Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1894-09-14
ION FIRE IN MID-OCEAN.
HOW FLAMES ARE HANDLED
ON GREAT STEAMERS.
Get Away From the Ship and Look Out
for the Passengers Comfort, Is the Adj
vice of One Captain-Burning OF tho
Steamer Atlantic.

of putting ii out?"
That question was put to Captain
John j. Cameron, the commander OF
the White Star lines crack boat, by
New York journal man.
IL should get away from tho ship
just as quickly as possible, put the
RATS together, get all the provisions
into the boats and RATS that time
and room would allow, see that the
passengers were made as comforta-
BILE in the boats as circumst ancos
would permit. get the sailors over
board and then go over the side my
self.
There are few old captains who
have not experienced q fire at sea.
They tell of 1t with bated breath as
the most terrible experience Of
their lives. 1t is no rare thing for
ships TO come into port with a fire
raging in their hold or their coal
bunkers Captain Cameron knows
all abodt it, as he has "been there
more than once" He never lost n
vessel or life. though-always sue
ceedlng in smothering the fire and
reaching land.
AS an illustration OF the working
of his idea, Captain Cameron tells
the story of the burning OF the At
lantic- Her captain was Robert Mac
Dougal, as fine an old sailor as ever
trod deck. They left Boston for
Liverpool with hundred saloon
passengers and forty or fifty in the
Storage She was a slow boat and
took from twelve to fourteen days to
cross the ocean. But she was one of
the stanch. old fashioned kind. with
out any frills on her. but splendid,
seaworthy ship.
When five days out fire was dis
covered in the hold How it started
no one ever knew. Captain Mac
Dougal examined it himself and
found it was pretty bad, but he
thought he could smother it and
reach Liverpool all right. The
matches were nailed down tight to
keep all air out and water was
pumped into the spot where the fire
was
Mono Of the passengers knew any
thing about it at first. The day
following the discovery it was found
that the fire was gaining The
smoke that trickle1 through every
crevice made it impossible to con-
ceal the situation from the passen.
gers any longer.
Captain MacDougal summoned all
the men and told them the ship was
on fire. lie assured them that there
was very little danger, and said he
! thought they could reach port before
the fire gained enough Roadway to
be dangerous.
The engines were driven at the ut
most possible speed, and the hold
was deluged with q stream of water
that would have put out any or
binary fire. That night, however,
the gallant captain realized that tho
flames were gaining the victory.
At midnight the chief engineer re-
ported that the heat was becoming
so intense in the engine room that
1T was almost impossible to remain
there. At the same time the first
officer reported that. so far as he
COu4u bCC, IllO llIC ldd OGCplut uu-
manageable.
The captain ordered all hands on
deck as quickly as possible, in order
not to alarm the sleeping passen-
gers. Provisions and kegs OF water
were carefully slowed away in all
the life boats lCompasses, chronom-
eters and sextants were packed
into them. Blankets, oilskins and
other necessaries were added, and
the davits were swung ready for
launching the boats at a moments
notice.
The crew behaved admirably,
having perfect confidence in their
captain. There was no footing of
the stewards room, no raid upon the
rum, as occasionally happens.
Captain McDougal determined to
hang on as long as possible, in the
hope of sighting another ship. He
knew he was right in the beaten
track of ocean vessels, and wished
to avoid taking to tho boats if
possible.
At noon the fire had gained such
Roadway that it became evident that
it must break out before the follow
ing morning.
Captain McDougal, realizing that
the ship must be abandoned, deter
mined to do it before sunset. He
called all the passengers together
and told them of his determination.
directing them to make haste and
put on their heaviest clothing and to
stow away as much of their valu-
ables as they could carry.
1t was just before sunset that the
order was given to man the boats.
The fire. hitherto confined TO the
hold, had taken possession OF other
parts of the vessels inside. and the
amount of water that had been
pumped in made her lie very low and
roll terribly.
Fortunately the sea was calm. The
boats were launched and women and
children sent overheard. Then came
the sailors, then the officers, and
when all on board were safely slowed
away the gallant old captain swung
| ovpr fha sida aud toOl command nj