The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1889-07-22
FLAME And WAVE.
Thrilling Escape of Passen-
gers and Crew from the
Lorenzo D. Baker.
TWO LIVES WERE FORFEITED
Ladies Saved in the Boats---Narra-
tive of the Captain.

NEW BEDFORD, Mass, July %, 1885,
The steamer Lorenzo D. Baker, of Boston,
with fruit consigned to the Boston Fruit
Company. has been burned at sea. The
crew arrived at this port this morning on
the whaling schooner Franklin.
The Boston Fruit Company stBted that
the cargo was valued at not less than
$4,000, on which there is an insurance of
5000. The vessel was insured for S50, COO.
Captain Wiley of the Baker, reports the
steamers tonnage was 966, her length 215
feet, breadth 35 and depth 20 feet She
was valued at 100000, and insured for
100000.
To reporter he said:-"We left Port
Antonio, Jamaica, July 10, with bananas
for Boston and had six cabin passengers,
Mrs. Elizabeth Lime, of Dundee, Scot
land; Josiah Dillon, of Iowa; Lorenzo
D. Baker, Jr;, OF Wellfieet,
nephew, jeremiah G. O'Callaghan, of
renee Jensen and Peter Saxild. sailors.
who were working their passage, and
nineteen officers and crew; in all twenty
seven persons.
At midnight on July Is, when we were
in latitude 3S. Is north, longitude &c. 49
WcSL, uI6 DTOht Jul III Lllt EJElu6
The engineer could not get at the pumps.
| ordered the fire buckets TO be used, no
titled the passengers and ordered the
boats to be swung out.
"By this time the flames had burst
through the top of the engine room and
the starboard boat was on fire. We
swung out the port boat and lowered her
to a level with the rail.
81 had the lady passengers placed in this
boat and ordered it manned Two other
passengers now got into the boat. but the
men had gone forward. The fire was
within three feet of us and the heat was
intense.
"Placing the boats painter in the hands
OF sailor and holding it fast, ordered
the first mate to take the bow and into
the stern told the men at the falls to
lower away, thinking as soon as the boat
was afloat and detached from tackles to
return on board and get out the raft and
small boats.
But when lowered the boat capsized on
striking the water and threw us into the
sea. The man let go the painter. The
mate and Irighted the float, put the
passengers aboard and we put away for
the steamer, which had drifted half a
mile.
On the way we encountered the raft,
which had eight persons on it, and took
them into the boat. BY this time the
q
"After rowing some time we picked up
a sailor floating on the gangway steps.
He said he had gone in the small boat
and that four sailors and two firemen
were on board. the steamer having been
cut off from the boat by the fire.
Zone fireman had been drowned in
trying to reach the small boat, The
distance between us and the burning ship
was gradually increasing when we saw a
schooner bearing down to the ship.
''She took off some men and then picked
us up. She proved to be the whaling
schooner Franklin, Captain Rost, of New
Bedford She had taken five men from a
spar alongside the steamer
another fireman has been drowned in
swinging from the steamers bowsprit to
the spars to which the sailors clung
AT the time the steamer had burned
to within three feet of the waters edge,
and was a mass of flame from stern to
stern.
1--WE soon found the small boat and
twenty-five out of twentY-seven souls who
had been on board the steamer We're
safe.n