Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1884-11-05
ESCAPE FROM A BURNING STEAMER.
From the New York Herald

y WElte nanukSfCIiet uulleIcu ltouI lAo
bows ofthe steamer Rhein, Friday afternoon,
as the little quarantine tug approached her,
and IN excited man cried out, Cant hur-
rv a dispatch on shore? All the passengers
and crew Of the Massdam are OH board, safe
and sound.'
AS soon as possible the sood news was
sent on shore aud flashed 10 the city, and a
dozen haegard people, who had been haunt
ing the Office OF the Royal Netherlands line
every tday since the dire idngs came that
| this ste amer had been passed at sea desert
ed and in flames, fcrvently thanked God,
and FASTENED to Hoboken to welcome the
friends whom they had feared to be lost
forever by au ocean disaster.
Safe and sound they were, both passen
gers and crew, but bringing with them their
| bare lives and the story OF q day oftcrror and
:. thrilling escape from death by drowning.
They had been saved by almost Il miracle,
thanks 10 the proximity oi the North Ger
man LloyC. steamer Rheip, after desperate
combat Of eight hours with toe flames and
bard pull Of several hours upon an angry
sea in open boats, some Of which were leak
ing badly
Il a,n so glad To know that no lives have
been lest that scarcely care Tor the dc
struciion OF my vessel" " said Capt. II. {.
| Van den Zee, dashing away the tears that
| rolled down his cheeks in spite o! him, "but
she was as trim a little ship as ever ] wish
to see We tried our best 10 save her, but it
| having on board 1SG passengers and IL crew
| { G,, r,np En poSSpi tho lizard
early on the morning of the following Mon
day, and he'd fine weather until the Dist,
| when a nard gale from west-southwcst set
in and stirred up high sea. The steamer
pitched and worked SO badly that | put her
under half speed for twelve hours. Then
the wind vccrea TO west. northwest and the
sea was bcalen down c'iuu"h /" go ahead
full speed once more.
''Early Oh The morning Of the 9th the en-
giueers discovered that q large tank, hold.
ing $50 gallons OF high test kerosene oil and
situated iu room adjoining the engine
ROOM. had been wrenchel SO badly by The
working Of the ship that ii was leaklng.
Three engineers took lamp and went into
the engine room to explore. the flame OF
the lamp igniled the gases which came from
the oil, and there was u loud explosion.
Two OF the engineers were burned about the
face and hands, but all got out without sarl-
Gus injury | was in my :tateroom 1t The
time, and was first apprised Of the accident
by Il cry Of fire. When ! reached the deck
the flames and smoke were pouring out OF
the engine room in Il startling manner. |
| called ali hands at once. The crew had
been al work u short time before, and in
less than II minute we had the steam
| fire pumps working, with streams fore
and aft. The hatches were battcned
down and the ven,ilators closed and
ali bands, including passengers, turned to
with Il will. While some of the crow tried
to subdue the flames others tried TO work
ship windward, but were unable TO do so.
Finding that two Of the life.boats we're be.
ginning 20 he licked by the flames | ordered
| them to be lowered to the waters edge. All
the time the passengers behaved admirably.
.'At noon VIC had the fire in the tank
room extnguishcd but the engine room
was complete wreck. The discovery WAS
then rlade that the red hot plates had
kindled fire in the coal bunkers and also
started Il blaze among the merchandise in
the hold. Mex, came the startling dis
covery that the steam pump had become
useless The hand pumps werc at once
manned 10y passengers aud crew, holes were
| cut in The deck and every possible endeavor
| was made ~ reach the flames. Many OF the
passengers drew water up III buckets and
dashed it on the decks. We all worked
like good fellows, but in vain
"Wc tried 10 remove some OF the cargo,
he continued, "but could not do SO, owing
to the dense smoke. at two o'clock the
after pump failed to act, owing to the burn
inc of the suction hose. We hung on to the
forward pump for half an hour longer, and
then l abandoned all hope Of saving the
vessel and ordered everybody to the boats.
A high sea was running, and we
had difficult task to get all hands
safely overheard but at length accomplished
it. ordered all the boats to hug the burn
ING vessel, hoping that the glare would
attract assistance. | was not wrong, for at
nine O'Clock in the evening the Rhein hove
in sight, our blue lights We're answered, and
before twelve o'clock all hands were safely
on board"
DR.. F. T. Smith, the surgeon of the Mas
dam. told substantially the same story as
the Captain, but was enthusiastic III regard
tn the latters cooness and bravery. He
said the Captain was the last to leave the
shin. DR.. Smith admitted that three OF the
six boats were in leaky condition and
their occupants had good deal OF ollnculty
in keeping them afoat.
From all accounts the occupants OF the
different boats had rough time Of before
they were picked up. Those in the leaking
boats had to bail necessarily to prevent
getting swamped, and all hands were
thoroughly exhausted by the time they
were hoisted on board the Rhein. The sea
was running very high at the time, and
their transfer could never have been ac
complished had not officers of the German
steamer gone down into the boats and lent
a helping hand. Women and men were
hoisted on board with ropes, and children
in baskets At midnight a heavy gale was
blowing. Some of the boats would GER