New-York tribune., 1884-12-28
LIGHTNING AND FIRE AT SEA
THE ALERT ABANDONED WHILE BURNING.


which arrived here yesterday. brought among her
passengers the captain and of tho lost Ameri-
can ship Alert and the captains family, consisting
of his wife and little boy. The Alert left this port
on October 25. with n cargo of oil for Shanghai
She had good weather, and passing swiftly through
the northeast trades, reached their southern limit
on November II and entered that region of variable
winds, south of the Cape Verde Islands, that has
to be crossed before the southeast trades are
reached. On tho morning of the day on which the
northeast trades were dropped storm clouds began
to gather around the horizon aud at 10 o'clock
tropical thunder storm hurst with terrific violence
over the ship The rain came down In sheetsj the
deafening crashes of thunder aud the binding
flashes OF lightning succeeded each other with
scarcely an inlermssion,
Suddenly there came u crash of thunder more
terrific than those that had preceded IL, and u
bolt OF lightning eaped from black cloud directly
over the ship aud struck tho fore royalmast' The
sailors were thrown to the deck stunned and
nnmbcd. Every ono on board felt tho shock
When the sailors recovered thomaevos they found
the loro ioyamait hnd been aplinterod into
thousand pieces down 10 tho yard, some Of the
standing Rigging had bocn carried away aud large
hole torn IN tho royal,
SMOKE FOLLOWED ny Ak EXPLOSION
Captain jesse g. Park. whocommanded the ship.
ran forward 10 500 what damage had boon DONE
He found the lower foremost uDlnlnrcd. aud no
damage had apparently boon done 10 the deck
Scattered around were somo pieces of the fore
royalmast which had fallen from nloit A little
later sluoke was seen issuing from the forehatch.
The hatch had been covered with tnrpaulin to
keep out the rain when the storm began. Captain
Park ordered the hatch to be taken off. No sooner
was this done than n dense cloud of suiloc ating
smoke poured out nnd smoke was seen issuing
from the other matches. The captain ordered the
fochatch TO be replaced and nll the matches to be
caulked tightly This had been partly accomplished
when terrific explosion took place In the hold.
blowing off the matches and sending the men to
ricit and left. cloud Of flame and smoke poured
out which wrapped itself around the ships masts
and filled the air All this time the storm had con
iinued with undated fury, but now 1t began to
die away, dhl the captain ordered the boats TO be
lowered aud food water and clothing to lie
ptarpd ~ them. At 1850 all Uh hoard tUDk 10 the
boa,s atd dtoppel astpfn ~ The blazing vessel.
Ihh paiiain determined iUilie hr the sp. M hupns
that The iiehi ~ HE tp WOULD tintt s'iip passing
eesqpli kltht eahia hut 40 ieseniht tts9nl ihtte
Wptp, besides thb captain ahu ma VIZ
aui phid lWenit -four rpHrle ~ he NIFTY tiat
40 isiaUsiF awaited sneeof ata sIfapea tAelf ffes
dinHg ihp Oidnn ~ int ~ sethkhNtht lieh' ~ tp
baiiiing sip o mo friendly sail appinaelise
GnisG FIFTY NILES duF OF his oouRsH,
AT this time the French steamship t0mpi G'lnr
from ilarrr was passing down tie coast hound fni
pernambuc0. ii0r commander Captain wei, looking
alnug the southeastern h0rizon saw what he
tbonrht was the smoke of "A whaler. The possibility
of IT'S being burning ship, however. induced nm
To alter ms course and rln toward IT, AS e steamed
toward il the sht grew brighter aud he was con-
WINGED that the light came from burning vessel.
Al length he entered dense cloud Of ram ana to
nyht WAS wholly Obscured. Emerging from
The rain cloud, he saw before nun the
burning ship. At o'clock on the
@orning "S" of November 10 he reached the, SPOT
yrhep he Alert was still burning and rescued the
party in the boats. He bad gone fifty miles out OF
his course {" d. his, and Captain Par! is loud in
praise of h. .'.uct. Captain Vel IL young
man aud t.e onpt IT Eu Is his first command.
After rcscuing the crew of the Alert he TOOK them
10 perambuco. whence they came to this city on
tbc Maranbcsc. The Alert was a ship of ,099 tons
and was owned in Boston, She was Dnllt III East
Boston III ls7l
EXPERIENCES OF OTHER VESSELS.
Captain j. w. Catherine Of the steamship Chatta-
hoocLc. from Savannah, which arrived yesterday.
gave an account of his attempt to schooner
crow nst Friday: "When fifteen miles north of
the Winter Quarter Lightship at 2:30 p. m. |
sighted threo-masted schooner under closc-reefed
main and ,nizzen sails, with her ensign flying
upiou down. | bore away for her aud, when near
euoupb hailed and asked what was required
Tho rcplv was that the vessel had sprung
. icol, and the crew wished to be taken
off | ordered them TO lower thelr Doat. s'ai-
lag that would lay by untll thcy came au9iru aug m
they replied that their boat was stove III ana un-
seovorthy then placed the steamer IN such
nositon as to shelter the schooner as hlich as pos
sible from the gale and lowered one oI lIN Dodts
70 60 TO their rescue, the boat beng IN charge or
Tho second officer. The boat returned IN about an
hour having failed to rescue any OF the crew on
account of the ngh sea- Willch PrYenicu [ 'o pU,O n
fiou "a ting alongside. The second o'ncer hau re-
cnvcd INJURIES in the boat which made II Impossible
| for him again to attempt rescue.
Another boats crew volunteered 10 MAKE tne
hrnvs and lines and, after several attempts, sue,
eeeded IN getting life buoy on the schooner. me
f,st mate of the schooner secured hlmse1 10 tne
hnnv innped overheard and was picked up by the
| ife-bGat The buOys at this tme became Dloken
and useless As il was impossible 10 get near ln9
| schooner on account OF the severe gaze anu
- -, and a. night was setting
IN with rain and sleet and an m
creasne wind. which was aili,lIs lIdhs .or ,he tho
sbiu inIo shallow water, was compelled Tor NE
eofctv of nv own vessel. the passengers ana inc
crew TO abandon any further attempt to rescue Tue
remainder OF the crew. and was iorccu very Ie'Gn i
family to put my ship to sea Inc nae oi Ido I i,i
tated schooner was Ario Pardee. Sho was loaded
with cemeni for Philadelphia, ,.-, oo
The Aro Pa lee was yessei OF lYS t2nS % nmu WA
built i'm New brunswick, y. J, III lo:2 0nc was
owned by Elias Ross, OF NeW-BIlhsWick. ,.t
The steamship Camden. from Malaga arrived WIN
,ha oncers ard crew of the brig Lauretta, Whiich
nv .no oInndonrd i'm n sinking condition on December
ri. In Latitude 33. longitude oi. ne LaIcILI Mds
from Charlottetown Prince Edwards lsllhd
loaded with oats for Plymouth; Qh DecenpcI i
shc had heavy gale which shifted the cargo ana
nu.eG the vessel TO leak badly, Wien abandoned
She had two feet of water in the hold.
The bark D. H. Waten, which arrived IRON lam
I9I G%yp YIongitadie 81 ~ she passed the brig
.ohcn lron st. John, \. D. for CarnaTyan, water .,no
logged and abaudoped ler ioielnaft ,h H. WIS so'
aud her decks were almost level win the water
49,, t,4, vonson vhich came into port after a
rtt iars trp from Sierra Leone, reports tnAt Sle
Stsseyen .da5s battling with heavy ana vabiapie az i
ryts. On December ~. Ylile at qhfI3r V Vu 9Vtt- y
| hf,eit she lost her starboir1 anchor aLd seventy
ilinolns ol chall. .--
F8Srft3iSG tfSSEt> Atb c1bcotS
u- I.r NM. IA