The Portland daily press., 1899-04-01
NUMIDIAN on FIRE.
Allan Line Steamer Ablaze...SeyeraI
Cattle Lost.

soio ""s "n
alarm OF IRE from box % summoned q
large part of the Portland aro depart.
,n.nt to tho crana Trnn,- ,xh.-v.s ,st,ara
" .'e A."" ""eie
prisK nre was iound TO De burning In
the forward hold of the steamship
Numidinp.
a,,, N,,,.,,, ,.t,,a. ..
Ane Nun'uian' ""ion 10 oue VI 'he
crack Allan line boats was lying along
side of shed No. s, and her lower hold
u.. a,lsd With ,rr,har ard ho~as ,,a..s
"''' "1 -" .A'" 'Ho"O'.
between aecKs was stored inrge amount
Of hay for forage for tho cattle and at an
earlv bour this mornino sbe be0sn taking
MOO, nor ca,,Ia
"uo'i" "e' e"S'ie
One car load had already been sent
down on board by means of the long
sbn.es ard the sscond car load vvas inst
-
peins s'sfVeu rum 'ne sheu "ho" sne ory
OF fire was raised. 1t Is supposed that
soms of the cattlemen who ware MT work
,....,... 49,. -. o. 49,, ...,.
Wv s"eo" eeoA' " o"o "9
they came aboard dropped spark from
| pipe or careiessly threw mAtoh down
upon the decks uus wnen Ine nIe WAS
ufscoyered IL was burning prisRiy.
There had Deen taken on board at TINS
time twenty me oateis anu III was Iounu
irnposslble In the confusion ana exoite-
ment Oh the moment 10 get THESE up from
the hold.
Inc cattiemeh gave tue alarm oy
shouting at the top OF their lungs and
some OF the men who were at work stor-
ings cargo ana puildlngs pens ior tne
cattle below louhu some ulInculty IN
finding their way to the hatch ana In
getting on deck, 50 thick was the smoke
caused by tue burning nay.
One of thej custom house officials who
was on duty last night had sense enough
| to run to box ~ anu turn In an alarm
while the o1cers OF the Numidian, VINO
were oh deck at the time, superlntending
the work OF taking the cattle aboard
got out one line OF the ships nose. and
with this began To pour water into the
The ire gained rapicly ana soon dig
black column OF smoke was pouring up
from the depth OF the ship while excited
men ran back and forth upon deck and
shouted out orders which no one obeyed.
The officers OF the NuInidian ala their
best to bring order out OF the confusion
but the cattlemen and stevedores who
quickly assembled at the dock from the
neighboring ships refused to pay any at
| tentiOn 10 the orders which were given.
The fire depai tnent responded quickly
| to the alarm and Chief Eidredge ana one
| or two of his assistants were among the
| first to gst to the spot.
When the PRESS reporter reachei the
| scene with the nrst piece OF nre apparatus
the smoke was growing thicker and the
fro spreading every moment Inc
sa2tain OF the Nnnldian showed himsel
to lie cool headed man anu was doing
his utmost to bring something ike ORDER
| among the excited men VINO were run
ming about the lumber strewn deck
of the ship. The nremen quickly
got u line Oh nose from tno
first engine TO arrive ana this was car
| ried along tns entife ienStn OF tne snip
and taken down INTO ths hoid. some
OF the freinen bravery penetrated the low
| or hold only TO be driven naok by the
| smoke. Inc bre Doat haue re,hnrk
ably quick run 10 the spot ana was
brought along slde the snip ana mooFeu
| there. She sent 'lhe Oh nose apoaro
which was taken uowh inuo she noio
where Chiei hlnriuee was superintenoihS
the work OF extinguishing the Hhmes.
| The more water poured ihto the nre
seemed to increase the SMOKE OUT the
word was soon passed up from oeiow
that the IRE hau peeu usunitely 'ooaVeu
| ana Woulu pe easiIy eAtineuisheu;
1t was thought that the ~ cattle whlcn
were on the deck wheh the hre starten
were smothered py the smoke, put tnls
could not De conurineu In the e1ci0emeht
| which relgned on the snip.
1t was said that the water which was
poured into the hoid OF the snip wouia
not injure the cargo In the lower nold
| very much as thls cargo was nearly All vi
| boxed meats ahd lumber. Inc grain OF
which the ship has taken on ooard
large amount was s.oieu IN tno a. .el
holds and 1t was said that this wond
not be damaged IN the least.
| For all this IL was DeiieVeu tnat the
damage from this IRE wouiu amount 70
several thousand dollars. Nothing could
be ascsrtained regarding the insurance
nor could any estimate be obtained as 10
| the probable loss.
| During tho height OF the excitement the
1remen and men employed about the DOCK
to the numb3r OF hundred or more were
crowding and pushing one another on the
wharf. Suddenly --here was cry Oh
"Man overheard, and every one, even
those who were experimenting the work
of lighting the fire on deck made rush
to the side OF the ship.
The man had fallen of the wharf Hnd