The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-06-20
On THE
WATERFR
Exciting Blaze on
Bark Olympic
Last Night.
INCENDIARISM
IS HINTED AT
Steamer hanalei Renders Assist.
ance-The Damage
Slight.

About Midnight the shrieks Of 4
steamers whistle awakened the town
/ and the report flashed from one end
| of the city to the other that ship
was burning in the harbor. A few mo-
| ments later, the fire engines, headed
by the chemical engines, were racing
| through the streets.
| The fire was aboard the fine four
masted bark Olympic, Captain Gibbs,
lying alongside the Irmgard wharf, on
the Eva side.
7 An Advertiser reporter was passing
| the police station when the whistles
| blew. Suddenly a sailor came rush
ing towards the station house, swing
! ing a lantern and shouting at the top
| of his voice: Send for the engines.
the bark Olympic is on fret
| Immediately the night clerk at the
station telephoned to the fire depart
ment. The reporter. accompanied by
police officer, hastened to the water
front, led by the excited sailor with
the lantern.
All was pitchy dark on the Irmgara
wharf; it's always dark at that end Of
the harbor. Cries of fire and the crying
of little children mingled with the shouts
| of men as they hurried about, fighting
the fire. came from the deck Of ths 0fyn-
pic.
Are the engines coming" were the
first words addressed to the reporter az
he clambered over the side Of the vessel.
The captains wife and his four little
children were on the poop anxieusly
watching the work of the captain and
well they might have been, for the smoke
was pouring in great clouds from the
fore and main matches, and no one could
tell just how large a fire was blazing in
the ships hold.
Every now and then the clouds OF
smoke would be lit up by fresh burst
of flame from the forward hold.
The blaze was first discovered by one
of the sailors who was asleep In his bunk
in the forecastle. He sn1elt smoke as he
got up in the night to get some tobacco.
He Immediately gave the alarm and also
notified the people aboard the Inter-Isl-
and steamer Hanalei which was lying on
the starboard side of the Olympic.
In a minute the captain of the bark
was on deck, closely followed by his wife
and children. The officers of the vessel
saw to it that the matches were quickly
removed and endeavored to find out
where the fire was located.
/ The crew of the steamer Hana1et rem
dered most valuable assistance In al
most Tess time than 1t takes to tell 1t,
the steamers men had hose down into
the forward hatch Of the Olympic and
the Hanalefs engine was pumping water
into her hold
! The men of the Hanaiei proved last
night that their fire drills at sea had not
been in vain.
| The Fire Department had its engines
on the wharf about ten or twelve min
utes after the Hanalei began to blow her
whistles. AS the engines dashed onto the
wharf the loud whistle OF the electric
light plant gave tongue, confirming the
report of fire given out by the whistle
The chemical engine hose was hrst put
down the forward hatch. This. however,
had but little effect. Smoke continued to
pour in large volume from the hold of
the vessel.
Then a stream of water was turned
onto the fire. For some time IL was very
doubtful whether the fire was In one
place in the forward hold or whether 1t
covered a large area on the ships bot
tom.
II was probably thirty minutes after
| the engines arrived the scene before
the fire was declared to be out. Then the
large crowd which had gathered on the
wharf dispersed to their homes. Many
of the people were scantily clad. When
they heard the whistle OF the HanaIei
they thought that something of great i'm
portance must be on and SO hastened to
the scene. As they hurried to the water
front people informed them that a great
ship was on fire in the harbor and that
she was burning to the waters edge
While the fire did not amount to much,
the damage done by the water Is sup
posed to be considerable.
The Olympic is high out of water, hay-
ing about completed unloading her