The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-06-10

ANOI liltIll IAleuueu as was UISL report
ed, but came from Sneddon's Colliery,
and is known as Greta coal.
After the crew arrived this morning
from Kauai, Captain Gibbons was me
by Captain J. Dover, a first cousin.
who took the captain to the residence
of p. II. Burnette, the balance of the
crew going to the Sailors Home. 1t
was at the residence of Mr.. Burnette
that Captain Gibbons was interviewed
regarding the occurrences of his un-
lucky trip,
HOPE WAS HIGH.
we LETT Newcastle" said Captain
Gibbons, April with 373O tons
of Greta coal bound for San Francis
co. We experienced excellent weather
getting off New Zealand in six days
and half. We stood over by Tahiti
taking the usual course. We had the
trades with us and it looked as if we
would make a very smart passage.
1T was not until 2:30 d. m. of May
rs that L received any intimatiou OF
there being any trouble with the cargo
l was then notified that smoke was
coming from the after ventilator. l inn
mediately went below and made as
careful an investigation as possible but
| absolutely no trace of any fire could
be found Ihe coal was loaded in such
a way, however, that we could not dig
down and learn whether there was any
fire in it or not. There was consider
able gas noticed. After exploring the
, vessel both fore and aft without seeing
any signs of fire l ordered the matches
| battened down in the hope of smother
! ing the fire. At that time, we were to
! the nOrthward Of these islands, So l
| determined as soon as 1 was satisfied
! that there was fire in the cargo to
make for Honolulu
Spontaneous combustion set the coal
on fire There was nothing else that
could have done so. l have been on
essels before where the coal was on
! fire, and warning has been given days
! before, but practically nothing was re-
Ceived in this instance. 1t was not un-
/ til o'clock on the morning Of May %
! however, that the full extent of the
| fire became known. At that hour the
| aft hatch, hatch No. t. was suddenly
! blown into the air over the jigger mast,
! W hilc ne ycLtua tOrs We're scar 40 high
| that nothing was ever seen Of them af-
| terWards. This explosion of gas sounu-
ed like gigantic puff and could be felt
all over the ship. Il was followed inn
mediately by columns of flames which
leaped from the open hatch and
through the ventilator openings. There
We're great openings that man could
hardly encircle with both arms and
through them came the leaping flames.
The flames leaped fully $50 feet into the
air, going almost to the very top of the
mizzen mast. The mizzen rigging
caught fire from the flames Fire soon
began to come out of hatch No. 8, al
though that was battened down.
THE VESSEL DOOMED.
1T was only too apparent that the
vessel was doomed. Time after time
we tried to batten down hatch No. 4 af-
ter the first burst of flames had sub
sided, but every time the tarpaulin
W ould be put over the hatch, the gases
would blow it off again. Then we tried
to fight the fire with water a line of
lose was run to the open hatch and
water poured down onto the fire Only
a little water was thrown down how
ever, for it was soon apparent that this
would do no good whatever. An in
vestigation showed that gas was COM
ing from hatch No. ?, while smoke was
also in hatch No. /. The center Of the
hre seemed to be under the bridge
deck aft. The forward part of the ves-
sci was not hot, but the aft waB in an
awful condition. The smoke and gasses
made the air so stirling that we could
scarcely approach that portion of the
plank sheathing, and the fire soon got
the decks so hot that one could not
stand on them in some places.
There was little cessation of the fire
after the explosion. We We're simply
helpless to cope with it. There was no
chance whatever TO overcome the
flames and they gained in force every
minute. Finally at 4 o'clock in the af-
ternoon, we had to abandon the ship.
The boats were fully provisioned
The first mate took the large life boat
with eleven men, the second officer took
the dingey and with three men, the
boatswain took the gig with three men,
while l took the second life boat with
my son and ten of the men. l had a
big st. Bernard dog aboard and this
animal together with the cat were
also taken into our boat. The flames
were coming out of the two after hatch
es when we left the vessel although
the fire had not begun to break out for
ward. Indeed l am of the opinion that
had the steamship Gaelic or some 9TH
eI boat come along and gotten line
to us, we could have brought the boat
to port, for there seemed to be no fire
ar all forward, the center of the tiameS
evidently being in the after part of the
ship, aft of the cabins and saloon which
were built midships.
THE DINGEY FILLS.
There was quite a strong northeast
wind prevailing when we took to the
boats. The sea increased and within
two hours after leaving the vessel, !
had to put back a mile and half and
rescue the men in the dingey which
had begun to fill AS the result Of hav-
ing this extra load in my boat, 1t was
necessary TO order every body to dis
card all of the extra belongings so as
to tighten the boat. The men threw
everything but the clothes they stood
in, away.
THAT night we got separated from
the first mates boat and the gig. He
steered a more southerly course than l
did Had we hut been aware of the