Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1902-03-27
ON A BURNING STEAMER.

The crew OF the Philadelphia oil
steamer Major Barr t which burned
at sea od the coast oil North Carolina
few days ago, reached New York Tues
day from Baltimore, where they were
landed by the Savannah liner New
0 leans, which picked them up. All
nsd q narrow escape with their lives,
and some of them are still sui 3Tiug
from severe burDs. They tell vivid
story of the terrois OF fire upon an oil
laden vessel. They lost all t1eir ef-
fec g, and have made a demand upon
the compsDv for an allowance for
Gle liDQ. II lis is not granted, they
will sue for damages. on the grouod
that the fire was the resu Of tle COM
psny's negligence.
Il have followed the sea for fifteen
years and have been through some
thrilling experiences, but never one
| like tbis,n said Granville Thompson,
who was assistant engineer on the i'll
fated stsamer. "Phe Barrett was q
veritsble fire trap, and the only wonder
is lat ell OF us did not perish miser-
sby. We knew that t1e tanks were
leakiog soou after leaving New York.
IL fact, they had leaked on the preVi-
Gus trip. She Wss q wooden ship,
which increased the danger. We
simply trusted in lock and steamed
away on the voyage.
"Of Cape HatteTas We caugh, storm
which tossed the steamer about and
caused the tauks TO leak ttll more.
There was 40 iuch IF oil 10 the bllge,
aud we had TO build dam of clay 10
keep from running into the frerOom.
Occasionally when the ship would roll
the oil would splash over the dam, but
by great care We kept it from catcbioR
fire. / w 8 like working Ia the crater
If volcano which is lisely TO become
active st any momeD
"As 4 O'Clock Saturday morning,
when the ship was running ten miles
of the coast and almost OpDostl BO-
dies Island, the eruption cane. | was
on " tn 10 the engine room when !
was tutdeuly ,tnt ed by loud ex-
ploslon. | came from under the boiler
room, and was followed by a burst OF
Il ame from the tank smidships. After
soundi, be slsrm for the purpose Of
waking tle sleeping officers and crew, |
'ried TO GOT out a hose aud turn a
stream OF water on the fire. Before
anything could be doOe, however, the
flames broke iLt) the engine room.
| did not have time 10 ttIp
the engines, and was badly siORed
b fore l reached the deck. With
bull sll ablszs, she continued II rush
through the sea, which made 1t more
difficult for US to launch the boats.
Fortunately, no sea wss Tunnir G, and
We finally got awsy safely, all nough
the decks were as hot as furnace plates
before we left her.
"An hour after the fire started the
steamer sank, leaving lake OF burning g
oil on the water to mark the spot.
This blt zsd for several hours. We KeI t
ss neer the fire as possible, thinking
tint it would attract some vessel. IL
was not long before the New Orleans
was sighted coming from the south,
and We we're picked up. The crew
divided their clothes with our men,
most of whom escaped 10 nothing but
their undsrclothes."
Otis Smith and August Schribler, fire.
men on the Barrett, both Of Hoboken,
we're severely burned. A. s. BfARg,
Fl ct officer, vas dragged out OF his
cabin by one of the sailors altar having
nearly sufocst ID. II. F. Small, chiet
engineer, OF Boston, fell 10 trying to
reach a litebost, aud paraly zed one
side.