The San Francisco call., 1904-12-18
Fire Breaks Out on Starin
Liner Glen Island and of
Thirty-0ne Persons Aboard
Only Twenty-Five Escape
OFFICERS AND CREW
PLAY HEROIC PARTS
Two Passengers, Names I'm
known, Perish in the
Flames Along With Seven
Members of Vessels Force

NEW YORK, Dec. 17.-By the burn
ing Of the Starin line steamship Glen
Island in Long Island Sound to-day
nine lives were lost and property
roughly estimated at a quarter Of a
million dollars was destroyed. That
more lives were not sacrificed was un-
dOubtedly due TO the personal courage
or the officers and crew and the excel
lent discipline maintained when hor-
rihle death for all seemed almost a Ger
tainty When the steamer was aband-
oned she was fiameswept from stern to
stem and yet the only persons who lost
their lives were those whose escape had
been entirely cut off b. the fire be-
fore the alarm reached them.
OF the thirty-one persons, including
ten passengers. who sailed away on the
Glen Island last night, twenty-five, in
cluding eight passengers, were brought
back to-day. The dead:
PASSENGERS Unknown Hebrew
woman, said TO have resided at 2O6
Hamilton street. New Haven; unknown
man, supposed to be New Yorker.
CREW-W. T. Hendrickson, assist
ant engineer; Luman Miller. fireman;
Frank Bush. fireman; Jehn Burke. fire.
man; Otto L. Alforan, fireman; Berg,
deckhand: Peter Benson. deckhand.
The Glen Island left her dock last
night for New Haven. The trip down
through the Sound was without Incl
dent About midnight when about
three miles west of Greenwich. Conn,
there came a rush of sitting smoke
from the hold and every electric light
..
Captain McAllister sent in the alarm
for fire drill. and the men came tum-
bling out Of their hunks. In the mean
time the steering gear had been blocked
and the pilots, finding themselves un-
able 10 direct the course of the steam
eT, hurried TO the assistance of the 9TH
er members Of the crew in saving lives
Captain McAllister ordered Pilot Nc
Mullin to go TO the hurricane deck and
loosen one Of the boats. while he went
TO the main deck and tried to loosen
the two large lifeboats.
LIFEBOATS LAUNCHED.
Captain McAIlister managed to loosen
the port lifeboat. The other lifeboat
was frozen to the deck, but a smaller
one was soon. ready to be lowered away.
While the officers and crew were
working there was a scene of confusion
among the ten passengers. They ran
about the saloons in disarray. The
woman who lost her life had been
aroused by the stewardess and was on
her way TO one Of the boats when she
suddenly turned and dashed back into
the flaming cabin. In the large boat
fifteen people were afloat. They included
the eight rescued passengers and seven
Of the crew. including the captain. The
smaller boat, which Pilot McMullin had
managed to free, carried seven passen-
gers. The two boats were rowed as far
away from the burning steamer as
was necessary to escape destruction,
and waited there and watched the boat
burn.
The tug Bully came 10 the rescue
and ran in as close as possible, but
nothing could be seen Of the nine
missing persons and all hope for saving
them was given up Those in the life
boats were taken aboard and the tug
headed for New York.
The Glen Island was constructed
from the ruins Of the City CT Rich
mond. The latter, curiously enough,
also was burned After having been
rebuilt the steamer was christened Will
liam c. Egerton and later renamed Glen
Island.
According TO First Mate Larsen, the
fire broke out in the forward part of
the steamboat when she was off Cap
tsin's Island. Larsen declares that It
seemed TO have gained a headway
which il WAS hopeless to attempt to
light and in a few minutes the entire
vessel was ablaze