The sun., 1900-07-03
.......~ss.zs-.ss.--

the water line. and we thought that we
might keep cool there. We closed the
door leading to the engine room and
waited.
"For little while we were all right,
for the heat had not then crawled far
down the side of the ship. and the water
kept il cool. We talked to each other
and chcered each other up, for then we
thought that help was near and that it
would hc il question Of but Il little time
when we would be freed A half hour
passed. anu then the tunnel became like
furnace. We could hear the flames
above and could hear the shouts of the
iiremcn, but I'LL seemed long distance
off. Each man then complained of a
queer feeling in his head. Mine began to
buzz, and when stood up for d moment
| came near falling. But that was only
the first half hour.
"Whcn about i'm hour passed. the men
no longer spoke To each other. The tun-
mel is about 30 feet long by { feet square.
antl the sides Of il 1T the top were so hot
| that n mars hand was bliStered when
hc touched it. Tho men then lay on the
iron iloor. all gasping for air. Some of
them had cotton waste, and they shared
il around. This they stuffed into their
mouths and noStl'ls. for by this time the
smoke that c;lnr through the openings
in the door was very dense. and it seemed
aS If we must all die soon from suffoca-
tion.
Only the vcntilator leading to the
tunnel shaft saved us. This gave us
something of Il draft and carried off the
smoke that poured into the dark tunnel.
Through the ventilator we could catch at
times some of the glare Of the fire and
could see the clouds of smoke that rose
from the burning ship. The sides of
the tunnel grew hotter as the time went
on. We could hardly see each other, for
the only light we had, a kerosene lamp,
was just about fickering oiit for want of
oil. have heard of miners caught down
in their mines, but if their fate was any
worse than ours it must have been fear
full.
THE hours went by, and the men roll
ed around ON the floor gasping for breath.
| After awhile the lamp went out, and we
were in total darkness. Then it was
even worse. The sides of the tunnel
| appeared to be red hot. Some of the
| firemen were foolish enough to strip off
what little clothes they had. They put
| them on again soon, for the iron scorched
| ing on and we, though Is feet below the
water line, could hear it and thought
that every minute would bring the flames
into our place of refuge. Then we knew
that they might beach the ship, and that
meant that the hold would be flooded
and that we would get from water the
| death we had escaped from fire.
tAfter the first three hours I scarcely
knew what happened. All know is that
| there was the long wait in what seemed
to be death trap, and there was no
| sign or moan from any of us. In fact,
we were too scared to talk. even if we
could do so with all the cotton waste
| in our mouths.
We had felt the moving of the steam
ship as she was being towed from hel
| pier. We could feel her as she was
backed out of the dock and turned in
| some drection-we did not know where
| This was the critical time for us, for We
| knew that the Main would soon be run
| on the Jersey flats and flooded. OF
course we did not know in what direc
tion we were going. Suddenly we felt
the vessel stop. We knew that she had
been run aground, for we were close tc
the keel and could hear her grinding into
the mud. l have no idea what time il
was then, but know that 1t was many
years to us from the time that we had
first run into the tunnel.
Though the heat remained in the iron
of the ship, we knew that the flames were
under control, for there was less of tbs
roaring overhead. 1t was then that Pc
ters decided to get lamp that was in the
room just outside the tunnel. When he
opened the door, the smoke beat hin
back. and for a time he gave up al
thought of getting the lamp. 1t was late
then and no man among us had strength
for much exertion. After awhile Peters
decided to m;ske another attempt to get
the lamp. We had then been in the tun
mel for over seven hours. As Peters
aeastAd ia. tho laan 1t annnrxad Tn m.