Evening star., 1901-04-01
DIED THE DEATH OF A HERO
LIEUT.. CON-. ROPER sCFFOCATED
ON THE PETREL.
Attcmptcd 10 Save His Wen Nenaced
by Fire-AII the Others
Have Recovered.

The Navy Department has received a ca
rlegram from Admiral flcmey, commander
= in-chief of the Asiaric station, giving q
lrtef account of fire in the sail room oi
the sunboat Petrol and of the death OF
the commanding off.nr. Lieutenant Com
E,auder Jesse Minis Roper, as a result oil
a heroic effort to rescue the men belo"
The dispatch also shows that twenty-five
ether officers and men were Frustrated, but
ali are recovering Ad-diraI Remey's dis
patch is as follows:
''CAVTTE; March 81. 1901.
sFire discovered ;u sail room of Petrol
at O'Clock this morning. Roper command
Ing After going below once. went again
AGAINST advice. ATTEMPTED to recover men
below. He suhocated; died al 1:4'. Twen-
ty-two other officers and men entirely pros
trated- All recovering. Fire oct Damage
immateriaI. Send Rop2r's remains by Buff
f8lo.
tSignedD ''REMEY.'
The department At once sent a telegram
/, Mr.. II. F, Fay, the hrother-in-law OF
= iruteDaat Commander Roper. at No. as
Monmouth street. LoaSwoOd. Mass, asking
that he inform Mrs Roper OF the news.
Z he following expression of sympathy ana
appreciation was also made:
with this sad news the department
sends to Airs. Roper deep Sympathy in the
s.rsat loss she mas; sustained. and the high
,et appreciation of the gallantTy and self
sacrifice with which Lieutenant Comman-
G-r Roper save his !lfc Tor his fellow men
u was hero's death
The deceased officer WAS born in Missouri
-- ana entered the naval @nryice June -, lA6S-
RI. was commissioned To the rank held by
Kim at the tim" of his death on March :,
I>.r and ordered To command the Petrol.
November Il, 1899. The Petrol was one of
The vessels under Admiral Dewey at the
battle of Manila bay, when she was in
charge of Lieutenant Commander r.. +.
Wood. The latter officer came home short
l. after and Lieutenant Commander Roper
succeeded him.
The Buffalo on which the remains will
IC sent home. is now used for the trans
U"rtation of troops. ard is about to re-
turn to the United States by way of the
Mediterranean
y dispatch from Cavite yesterday says:
~ o'clock this morning a fire was dis
covered in the sail room of the United
States gunbOat Petrol. Lieutenant Com
uander Jesse Minis Roper. commanding.
The sail room is small compartment ad-
Joining the magazine. The heat was in
t-HSe the smoke Suffocating, and the flames
difficult TO eXtinguish. Lieutenant Com
'Harder Roper was the first to descend into
the hold. but he was forced to return to
zlrc deck Others then went down.
Seaman Patrick Toner was proStrats1
and about TO perish when Lieutenant Com
mIUdvr Roper endeaVOred to rescue him,
sd vas suffocated in the attempt. Lieu
tenant Josiah Suits Mexican and Cadet
Lewis suffered severely in bringing the
body of Lieutenant Commander Roper TO
1h~ deck. Twcnty-two of the crew We're
prostrated. Toner Evans. 'F'laherty. Larsen
--kessier. Cahey. Burton, Smith. Sullivan
and ForsbooH seriously, but all will re-
cover.
The contents of the sail room were de-
Struyed. but the damage to the gunboat
Was slight. The origin of the fire has not
h-eu aScertatned. 1t was possibly a case
of spontaneous combustion. The death of
Lieutenant Commander Roper is greatly
rrplored. His body Will be sent TO the
tnited States April by the Buffalo