News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1884-11-27
THE LOST MAASDAM.
ESCAPE OF THE PASSENGERS AND
THE CREW FROM THE BURNING
STEAMER.
At Sea in Open BOaTs-Picked up by the
Rhcin After n Terrible Experience.
From th2 N. Y. Herald.

| n White uduQkercQleI HUIter6u from
the bows of the steamer Rhein as the
little quarantine tug approached her,
and an excited man cried out, Cant
hurry q dispatch on shore? All the
passengers and crew of the Maasdam
are on board, safe and sound"
AS soon as possible the good news
was sent on shore and flashed to the
city, and dozeu haggard people, who
| had been haunting the Office of the
Royal Netherlands line every day since
the dire tidings came that this steamer
had been passed at sea deserted and in
flames, fervently thanked God, and
hastened to Hoboken to welcome the
friends whom they had feared to be lost
| forever by an ocean disaster.
Safe and sound they were, both pas
sengers and crew. but bringing with
them their bare lives and the story of a
day of terror and thrilling escape from
death by drowning. They had been
saved by almost miracle, thanks to the
proximity of the North German Lloyd
steamer Rhein, after desperate combat
of eight hours with the flames and a
hard pull of several hours upon an angry
sea in open boats, some of which were
leaking badly.
81 am so glad to know that no lives
have been lost that I scarce care for the
destruction of my vessel, said Captain
Fl. G Van den Zee, dashing away the
tears that rolled down his cheeks in
spite of him, "but she was as trim
little ship as ever 1 wish to see. W.
tried our best to save her, but it was no
use. We left Rotterdam October 18th,
having on board 1856 passengers and
crew of for;y-five men. We passed the
Lizard early on the morning of the fol.
lowing Monday, and had fine weather
until the 21st, when hard gale from
west-southwest set in and stirred up
high sea. The steamer pitched and
worked SO badly that I put her under
half speed for twelve hours. Then the
wind veered to west-northwest and the
sea was beaten down enough to go
head full speed once more.
"Early on the morning of the Oath
the engineers discovered that a large
tank, holding $50 gallons of high test
kerosene oil and situated in a room ad-
joining the engipe-room, had been
wrenched SO badly by the working of
the ship that it was leaking. Three en-
gineers took lamp and went into the
engine-room to explore. The flame OF
the lamp ignited the gases which came
from the oil. and there loud
piosion. Two OF the engineers were
burned about the face and hands, but
all got out without serious injury. 1
was in my stateroom at the time, and
was first apprised of the accident by a
cry of fire. When I reached the deck
the flames and smoke were pouring out
of the engine-room in a startling man.
ner. / called all hands at once. The
crew had been at work short time be-
fore, and in less than minute we had
the steam fire pumps working, with
streams fore and aft. The matches were
battened down and the ventilators
and all hands, including passengers,
turned to with will. While some of
the crew tried to suhdue the
flames others tried to work ship to wind
ward, but were unable to do so. Finding
that two of the life boats were begin
ming to be licked by the flames, 1 or
dered them to be lowered to the waters
edge. All the time the passengers be-
haved admirably.
cat noon we had the fire in the tank
room extin yuishea, but the engine room
was a complete wreck. The discovery
was then made that the red hot plates
had kindled fire in the coal bunkers
and also started blaze among the mer-
chandise in the hold. Next came the
startling discovery that the steam pump
had become useless. The hand pumps
were at once manned by passengers and
crew, holes were cut in the deck and
every possible endeavor was made to
reach the flames. Many of the passen-
gers drew water up in buckets and
dashed it on the decks. We all worked
like good fellows, but in vain"
The young captain paused and his
eyes filled again as his thoughts trav-
eled back to the stanch little steamer
which had been his pride and Joy.
"We tried to 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, ow-
ing to the burning of the suction hose.
We hung on to the forward pump for
half an hour longer, and then I aban-
doned 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. I Or
dered all the boats to hug the burning
vessel, hoping that the glare would at
tract assistance. [ was not wrong, for
at nine o'clock in the evening the Rhein
hove in sight, our blue lights were an
swered, and before twelve o'clock all
hands were safely on board. To Cap
tain Jungst and the other officers of the
Rhein we owe the deepest gratitude for
their energy in saving, and their kind
ness after they had got our people on
board. 1t would be hard to praise their
noble conduct too highly"
Dr. F. T. Smith, the surgeon of the
Maasdam, told substantially the same
story as the captain, but was enthusias-
tic in regard to the latter's GOODNESS and
bravery. He said the captain was the
last to leave the ship. DIR. Smith adj
mitted that three of the six boats were
in leaky condition and their occupants
had good deal of difficulty in keeping
them afioat. DR.. Smith is an American
and graduate of the Michigan Univer-
sity. He was surgeon on the Reliance
when she was wrecked, and this was his
first voyage on the Maasdam. He saved
$50 worth of instruments and lost nearly
$500 worth. Most of his companions
saved nothing but the clothes on their
backs.
From all accounts the occupants of
the different boats had rough time of
it before they were picked up. Those
In the leaking boats had to bail inces-
sanity to prevent getting swamped, and
all hands were thoroughly exhausted by