The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1894-09-15

| v
tonic took fire In mid-ocean, with a
thousand passengers on board. and
the fire so bad that there was no way
Of putting 1t outp"
That question was put to Captain
John j. Cameron. the commander OF
the White Star lines crack boat, by
New York Journal man.
II should get away from the 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 circumstances
would permit, get tho sailors over.
board and then so 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 fire
raging In their hold or their coal
bunkers Captain Cameron knows
all about 1t, as he has .'been there
| hOtO Uhoh OHC0. H0NOT lOSb u
vessel or life, though-always sue.
ceeding 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 tho
Storage. She was 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 a 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 1t himself and
found it was pretty bad. but he
thought he could smother 1t 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.
None 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 trickled through every
crevice made 1t 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 re. 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 stream OF water
that would have put out any Or
binary fire. That night, however.
the gallant captain realized that the
flames were gaining the victory.
At midnight the chief engineer re.
ported that tho heat was becoming
so intense in tho engine room that
1t was almost impossible to re main
there. AT the same time the first
officer reported that. so far us he
could see. the fire had become UNI
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. iCompasses, chronom-
eters ard sextants were packed
into them. Blankets, oilskins and
\ other necessaries wore added, and
the davits were swung ready for
launching the boats at moments
notice.
The crew behaved admira oily,
having perfect confidence in their
captain There was no looting 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 II
possible.
At noon the fire had gained such
| neauWay tndJ lb Decauo evident JnaJ
1t must break out before the follow
ing morning.
Captain McDougal, realizing that
the ship must be abandoned, deter
mined to do 1t before sunset. He
called all the passengers together
and told them of his determination.
directing them to make haste and
put on their heaviest clio hing and to
stow away as much OF their valu.
ables as they could carry.
1t was just before sunset that tho
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 aud
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
whom all on board were safely slowed
away the gallant old captain swung
over the side and took command OF