Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1883-05-18

~ 49, '''''' - 49, ~ ''lN 1T
away. Tie tifc >Iltad to tie Goa
hunkcrS. burning 5Cu fec-. Cine
Engineer Knapp Was banned t,
death. Bans! t.mh,r- :c!l ant
killed enc and itjnl,d on. Ia,
steamer !, "a total loss
~"cr-ld Dispatch.
IrtrTIE, Nry II. \; , c'rlocb
tli- uuiAInG irt broke ont III Ii,
, oil ROOM of the STEAMER .U>>,>>,,r.
wing alongside the dock Of tho c.
iumhla AMI Pu-ei Sonnd E,iirrad
Company. Au ii ann Was Install: .
sounded, the hose brought OUT. am
the pumps started.
Ns'.. &C., l3.r liz: ..nn!able mature
Il tie ~urluundIn- Ii was railI
from He "H;stt that there WIS no
hope Ut iin :.uE the fire ont, that The
ship VIZ !nuutl, and that 1t be-
hopycd all hanIs to get ashore at the
earliest possible moment. The men
accordingly went, some on the
whal. ANA some overheard, none
% them s"vii Z anything, those who
were asleep not even getting their
clothing.
THE WHARF EIRNED.
In almos: less time than it takes
to write it, the wooden deck houses,
the rigging of the ship and the
whole upper works were ablaze, as
well as the dock, To which the flames
were quickly impaired, and IN twen-
ty minutes from the first alarm the
whole on'er part of Che upper wharf,
300 feet long and built up sixty feet
above the water, was il mass of fire.
The ship Spartan lay on the other
side of the wharf. only Sky feei
from the Mississippi. AID she too
would have gone had not the cap
tain instantly acted. He parted his
lines ut once and WAS gently moved
away from the place of danger by
the light brecZn prevailing.
The city fire department hurried
TO the f.e; OWN, however, to the
low stage of the tide, they were un-
able to hoist watel from the bay and
there Was no other accessible. They
therefore were practically of no val
NC III saving either the ship or
wharf.
FALLING TiMBERS.
At 1 clock IL section of the high
incline fell among Il large number #
people. A ship carpenter. named
Hogan, was struck and hurt 50 badly
that he died from his wounds. Sev-
eral other persons We're hurt by the
timbers, but not seriously. y doz-
ell or more were Knocked down with
and among the falling timbfrs, and
as MANY picked up as were discov-
cred. 1t is not known that any
others were killed or drowned, but
it is quite possible that several lives
were lost, of which we have no ac
count.
The only person on the Mississippi
known to have been burned 20 deaI h
was Charles Knapp, the chief en-
greer, who was probably suiiocated
while III bed, and whose bones were
afterward found on board of the
ship. Mr.. Knapp leaves awife and
children in San Francisco.
TIE HULL SAVED.
The hull, being of iron, was not
destroyed, but everything of wood
i'll or OH her was. Had there been
some tug in port with steam up the
Mississippi could have been lowed
into the stream ana The wharf saved
LATER. The steamer WAS tax II
hold of and towed ashore, where
they have been pouring water IL TO
her all day. the 500 tons Of coal III
her hold making IL terrible GIe all
the while The lower hull will not
be injured beyond repair, but may
again he built uron
THE VESSEL : III TORY
The Mississippi WAS an iron screw
of about 200 tons butden, and was
built for blockade runner dhring
the war, hut wa6 captured during
her first voyage with IA cargo on
board, said to be the most valuable
taken during the war. She was
afterward placed i'll the cotton-carry-
ing trade ana ran on various routes
till some too yealsa ago, when she
was purchased by the Oregon I'M
provenent Company to run in
connection with their other coal
vessels between this port and San
Francisco
The direct and indirect 'o't on
the wharf is about $40 900. The
steamer was valued at over $780,
600. and was insured.
Capt. Holmes thinks the fire was
caused by spontaneous combustion
Of waste i'll the oil room.
BIG Crowd.
Thousands of people were aroused
from their slumbers and the wharves
were lined with people, all anx.
ious to do something to save life or
property, but they were powerless.
The ram and the direction of .he
prevailing wind prevented the fire
connecting with the other VIII arf of
the company, or any part of town,
else greater conhagration must
have resulted.
The burning OF the Mississippi
is the last Of u series of fatalities
10 northern coast steamers that,
covering SO short period, is per-
haps the most remarkable in the
history of the country, including
the destruction of six vessels since
the beginning of the current year,
namely, the .iosrphine, by the burst
ing Of her boiler; the GEM. crap
picr and Mississippi by fire, and the
Iacoma and E,ucha by running on
the rocks. The destruction of these
stea III eIS caused the loss of 100
lives and the loss of pro-
- al,