The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1888-12-27

Z I..if ErickseF. bElt here were perhars 70
{ he steamer was allowed 10 carry II uAs.
scngers bY law besides the crew had no
saas, boa; BOARD. bat | believe the law
Z GA tais point spesihes that, in such
B Ease. the omission can be remediett
Z by having aa extra supply OF life-ssying
apparstus ON board. There we're two life
+ ratts and Que cylinder, in addition TO u
+ life preserr aad these were sufficient 10
keep - people shoat 10 fact, n the mas
sengcrs bad NOT Retet wildly, every one
would have been saved. as the fnrniiu e
on board alone would have Afforded annie
Z means 81 s,srape had life-savfng aptsra-
T tHs equal II double the needs Of The mum
I Der 81 passengers allowed by law. boat
would Bof have been OF much service in
sHch an emergency, a. the steamer nsd full
steam on. and a boat would most likely
have been smashed 10 pieces a. II
struck the wsisr, iudEing from the
( lack Of discretion shown by pas
seugers In launching the life-rafls.
Ia my opinion one of the demii 3hus ex-
plude5. n | am positive nothing struck
them that would cause fracture III any
one Of them. The crew and passengers
we're perfectly sober. aud ne drinking wss
, observed except when Mr. Soreus opened
a bottle 81 beeF aaf drank IT, Noreus was
pot drunk He told me TO look on: for the
dem Johns ~ he placed them in the piiay
heuse. An explosion must certainly have
caused one q. the bottles TO burst a. saw
them all Standing HpFiyht when my at
tentiOn was drawn 20 the FIRE. kind OF
click caused me to lock downwarts.
when / saw 4 small blush flame through
the filsF-chasn hole in the pilot house
The base Of the flame was II BLUSH color,
the apex white. ! cannot say who brought
the dem johns aboard "
Al this junctgre Ahner white made
statement Ia tise coroner that he - s. Nareus
bring them aboard the steamer before
leaving seattle.
Capt Nibne. continuing. said. There
was emily one woman aboard that am
aware Of besides NV little niece do not
remember seeing BTanson aboard. did
no; see him upNii he was taken aboard the
Nonniai4cer. Al the time of the en:hTeak
Of the IRE the teif Erirksen was beaded
tosRris hlake islasa did not give the
engineer any signal 20 stop the boat be
csus. when | fret observed the fire
thought ! could subdue the flames with a
hut ket Of water ana LETT the wheel for that
pagase. JhousA II was safer 20 rua the
boat before the wind ihRa to stop a. tie
pipe afiRg 20 the safefy-vaive was not OF
suitcicWt dmeusions To allow enough
surs'ing IL the boilers While
/ went cut for the bucket
81 water, the flames spread with the
rapidly Of lightning aud found that snv
effort 81 mine was useless ia that direction.
Meantime tHc alarm BAD been raised aud
frantic men rushed far the life RATS aud
threw one overheard which was ifafee-
distciy Jeff tzehtud in cur wake saw
three mcu end atuTluE 10 iaUuca another
and seeing that The only means & escape
from dcsth bv IRE Was being rrckiessly
thrown Away by men who hsd los. their
r-asen for tle moment. seiEgd hold IT IL
catching 90 10 4 guy lea8iug from the
sInaSe-siack with my diseusagcd hand.
Tas Juggling for possession Of the raft was
fierce. and one ~ tbs men on the end on
q l.. e 81 ,. a L. D B.
iaat those ahe were pHihug on jae Oppu-
tie size lost iheir baisuce and ouc Of
then falling against nae. Euoc ked me
overheard. A. the sane lime tie lie
raft, which In the >culiie hal ieen
hauled over the casin roof until more
than D1lf overauns the pas age way.
toD~yed overheard also. The steaIue r.
near as could jud2e ran ior
twenty minutes aftcr The first sign ci
fire. before the explosion occ8rrctl-
some claim the time 70 be- s. minutes
The powder vas brought aboard bv
stealth a. the steamer va, not H.
ccn-el "a carry explosives have
heard thst a sforekeeper called Grant.
~ Colby, and man cSilei Mills.
brought some Of the poHier aboard.
The current opinion j. that Noreus
owaei most OF 10. There were abost
30 pounds stow eli away UukuaWn 10
me, as near ~ ! eAa gather. No re
ceipt~ were given AZ the Nhar; for
powder. and - the stuff must
have hcen introduced uader cover
TIE fire broke ont at three minutes
after O'Clock when last ssg NGreEs
De Vas sit1irg Ia the forward part OF toe
baat eating
Captain " H. E'Is, of the rescuIrg
stcsmor M1a0iA0etr. who a - next sEorr,
testified "a vas in me Narrow, about tisr
i8.5es distant when arr sisktss. iae Ersck
sea og HrH. Locking fh0+agh nv glass z
ssg Htt pssis'g ana rou.t ser that at ase
hT,za oet or appeared 20 De Ia tle ri 20
Eeese. IRE ksru was stuus one avt
uaI ma les iuoua 4 81 POltt when ! Er-t
sighted hrr The explosion VS. beard
mites os s}r Burning boat A. this tine
fne sag tatgf pas close CD Jue burning
sftaatG { tssIrvv the NHua Fiuea-
p eket4 4E either % or - pa~sgsfcs-s
F+ee S.-s scs-ae,. frn tHc 'srgg fIic-rst.
tae Vu f5r S-saA. tFo wifagf SIS SAP
I,1-f. guc han us = wte~iAarrasr. smother
u9 chairs. < ihius there was aElpie rrtsus
tt sst.tv nTavites3 Tor a z..slr4. sus have
E1 .iSuhs s-st has zee uES--He~Hs acted
" "a mere HuH aehs al w+usi have h-ea
saved Z rclretut.s she te-sfst-t uEeH
r-uuent en- b-ssri tE- NHaara Gcer
GA heius takes ~ tHe r11Es by tSs corr
rrr. EEp4. Eiis reCcgE sd gre Ge4d uaa
hy tac "a. lag ~ RI. shuB5 ~ csc % iAe
aSats.
". ". estes. eErineer - TIE Esilkssn,
on D,iug ssso-a stated
o. vsS Jbe, Ggsi 20 give she alarm. We
were Anou5 su 5 line be;Eeea AlAi ara
q an points Nhea / san essh is Ire for
waei etsa af the Aaier- Eee at1 blew
the Games 1igrctiy into ;os cfei He r,alra
sri arasr rac ost tsi raeci sfe3s. fnrHt-l
,-caa eats the pumP sad strive to g~s
tar hose en- w. sIrc errtCF ~ - 81 fuTn s
sr-csn Ga tae flames. bui haJ No NJ D.
o. AaEt 5uS more ta&a sare MfSSst p
Il -nt- 81. Egi KY dll Ere tas srrFSi- Ia
i,as>sr -cr~ se7t crazy vith cSrlt Earut- ]
B. ART sotss one CIV FaF Isla's sske
ghcrus tlte life rrr%erser~. AMI ! ttaen
eutr- Z sac ysn5u uy a sissc u4aauw :
saa1r3 tlc w tatr ~ tire af--prc>Frvrrs
aaE flty u-rr under lae seats y tafG
.a~r raa-A- I hanltt nue ca p - he *
H1~a4 AS ? wgre w1ea aYEfb1sla. I
tJ4t taink tAey kgw bog
20 usr thcu TIE boat u.s.
nnulsnsrrzA.le after TIE srg broke sssG
TIE engine ECusr coGs4 uat D. Eppr,sss, ntG,
mr. eUHia fhe fsl8f EA1se. b Nas zo-s4s
1siI "a h0ur si5aF ire sse aEake ems ilas
iac F-aNtirr 80 ossei krrFK one lad lelt
s As ssck nrr loas 5efare thar r5mR. I Waa
&c-ssi a. fhe fifsc 49, Gsrrssesf pad -
lsfse alssust,sa - ~ al ! SD. hat ! aHs
tae fama Mas aeaf I sas Tire SsasE Chtsf
bz1Ffas 4 sscslx DIVA oa Is, aud tried 10
AHA AMI kis wife. Sas de-