The star and Newark advertiser. [volume] (Newark, N.J.) 1908-1909, 1908-03-13

+be rnrnarkab1e transfer was made with
nomparatively little diff ratlty- The Off
org Of the Providence .tecGared alter
ward that the passenge. : acted with
remarkable good judglr n despite
their fears and %precarious 5 ~7tuation.
Tin passengers were lou q I'D their
praises of Captain Appleby. His cool
ness and splendid conduct in the face
Of peril with a shipload of pa ssengers
IN his charge were paid glowing tribute.
81 soon as they had been tFeeo OF
the care Of the passengers h crew
of The Providence gave their whole
attention to fighting the fire, with the
fesnlt that the flames were quickly
~eAtinguished.
Near sIocurn Disaster Scene.
The SPOT where the Sound steamboat
halted 10 transfer her passengers was
about ten miles east Of the place where
the Inflated General S~locunls was
beached and burned 10 the waters
edge Some of the P~rovidence's women
Messengers were hysterical. II all
we're nervons from the ordeal ofsmoke.
The 600 passengers were landed by the
osek at the Fall River line pier, at the
foot OF Warren street in the North
River. Tho crew of the providence
had a hard fight with h blaze but
succeeded in extinguishing 1T after the
passengers had left. She made her pier
about s o'clock.
CAPTAIN w. b. Appleby. Of the Provi-
dence. has been with the Fail River
line for thirty-nine years, the records
If the slow Every passen-
ger seen was enthusiastic in praise of
tho captains management of what they
declared night have turned u to be
a great disaster. From all that could
he learned it was a case where officers,
crew and passengers behaved admir-
ably.
The Providence. which is one of the
finest and the newest OF the Sound
fleet. is about 400 feet long and has a
carrying capacity of 1,50O passengers
Captain Tells OF Escape.
In describing the fire Captain Apple
by said:
"A GREATNESS deckhand first broke
into the wheelhouse with the cry of
Fire. Almost at the same instant a
call came up through the speaking tube
from the engine room saying that the
room was filing with smoke.
81 jerked the engine room signal 70
stop and went down on the run.
Dense smoke met me. and on the main
deck / found the freight amidship in a
het blaze. The crew had already been
summoned quietly and was fighting the
blaze with five streams from nearby
hvdrants. A stream was got on the
flames within a minute after they were
discovered. Waterman Fitzhugh was
-. .-- IL H.-1 -,s1I 49, hIa no. and
after raising the alarm notified me.
"One look at the blaze told me that
the BOAT was in peril, but I vas conf
dent hat my men, who were carefully
trained in the fire drill and went to
work like real firemen, could get the
better of the flames. But l was not
taking any chances with the lives of
500 passengers at stake.
f"All the passengers We're awakened
and informed hat they must prepare to
leave the boat. ] hurried to h wire
less office and ordered a hurry call for
help sent to the Richard Peck. A few
seconds later the wires strung aloft
above the hurricane deck were shooting
forth a m to the Peck.
"Tirst Pilot Fred Hamlen, i'll COM
mand In the wheelhouse, was Keeping
the Providence motionless and stern
headed int the slight air that was
stirring. AS a result the blaze was not
famed. as was the case with the Gen
eral Slocum, and yet the light breeze
rolled the worst of the smoke forward
and clear of the main companionway.
1T was a ticklish moment, and we
waited with anxiety to see if the Peck
would be reached by the wireless. She
was several miles ahead by this time
and out of signaling distance. There
was a big sigh of relief in the Wheel
house when the distant twinkling lights
Of the Peck trembled and began to turn.
Then the lights grew large rapidly as
the screw boat returned at full speed to
the aid of her sister ship"