entire ship. After max.
ing the jetties the Timpsah kept on her
way up the river and reached a
landing at Adele street yesterday, the
fire being still confined to the hold. The
matches were opened at 1l:45 n IT,.
morning and two streams of water were
thrswn on the flames, which blazed I'D
with alarming rapidity. Fortunately the
water put the fire under control in a
short time, and so allowed the removal
of the burned and burning bales. A
steam engine was located on shore to
play upon the bales as they were
brought out of the hold, and did effect
i've service in extinguishing what fire
lNilliillNh III libtl uNt IlOuIN Ol
hard work the fire in the hold was totally
extingulshed. The cotton brought on
shore numbered $50 bales, many of them
being little less than charred remains.
The vessel is very badly damaged.
Both the main and upper decks are
burned through, while the engineers
cabins and mess-room show very plainly
the effect of close and intense heat. One
little incident just show hows great the
heat must have been in the engineers
cabin. Several pairs of shoes left in the
room were shriveled up in no time, and
although new, can never be worn. Capt.
Cookery can give no theory regarding
the origin of the fire, which started
among the last lot of bales put in the
hold. Fortunately, none of the other
compartments are injured in the least,
and as soon as the necessary repairs
can be made the vessel will resume her
voyage.