Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-07-12

sim burned. it seemed as though the
only tiiing Ia he done Was 10 desert
the vessel and take TO the boats. But
this was out of the question, for the
rc.tson that all knew that they we're
a long WAY off Tia" main thorolghfarea
of ocean travel and had not one chance
in ten thousand OF being picked up.
And SO, as there was nothing else to
do, they fought on for another forty.
eight hours. Then they fell down be-
side the openings they had made. and
slept the clock around. for they hao
o~Niinguished the fire.
In the late suinmc of 1903 fears were
expressed concerning the safety of the
French steamship Admiral Gucydon.
which had sailed from Marseiiles IN
July II for Cochin. China. but which
had not been heard from at any port
for more than six weeks. Then on
September % the Russian steamship
Trouvor touched ut Alden and cleared
up the mystery. The Trouvor had on
board the passengers and crew of tho
French vessel, which had been prac-
tically destroyed by fire and afterwards
beachcd ON the coast of Arabia.
The steamer was set ON fire by an ex-
plosion of her boiler at midnight on July
30. when folty-six miles off Socotra. an
island in the indian ocean. one man lost
his life. Heavy sea- made it impossible
for those ON board TO attempt to reach
the island. and for three days the Ves-
sci drifled 900 miles toward the Ara
bian coast. while the crew battled with
the flames. AT last, when only wu
boats remained, the other having be, u
burned. all on board crowded into them
and made for the bay of Kuria-Miria
Arrived there, with provisions and INA
tcrial for some rough tents. they spent
forty-six days ON the shore. suffering
greatly from the heat and the need of
good water before they were taken off.
Fighting Fire With Steam.
There are cases. when discretion is
the better part of the valor of fire fight
ing nj sea. especially if there happen
TO be 200 barrels of oil ON board. md
the blaze is circulating all around
them. The spectacle when the oil is
reached Will doubtless be worth while,
and may oven attract the attention OF
other ships hat will render assistance.
but If one is to benefit by the possible
help it is Just as well to take to The
boats i'm the meanwhile. Such was the
opinion. ut least of Captain John III.
Gaskill. of steamer City of st. Angus
tine. who found himself off Hattcras
in October. 1895. with "A whole general
cargo ON fire and the flames rapidly
making for the barrels of oil. They had
turned the water hose n the steam
from the boilers into the hold without
4 tlIttl, anu NIltIl nv NNN"IIi 6"N' 'oa
things looked too dangerous to be pleas
amt.
Accordingly, the steamer was worked,
in AS close to the cape us time per
mitted, and when land was about eight
cen miles distant. everybody took to the
boats. The blaze soon Justified all eX-
pectations, and among them the eX-
pectation that ii would serve to sum
mon assistance. The steamer City of
Macon saw it, hurried to the rescue.
and welcomed the occupants of The
boats before they had suffered my
hardship.
A Fire in Torrid Zone.
Crossing the equator is generally ac-
compl;shcd with weather conditions
providing all the heat necessary or de
sired without having Il deck warped
out of all shape by Il fire raging in the
hold. But Captain Robert Bruce and
his twenty-nine men on the f~our-lnast-
ed steel ship. PyreneeS had the main
promenade SO warm when they crossed
the line on November 6, 1901. that even
Neptune refused to come aboard. Every
hatch had been battened down, as
the decking grew hotter and hotter and
warped more and more, there was ev-
cry reason to expect that the next
thing in order would be quite an elab-
crate explosion.
But here again it would have been
tlk1llG lOIS cI'ilIttS W StdTl Jul III
boatS. Moreover, the captain was not
named Robert Bruce for nothing: he
WAS n fighter from the drop of the hat.
and one who was more than willing
to take Il chance. Accordingly the YES
sci was headed for Pitcairn island,
while the members of the crew were
advised to keep themselves and the
deck cool. But. although Pitcairn was
reached. it was found to be utterly inn,
possible to effect Il landing. This was
not comforting. i'm view of the fact that
Manga Reva, three hundred miles
away was the nearest point where d
landing was certain. and the possibility
of being picked up was not promiS.
ing.
Robert Bruce lost no time i'm vain re.
erets: he just went at it again. like
the spider. The vessel was rounded
and AVA they went. trusting in provi
dence md keeping the rigging and thu
decks wet. But they hadn't much O
a margin. for Manga Reva wa.
reached. the fire had worked through
In spite of the good fight to keep il
under, n when the Pyrenees hit tn,
beach on which they beached her, sh,
was n mass of flames. The plucky cap
or two later by u trading vessel ant
taken to Tahiti. where the steame,
Australia carried them to San Fran
cisco.
Still more recent was the burning II
Long Island Sound. on November II
1904. of the Central Vermont freighte
Mohawk. In this case also. one mar
Andrew Larsen, the night Waterman
lost his life, supposedly white attempt
ing to fight the blaze in it's early stage
and before giving the alarm. All tn
other members of the crew were res
cued by the Fall River freight steamer
Boston.