St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-06-15
The Cargo of the City of
Richmond Becomes Ig-
nited at Sea.
Bales Of Cotton, Found to Be
Afiame, Seized and Thrown
Overheard.
Preparations to Put Off the
Ships Boats in a Tenn
pestuous Sea.
Passengers Remain Perfectly
Calm During the Great
Suspense.

QUEENSTOWN, June 1.-THE Cumard
line steamer Servia, Capt. Dutton.
which left New York June 9. arrived
rived here to-day. The captain reports
that at midnight of Thursday he sighted
the Inman line steamer City of Rich
mond, Capt. Redford, from New York,
June 3, bound for this port and Liver
pool. The latter vessel was flying sig
nails of distress, and the Servia bore
down to her to offer assistance. The
captain. of the City of Richmond said his
cargo was on fire and the Seryia stood
by and steamed slowly by the side of
the City of Richmond until Brow Head
was sighted. Capt. Redford reported
that Tuesday at midnight lady cabin
passenger. upon getting out of her
berth, noticed that the floor of the state
room was very hot. She Immediately
gave the alarm to the engineers. who
communicated with the captain. and an
examination was quickly made. This
resulted in the discovery that smoke
was issuing from the fore hold, and
the smell indicated that the cotton in
the hold was on fire. Steam and water
were promptly injected into the
hold, and it was supposed for a long
time that the fire had been extinguisbed.
At 8 o'clock on Wednesday morning,
however, three bales OF cotton were
found to be on fire, and were taken
from the hold and thrown overheard.
In the meantime the British steamer
Counsellor, Capt. Jones, of the Harri-
son line. bound from New Orleans for
Liverpool, had appeared
On the Scene
and, on learning the condition of affairs,
stood by the City of Richmond until the
Servia came up. 1t is believed the fire
was completely subdued before the City
of Richmond reached Queenstown. The
vessel proceeded for Liverpool and ap-
peared to be all right. The yes
sci carried 1900 bales of cotton.
The lady who gave the alarm, upon
awakening, found her state room filled
with smoke, and at once aroused the
occupants of the adjoining state rooms.
In less than three minutes all the pas
sengerS, including those in the Steerage,
were on deck. Most of them hurriedly
left their berths and rushed on
deck attired in little but their
sleeping garments. Strenuous efforts
were instantly made by the crew to
reach the fire. Upon opening the latch
way adjoining the spot from which
smoke was issuing it was aScertained
that portion of the cotton was on fire.
Large volumes of water were poured
down npOn the burning mass, but with
small effect. Until the steam fire an
nIhilatorS were used no diminution of
the fire was visible. While the captain
and engineers were trying to get the
fire
Under Control
Another scene presented itself no
deck under the eyes of the anxious, but
well-behaved crowd of passengers.
Here provisions of all sorts were being
carried by the stewards to the ships
boats, inView of the possible necessity
of abandoning the vessel. In this
work many of the male passengers as
sisted. Throughout the period of alarm
gale was blowing and the ship rolled
heavily. During the dark hours of
suspense the mass of the pas
sengers were perfectly calm,
most of them making preparations to
leave the ship. Until daylight Wednes-
day the extent of the fire was not
known, so dense was the smoke envel-
oping the decks. The sea. too, became
so heavy that it would have been almost
impossible for the passengers and crew
to put off in the boats if such course
had been deemed necessary. Soon after
daylight, however, the captain was
able to assure the people that there
was no immediate danger. Butalthough
the fire had been checked it remained
Smouldering in the mass of cotton and
might break into flames at any moment.
1t was impossible to discover theextent
of the fire, owing to the fact that every
aperture in the vicinity of the hold
had to be closed in order to prevent the
flames neing famed by the gale. The
stewards continued their preparations
to abandon the ship, and had 1900
pounds of beef cooked for the boats.
moved away from the vicinity of the
fire. Hopes of relief came at 8 o'clock
in the morning, when sail was sighted
ahead.
Signals of Distress
were quickly hoisted and rockets fired,
but for two hours no response was elic-
tied. Then the steamer ahead was seen
to slow up and go at half speed, evil
dentlv with the intention of waiting for
the City of Richmond. This vessel was
the Counselor, and, after an inter-
change of signals, she agreed
to remain alongside the dis
tressed steamer. A sad incident
occurred at the moment the Counsellor
came alonside the City of Richmond,
the captain of the former steamer sud-
denly falling dead on the deck of his
vessel. The chief officer of the Coun-
sellor, upon the death of his superior
officer, took command of the ship and
City of Richmond. Throughout
Wednesday, the crew of the lat
ter vessel continued to pour water
and steam upon the burning cot
ton. In the evening an attempt was
made to reach the hold for the purpose
of discovering if possible the extent of
the fire. Four smouldering bales were
taken out of the hold when itwas found
imperative to shut up everything in
order to exclude the air. All of
Thursday the situation continued much
the same. There were occasional
outbursts of dense smoke from the
hold, but no flames were visible. There
was heavy sea running all day. Dur
ing the day the North German Lloyd
steamer Aller passed and exchanged
bore down toward the two vessels and
agreed to stay by the City Of Richmond.
The latter and the Servia then went
ahead at full speed, leaving the Coun-
sellor astern.
Friday the fire in the cotton appeared
to shift from time to time to different
parts of the hold, but seemed to be
lessening in intensity. In the after