Morning journal and courier., 1886-02-05
TO THE wATER,s EDGE.

A SIX Thousand Dollar Schooner
 Catches Fire mud Burns 10 the wa-
 ter's Edge ana then Sinks-Ehe Crew
 Escape in Their Night Clothes.
 Tuesday the two-masted schooner Nellie Of this port came here from Philadelphia with q cargo of pig iron, and after discharging her cargo at Canal dock drew out and an chored about midway in the channel between Canal dock and the New Haven Yacht club house to lay to until she got ready to sail. On board were the captain and a crew of three men beside the cook. About o'clock last evening the crew turned in to sleep for the night, but about 10:30 o'clock one of the men was awakened by the cracking of tim Der and the presence of smoke, and hastily pulling on his trousers he rushed on deck, only to see flames bursting forth from the hatchwav over the cooks galley in the fore castle. The man alarmed the others, who quickly piled out in undress and in highly excited state, not looking about them to see what could be saved, lowered the small boat and made for neighboring schooner near by, where they were taken board Meanwhile the crew on the Baxter Wrecking company's boat the Pennsylvania, which consisted of Cap tain Turner, John Flynn, William Sampson, Oscar Thorn, Gus. Bullard, George Brown and John Andrews, who had been engaged in recovering the iron wire on one of the sunken barges off Canal dock, discovered the flames, and, lowering boat, they rowed to the schooner and boarded her. The captain of the burning vessel had by this time be- come cooled down and told some of the wrecking companys crew to go into l.. l.. T I |. it. This Captain Turner tried to do, but was driven back by the smoke and flames. The captain of the wrecker then thought to scuttle her by chopping hole in her below the water mark but this they were unable to do on account of their axe striking heavy piece of timber. The men of the wrecker could have saved all the sails but for the fact that the captain of the schooner might afterwards accuse them of stealing them and so they left the schooner to her fate, seeing that nothing could be done to save her. Later two of the schoon- er's crew visited the vessel and saved the iib, worth about $15. An alarm of fire was sent to No. engine house and the engine went to the end of Sargent's dock, but stream of water would not carry to the burning vessel, and they had to give it up. By twelve o'clock the flames, which lit up the surrounding docks and vessels, had burned the deck off and shortly after one o'clock the masts burned through at the bot tom and fell, sending up shower of sparks and tipping the vessel over on one side so that she shortly afterwards filled and sunk. The vessel was worth about S6,000 and was not insured. She was about six or SC on years old and of about 10 tons burden. The fire originated in the cooks galley, probably from stove, although it was said he claimed to have put out the fire before turning in. The men on the wrecker deserve much praise for turning out and trying to stop the fire, have lost their wits entirely. It seems, how ever, that the vessel could have easily been saved had some of the numerous tugs about the harbor gone to her rescue.