Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-07-14
Che CoS$ Of the
"Carl Ct GdMl."

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ON THE cath of August embarked
on board the ship Earl of Eldon-'
OF London, coo tons, Capt. Theaker, a I
Bombay, with u view Of returning 10
my native lard on furlough. She was
one OF the finest and strongest ships in
the trade, and any Insurance night have
l,een had on the chances of her success
fully resisting The winds and waves.
She was laden with cotton. The num-
Der of individuals on board We're -, in
Guiding three ladies and an infant and
the captain and his crew. It unfortu-
natelv happened that the cotton had
been brought on board in damp state,
rot being dried at the warehouse pre-
viously TO being put on board, and II
seems not unlikely that the fire damp
may have been generated within, in the
same manner as in n haystack when 1t
has been stacked damp.
On the 26th of September, after
series of battling winds and Gains, and
heavy rain with squalls Of wind, we got
into seven degrees 27 minutes south
latitude; and the trade wind appeared
TO have fairly caught hold of our sails.
We begin now TO anticipate cur arrival
at the Cape. On the morning OF the
2Tth 1 rose early (about half past ffve)
and went on deck. / found one of my
fellow passengers there, and we per
.ceived steam apparently arising from
the fore hatchways. mentioned the
time to # that I thought 1t might
be caused by fire damp, and II not i'm
mediately checked, might become fire.
The captain came on deck, and asked
him what 1t was; he answered steam,
and that ii was common enough in cot
ton-loaded ships when the matches were
opened. 7 said nothing, but the smoke
becoming more dense and beginning TO
assume n different color, | began to
thirk that all was not right, and also
that he had some idea Of the kind, as ]
saw the carpenter cutting holes in the
deck Just above the place whence the
smoke appeared to come.
went down 30 dress, and about half
past six tie captain knocked at my door
fslI IDIu blt puA VI VIC NoNtSAA " 'tN'-
on fire. and he wished to see all the gen
tlemen passengers on deck. We accord
ingly assembled, and he then stated the
case 10 be this; ThatNsome part sf the
cargo appeared TO have Spontaneously
ignited, and that he purposed removing
the bales until they should discover the
ignited ones and have them thrown
overheard. as well as those which ap-
peared to be In the same damaged con-
dition; and that IL being necessary, In
Ids opinion, to do this, he deerned 1t his
duty to lay the case bcforetus. We of
coarse submitted everything to his
Judgment, and he ordered the hands to
breakfast Us quickly as possible, and to
work to discover the source OF the fire
After breakfast he said there did not
appear to be any Immediate danger
However, about eight O'clock the
smoke became much thicker and began
70 roll through the after hatchway,
the drauGht having been admitted for
ward in order to enable the men 10
work. Several bales were removed, but
the heat began to be intolerable below,
and the smoke rolled.oet in suffocating
volumes; and before nine o'clock we dis
covered that part of the deck had caught
Gre, which obliged the men 70 diseon-
,tinue their labors. The captain then
ordered the matches to be battened
down, with o vicW 10 keep the fire from
Bursting out, and to hpic' out all the
boats and stock them in case Of ne
cessity This was done, and about hef-
past one the three ladies, two sick pas
sengers, an infant and female servant
were put in the longboat, with 21o gal
Ions of water, 20 gallons of brandy and
biscuit for month's consumption, to-
gether with such pots of jam md pre-
served meats as we could get at, and the
days provision OF fresh and salted meat.
1t was now about two o'clock; the
matches were then opened and an hands
set to work TO endeavor 10 extinguish
the fire. The may hatchway being
lifted and tarpJElin removed, there
was a sail underneath which was so
hot that the men could hardly remove
It. When they did the heat and smoke
came up worse than ever, and 1t being
now known from inspection that the
fire was underneath that part, orders
were given to hoist out the uppermost
bales in order 10 get at those that were
burning underneath. But when the
men laid hold of the lashings TO intro
duce a crane7heok they were found to
have been burned through benRth and
came away in their hands. The case
now appeared bad indeed. However, we
cut bale open and tried to remove 1t
nv hon1ppIC hz1r rha onnALa nd haot
became so overpowering that no man
could stand over II, and water IN the
quantities We dared to use II only
seemed to increase it, for'had the cap
tain ventured to pump water into the
ship sufficient to extinguish the fire
the bales would have. swelled so much
as to stopen the deck.
Under these circumstances, perceiv-
ing the case TO be utterly hopeless, the
captain called US together on the poop
and asked if anyone could propose any
expedient likely to avail IN extinguish
ing the fire and saving the ship. AS in
that case, said he, we VIII stick by her
while hope remains. It was unani-
m6usly agreed that all had. been. done
that could be done; the men had been
tnost arduo1s IN their eSertiops, bat
one anf all seemed positively decided
that the case was hopeless. The heat
was increasing so much that it became
dangerous to leave the poop; the cap
tain therefore requested the gentlemen
to get into the boats; next he embarked
his men, and at three o'clock he himself
left the ship, the last man who did 80,
just as the flames were bursting
through the quarter deck We then put
off the two boats, towing the longboat.
The progress of the ship had been pre-
viously stopped by backing her yards,
and when we were about mile from
her she was IN one blaze and her mGsts
began to fall In. Between eight and
nine o'clock all her masts had fallen
IN and she had burned to the waters
edge; suddenly there was bright fash,
followed by dull and heavy explosion,
the fire having reached the powder. For
few seconds the splinters and flaming
fragments glittered in the air and then
all was darkness, for the waters had
closed over the Earl of Eldon."
Sad was the prospect now before usl
There were in the long boat the captain
and 25 persons, including ON infant four
months old; the size of the boat % feet
long by ~ broad; in each of the others
ten individuals, including the officer In
charge. One of the boats had some bags