The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1905-09-21

ing the flames" Captain Armsbury
went on to explain. "The whole of the
crew of the Roanoke worked hard to
save their vessel while too much praise
cannot be given to the officers and men
of the Susquehanna and Arabia for
their almost superhuman efforts to
gain mastery over the outbreak. We
cut hole i'm the main deck, and the 60
men were employed in pouring buckets
of water into the tween decks
After an interval of about 25 minutes
utes steam was up, and we got the
pumps to work a line of hose was
attached and great volumes of water
were conducted below. BY this time
the fire had gained such hold that the
engineer was unable to remain i'm the
engine room for more than a few min
utes at a tme-indeed it was with diff
ficulty that he succeeded in keeping his
boilers supplied with water.
MANY attempts were made, not only
by our men but also by the men of
the other ships i'm port to gain access
to the seat of the fire, but it was i'm
possible. The smoke was suffocating,
and time after time the men were
driven back. The chief officer of the
Susquehanna and some of the men we've
overcome by the fumes, and were car
ried i'm an unconscious condition into
the pure atmosphere where they soon
revived.
MATTERS having now assumed very
! serious aspect, a consultation was hur-
riedly arranged to determine the best
course TO be pursued. | sought the
! advice of Captain Watts the master of
the Susquehanna. of Captain Johnson.
the masted of the barque Arabia and
of my chief officer Mr.. Elwell. A strong
southeast wind was blowing at the
time, and we found that we could not
swing the ship round. The steam
pumps were kept in operation at the
greatest speed, and at one time we
thought that complete control of the
fire had been gained.
"Soon afterwards however the flames
burst out afresh, and spread so rapid
! ly that the engineer was driven out of
| the engine room. The Roanoke was
| provided with the Clayton fre-extin-
| gushing apparatus, but we could not
use it, for the reason that we were I'M
| able to shut up the hatchways, which
was necessary to smother the flames.
Heavy chutes had been built in the
| hatchways to load the ore and it was
impossible to remove them.
AT 1 o'clock on the morning of the
10th inst all hope of saving the Roanoke
had been abandoned. She had then
been on fire for four hours, and the
/ flames were now leaping through the
| fore-hatchway. The fire below roared
| like a furnace, and we could hear the
| cracking of the timbers as they were
| being devoured by the flames. All hands
were now driven completely away from
| the fore part of the ship by the in
| tense heat and dense smoke.
1.-The order to abandon the vessel was
| given by me at o'clock on the morn
| ing of the 10th instant. We saved most
| of our personal effects and the ships
| papers and then the three boats were
| lowered. More boats came alongside
from the other vessels in port, and
we were soon afterwards on board the
| Susquehanna. Viewing the burning
vessel from the decks of the Susque-
hannrT we observed that at 2:30 a. M
| she was well alight from stem to stern
"Then the masts began to go. Strange
| ly enough the first mast to go over the
| side was the mainmast-a steel mast.
| Then followed the foremost, around
| which the fire had first been raging
| This was a new mast fitted at Mel
bourne during our recent visit to that
port. Next the mzzenmast went over
| the side, and the jigger soon followed
! During the morning we steamed
round the burning ship in launch, but
the heat was so intense that we could
not approach her nearer than 100 feet