Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-12-11

A Forty Thousand Dollar Fire on the
ssCitv Of Augusta''-1, 900 Bales Burned
aDd Damaged-The Fire on the Steam
min ..Tyilton''-TheOriesO of ITS Origin.
While the hold OF the steamship Wilton,
in which cotton was discovered burning
Tuesday evening, was being flooded Win
water yesterday morning, a FIRE broke OUT
in the forward hold Of the steamship Clty
of Augusta, of the Ocean Steamship OOm-
many. in which ]. 900 bales Of cotton were
stored The vessel was 70 have sailed
Yesterday The fire was discovered about
O'Clock. and an alarm was turned IN
from box No. AZ. 1t speedily attained ~
rious Roadway, and proved difficult to ex-
.;,,,,,,isb gThe matches were battened down
nd steam was turned on. The steamship
CbartahOOehee, which lay directly ahead
of the Augusta, put two streams on the
Ere and the Juniata, which had arrived
from Philadelphia snort time before.
turned Oh two streams. Four streams
were added by the wharf hydrants,
which showed a remarkably high press
ure, and the fire Department., WHICH had
responded quickly, rendered valuable
aid. Gen. sOrTel. agent OF the company,
arrived about 80 O'Clock and sent for
the steamtug Republic, and her powerful
pumps added four more streams to those
already playing upon the fire.
b. O'Clock the compartment had been
nlled vita SeteF ard the IRE
was completely under eOhtrOl.
| The work Of emptying the hold OF water
| and burned cotton was then begun
| and progressed rapidly. Much Of the
cotton was burned and all of it is much
damaged. 1t is thought that the loss Will
! be between $500 and $4,000. The hre
! is much Ilore disastrous than that on tpe
1 Nac0ochee. which occurred on nov. 10.
/ While the ship is somewhat damaged she
will not suffer materially. The damaged
| norton Of the cargo will be discharged,
/ and il is probable thai th9 shtp viii be
/ able to leave for New York tomorrow.
| Il is thought that there will be no loss to
the schednIe. accepting the trip the City
| Of Augusta was 10 have made yesterday.
| The company will endeaYOT TO have the
| ChattahO0chee, which leaves on Friday,
| take the Augustus sailing from New
| York on Tuesday, Dec. 10, and the
Augusta to make the Chatta-
! hoochee's sailing for New York on Inurs-
| day, Dec. 10. capt. NickersOn and his
! crew acted promptly at the fire ana with
admirable Sdiscinline.
| The cOastwise steamers have been very
| unfortunate of late. The New York line
| has had two serious fires within month.
| The City of Macon, of the Boston line, is
! laid up with a broken wheel, and in adj
| ditIOn to the disabling Of the VIM. Law
/ renee AID the sinking of the Decatur Ii.
! Miller. the Merchants and Miners line
| has two steamers laid up.
! The steamship Wilton was mOOred to
the wharf of the Upper Hydraulic Press
| Yesterday. and the work of discharging
| the damaged cargo was begun. The Will
| ton had about 900 bales of cotton on board.
| There were about 600 bales in the CON-
| partment where the fire took place, and
| this is either burned or damaged by water.
| The lower tiers of the cotton in No. hold
/ were also wetted. 1t is thought that the
| loss on the cotton which was burned will
| be about % per cent, and on that which
suffered by the water 20 per cent. A survey
will be made to-day, when the exact loss
will be ascertained. The ship is but
| little damaged.
1t is difficult to form a theory as to the
cause of the fires on the steamships, al
| though several are advanced. One is that
a spark from passing steamers may have
fallen in the hold. Another is that a
| lighted match may have been carelessly
| dropped. A third is that in dragging the
bales up the run to drop them into the
hold the iron bands may have struck the
head of one of the spikes and caused a
spark which ignited the cotton, and
smOuldered in the bottom of the bale
until il finally broke out in a blaze.