The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1889-10-17
STORM AND FIRE
THE VOYAGE OF THE uytov,,.
A LONG AND DESPERATE srRueetr -,
-nERoio WORK OF tue OFFICER. Ann
CREW.

Running in the very teeth of a g,lo,,,
tossed her like chip on the w,,s,, Iva Iva
f, with fire burning in one of her coJ h.,"s a,,a
ers which threatened to destroy the s,a.N N'
er, and which officers and crew wo,toI I-
and night to subdue, is the history Of ,a',
part OF the voyage of the big British y, -
Unionist, which steamed into New -,
from Liverpool Tuesday.
1t was on September 2l that .ae r-o,...,
! left Liverpool for New York. Tbs,o IS
heavy western gale blowing when thes,o,.
erleft port. On the 9th the wind vso.,,,'
the north-northwest aud blew with IL.
hurricane force. A heavy cross Sc, c,n..,
The big steamer to pitch SO heavily tina, ~.
sailors could hardly keep their feet ami :.
night they had to lash themselve, q, 49,.
hunks. On the 27th the storm abatel s,i,L.
/ ly, but on the 18th the wiul viii,
around to the west-southwe,t, and on M.
morning Of September 30. when III fro v,,,
first notice.. the Unionist wa, .,sa,,ia.
against a gale aud sea which a.m,,t bnr,G
her.
1t was late In the morning, and Nh. v.,,.,
was about mid ocean, when Chef OB ..r A.,
tenbrow, who was on the bridg,. ,as,r,,,
/ line of smoke forcing its way from pplo.
meath the bunker hatch on the p,r, .it,.,
the bridge. lie called Capt Nell f-,n Aha
chart room and together they unl ,b,
hatch. A dense volume Of smoke poa-el
! from the hatchwdy, almost sulIlcuin, I'M.
Captain. All hands were at once ,umno,.
! ell, the hatch was closed and every c-,vio,
| filled with oakum. Two holes were cu, IN m.
hatch and barrels of water were poured in,o
the bunker. The hatch Ma,
removed and two OF the cres
went down and began passing coal from III.
port bunker into the saddle back, or cr1S
hatch coal bunker This bunker relcbs
entirely across the vessel, and also act,ua
feeder for the port and star-board banse
from the bottom of which coal can be oh
tanned in the fire room. There were fl,
$50 tons in the port bunker, where the f,
was raging. The men were relieved al
O'Clock, when firemen James Farrell aoi
Thomas Pearson took their places Halfu
hour later the smoke and sulphurous eaS,
overcame the men. They were rescued viii
difficulty. and did not recover cous.olsas,
for some hours.
During this time the ship was p,tchin,
and tossing so that the men could harlIyrs
tam their feet. The hatch was closed again
after the men were taken out and KEEP, osal
until 3 o'clock tuesday morning. wh.A
water was being constantly poured on The
fire. Then the hatch was again reoRnd
and the men sent down in relays Of tEoa
again make an attempt to put ont the fn
An officer had charg, Of ela
relay and the men ves
relieved every fifteen minutes, Ths
they worked all that day. The smoke ad
gas compelled them to stop work and aa
hatch went on again, while the wa'erpE.
ed as before until IL o'clock Wedneshy
morning, when the work of remoyinga
coal was begun again. The storm had in
creased and the men had found it almaS
impossible to work. Still they kept deisr
ately on, urged by officers, who took The,
share of toll with the rest.
At 2 o'clock Friday morning, when 80
ond officer Hemming was on the briie
heard subdued report and saw the PlS
bunker and the cross bunker hatchc iyir
to the air, when tongue Of fire run up na'
ly to the masthead. The gas hal cypoiA
The matches fell into the bunkrr', bl. Ur
secured with difficulty aud again fastened
down The hose was turned on again, Ss
there was another explosion AMI this l1'
the port hatch struck Engineer Low on'a
head. lie was not seriously hurt Ihs"f
cred alley way on the port side was very d
and the fire room was almost unbea'4os
Capt. Neal then decided to cut ah'
through the iron side of the bunker anln'
was accomplished and the water turner =
, the blazing mass at 6 O'Clock that no'n.s
, BY 7:30 o clock the fire was ont lheVF
, tain and engineer, exploring the o4'',
with an electric light, found only cnN'
and wet Goals. The Unionist was QUA
steel, at Sunderland, Eng, in l''' Al'A
therefore, almost new vessel.