The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1899-10-15
SOUND STEAMER BURNED.
THE NUTMEG STATE RACED ron
LIFE WITH RAGING FIRE


ing Tho steamer Discovered on Fire
Early Yesterday Morning on tho Trip
Here from Bridgeport-She Was Headed
for Shore at Once and Bsached Near
Sands Point City of Lawrence, the
Yacht Kismet and the Tug william
r. Reed Join the Work of Rescue.
The Sound steamer Nutmeg State. Can't
Brooks. which left Bridgeport for New York al
8 O'Clock yesterday morning. with q cargo Of
brassware. cartridges, and dry goods. and
from fifty to sixty passengers. and a crew Of
about forty. was found to be on fire whom she
reached Sea Cliff. two and half hours later.
The boat was Immediately headed for the
Long Island shore and In half an hour she was
beached one mile east OF Sands Point. where
she burned to the waters edge.
Two passengers and two mem bers Of the
crew are known 10 have lost their lives and
four members Of the crew were reported misc
ing last night. Four passengers and the boats
freight clerk were more or less seriouhy In.
tursd. The dead are: Patrick Caffey. nrst mates
Samuel Jayne. baegagsmaster; unidentified
woman and an unidentified child.
The missing are: Charles Anderson. watch-
man; Torrance Brady. deck boy; John Con.
nors and John Murphy. deck hancs.
The Nutmeg State was steaming along wen
toward the Long Island shore. at fourteen
knot gait thick haze hung over tho Sound.
Capt. Brooks. who had been In the pilot house
with the pilot. Theodore Weatherwax, had
stepped into his statsroom o few minutes af-
ter i've TO take a bath and change his clothes.
He had been In his room perhaps fifteen min
utes when weatherwaK thrust his head
through the stateroom door and shouted:
Captain, the boats on FIRE forward Of the
smok estackP
Capt. Brooks was only partly dressed. but he
rushed on deck and saw cloud Of smoke
coming up through the ventilator around the
smokestack. There were smoke and flames at
the foot Of the forward companionway on the
main deck. just then NJ. G. Brown. the head
cook. rushed up from the berth deck and
shouted that the fire was between the forward
cabin and the donkey engine.
Capt. Brooks Immediately ordered that the
passengers DO awakened and then had o line
Of hose stretched down the forward companion
way. bucket brigade was sent to the berth
deck. where the cook had reported the Gre to
be- It didn't take long to convince Capt.
Brooks that he could not control the Are. SO no
headed the boat for the shore. After doing
this. he ordered tho two liieboats which the
steamer carried cleared away
By this time the passengers were swarming
from their staterooms to the saloon deck.
Nearly all had been awakened from a sound
sleep and were scantly clad. When they saw
the clouds OF smoke they became panic-
stricken Women screamed and men shouted
and little attention was paid to the captains
order to 20 az far forward on the upper deck as
possible and stay there. But from all accounts
1t would have made little difference how COOL
headed the passengers were. many OF them
would have been unable to reach tho forward
~. Il
duct OF the steamers twenty-five or thirty
freight handlers.
As soon as Can't. Brooks had ordered every
body forward these freight handlers made
wild rush for places OF safety. They pushed
women and children aside and knocSed down
such men as they could and who happened to
be in the way. They were completely beyond
the control OF Capt Brooks and his officers. In
speaking OF the conduct Of these men yester-
day afternoon Capt. Brooks said:
The only way to control such men 10 to kill
'em."
Throughout all this thelife boats were being
lowered. one forward and one aft. The bow
boat was lowered first. As nearly as can be es-
timated about twenty-five persons were
crowded in it. most OF them women. Those
handling the falls Stacked away too fast at tbs
stern dav!ts while the bow Of the boat WAS held
high In the air and In a twinkling all hands
were dumped into the water.
AS quickly as possible liferaft was lowered.
There was a scramble for this among those
who were struggling in the water and 1t be-
came SO heavily weighted that 1t seemed about
to sink. II was here. according to the stories
OF several OF tho passengers. that tho freight
handlers msbehaved themselves particularly.
1t 10 asserted that MANY Of them Jumped into
the water and pushed women from the raft in
nrIA IN a n hnn al
The lifshoat at the stern was started down
all right. with about as many In it as had been
in the one at the bow. The flames and smoke
were spreading aft rapidly. driven by tho
breeze as the steamer rushed full speed to-
ward shore. Many OF tho passengers whose
staterooms were astern had been cut off from
the bow by the flames and smoke amidships.
and. seeing that it would be only matter o:
short time when the fire would reach them.
they began to slide down the ropes that held
the lifeboat she was being lowered In the
number who reached the boat in this way was
J. +. Stevens, the colored steward
He noticed that the Nutmeg State was set
Ting by the stern and fearing that the lifeboat
would DO swamped. he cut the falls when tho
boat was about four feet from the water. Down
she went with run. but the chances are that
she would have struck squarely and remained
upright had not the people in her become ter
rined. They made such u fuss. however. that
the boat was cApsized and n struggle In tho
water. like that following the launching OF this
first boat ensued. Stevens said afterwAr1
that tho boat was turned over three or four
times. Finally he and other men got the people
to cease struggling and hang On to the gum
wales OF the OF the boat until they were res
cued.
Two other life RATS had been launched Ia
the meantime and some Of those who had been
crowded from the boats reached these RATS
There was still room for others and one OF tho
passengers. p. ]. Hurlburt, who was standing
on the forward deck called the attention OF
some OF those near him to the fact. While he
was speaking. he heard q struggle behind him
Turning. he saw four men fighting for posses
sion OF life preservsr when there were
twice as many az could be used to be had for
picking them w.
Hurlburt rushed in among the men. separ-
atod them and then asked how many Of them
could swim. They said theT all could and he
finally persuaded them to jump from tho ves-