The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-23
A SHIP ATTIRE AT SEA.
The Remarkable Instance of the Bos-
 ton Ship Sunbeam.

The Remarkable Instance of the Bos-
 ton Ship Sunbeam.
 One of the most remarkable instances of a ship on fire at sea was that of the Boston ship Sunbeam Capt. John Chad wick, which was burned in the south Pacific, 80 miles off the coast of Chili March 31, 1870. The Sunbeam, full rigged ship of 76S tons burden. owned by Hemmenway & Browne, was built in Chelsea. in 1885, On her last voyage, she was in command of Capt. John Chadwick, a superb shipmaster. na tive of Exeter, N. H. who had followed the sea since 1S39 and was in the em- poy of the Hemmenways from 1854 to the time of his death in 1885.
 The ship sailed March 13 from Iquique Peru, for Tome, Chili. having on board about 500 tons os nitrate of soda, or saltpeter most infiammable cargo About noon, March 31, the sec ond mate was ordered to sweep and varnish the main deck. In a very few minutes neXploson was felt, and the startling cry of Fire Fire!" imme- diately followed. A lighted candle had carelessly been taken into the hold to get the varnish In about 20 minutes, from the first alarm, the ship had dis appeared beneath the waves.
 In that 20 minutes some most remark able events occurred Promptly upon the alarm, Capt. Chadwick gave orders to put on the matches and clear away the boats Neither order could be obey ed. The flames burst with volcanic up- rush from the matches and poured in fearful volumes to all parts of the ship. setting the main and mizzenmasts, with their spars and sails, on fire: many fierce explosions meanwhile going on below. The rapid spread of the flames drove the crew forward and overheard. Capt Chadwick, with his son Alfred, a lad of IA years, and seaman. had taken refuge in the fore rigging pre- paratory to a leap into the sea. Just then the lower studding sail halyards burned off. and the yard fell into the rigging near the captain. In this small spar he saw his only hope of safety, and a forlorn hope it seemed But he told the seaman to cut the sail from the yard and launch 1t overheard The man did so, and leaped after it.
 
 board, also swan to the spar.
 Capt Chadwick waited in the blister ing heat until the main and mizzen- masts had gone by the board and no one else remaining on board he clasp ed his young son in his arms, and, committing himself to God. plunged in- to the sea, and joined the mate and man who were clinging for dear life to that slender studding sail yard Pres ently young sailor swam up to them, but, finding the weight of another hand too much for the already overloaded spar, soon found resting place on a piece of wreckage not far away This lad was Marshall Johnson, now the well known marine artist of Boston. How long the four would have been able to retain their hold on this slen- der support, rolling and pitching in a choppy sea, is very doubtful But, happily, unexpected help came to them in a way well-nigh miraculous
 When the crew were driven forward by the flames, the wheel had been abandoned. but the ship was steadily keeping her course before the wind It was important for safety that, she should be brought to, and Capt. Chad wick ordered a man to go aft, crawling along by the chain plates outside The brave fellow bravely did his duty, and soon hove the wheel to port. bringing the ship up into the wind He was at once enveloped in flames, and, seizing the wooden grating on which he stood. jumped over the taffrail into the sea; but, instead of the sea. to his amaze ment, he landed in the ships quarter boat. The miraculous had happened. The intense flames had so precisely burned the falls and gripes which held the boat that she fell into the water