Daily Kennebec journal., 1895-09-05

1
near by, and for that purpose engaged pas
sage on q small steamer, owned by one of
the large sugar companies there. 1t wac
not customary for this steamer to carry
Passengers, as it was designed by the COM
pany for the use of its own employees and
the carrying of supplies to stations which
| it owned on some of the smaller islands.
| However, | was well known to the COM
pany's officers, and had no difficulty in
securing passage. The steamer on which
l was to take the trip had been built by
the company as an experiment and was
| composed almost entirely of iron. The
| stations being close together, the crew of
| three men were not often obliged to dine
| on board and there We're no convenienceS for
| cooking. The company had, however, pro-
| vided an alcohol stove for making coffee
and such work. and the alcohol for this was
| kept in a good sized iron tank on the after
F, deck. While it was easy for the crew to
| get food at the stations, alcohol except in
| the form of rum, was difficult to obtain,
and they never left Cuba without Il good
| supply so, when we started, the tank was
| very nearly full.
Gas soon as we had cleared the dock
lay down on one of the hunks in the cab
in, wishing, if possible, to get nap, for
had been up late the night before. may
have slept two hours, when l suddenly
awoke to find the cabin filled with smoke.
l rushed to the deck and found it deserted.
Forward of the engine room great clouds
of smoke We're pouring forth, and the
flicker of flame showed that the fire had
made fearful headway. l hurried to the
side, where, as ! came on board, / had no.
ticed q small boat.
"Tke boat, was gone. The crew, unused
to passenger, must have forgotten me in
their excitement, and finding the fire be-
yOnd control had taken to the small boat
without me- Feverishly | scanned the no.
riZon for some trace of them. A distant
black speck was all that met my eye. |
was alone on the ocean, in a burning YES
sci, and for a few minutes | gave myself
up to despair. l could not swim, and so
lacked the courage to seize something that
would float and leap overheard. Suddenly
o thought came to me, an idea, which,
while desperate enough, presented to my
mind the only chance of escape. | ran to
the engine room, which the fire had not
vet reached, and with fevcrish haste began
to rip off the aSbestus covering from the
pipes and lower part of the smokestack.
In few minutes | had collected a great
armful Hurrying off with this, broke
open the tank of alcohol and threw the as
bestus into it, On the top of the tank |
put an iron grating, strong enough to sup
port my weight. which | got from the
hatchway, and over this stretched wire
screen from one of the cabin windows. My
plan Will now be clear. l knew the inte
rior of an alcohol fame is kept cool by evap-
Grafton, and what l constructed was moth
ing less than an immense alcohol lamp.
From the cabin l brought a STOOL a book
and light lunch, and placing the stool in
the middle of the iron grating l sat down
upon it. The deck being of iron, and the
most incOmbustible part of the cargo be
ing stored aft, l hoped that the heat would
not be great enough to melt that part Of
the deck and let me down into the hold
The flames were now eating their way
rapidly toward where l sat, but, not know
ing how long the alcohol would hold out
had decided not to light my lamp until
their heat had become almost unbearable
This time came soon enough, and, with
trembling fingers, l dropped a lighted
match close to the edge of the grating on
which ] sat A bright flame burst up
around me- and for a moment | feared that
I had but hastcned my end Almost i'm
1lediatcly, however, / noticed a cOolness,
very refreshing after the heat of the burn
ing vcs@cl, and settling myself comfortably
on the stool took up my book"
ooh, comc,' said George Hopkins.
"What is it?" asked the minister pleas
antly.
-"Nothing," said George Hopkins.
"My only fear now" the minister went
on, twas that the heat might melt the
deck where [ was or burn through the iron
huh below the water line and so sink the
vessel. Luckily, neither of these two ca
tastrophes happened. For some time
watched with delight the great clouds OF
smoke as it rose from the vessel, for the
day was very quiet, and then spread out
over the sky like n black pail. firing OF
this, | took to my book, and ii was not I'M
i'll after some hours had elapsed that l be
gan to feel hungry. BY the time | had
finished my lunch the fire had almost burn
Cd itself out, and though the deck in some
places still showed Il Gull red the ship was
beginning to cool Of; My great fear now
was not that the al 81 would not last,
but that it would D. TOO long and so
keep me prisoner III the lamp. However,
1ust after the deck had Become cool enough
20 walk upon, the fame around ne flick
cred and went out. That night was tax
en- off by passing vessel and so added
another to the list Of miraculous preserva-
tions of ministers of the gospel"
My wife said something about divine
Providence. l sat open mouthed, looking
In amazcment from one to another of my
companions Not so George Hopkins. lie
rose, and leaning across the table, shook
hands fervently with the minister.