New-York tribune., 1909-07-26
FIRE SINKS WARDLlNER
FIGIL4NCIA ON HARBORS
BOTTOM IN HER DOCK.
Stubborn Blaze IN Her Hold GiJes
Men and Boats Hot FIGHT
Of SeUeR Hours.

Filled with water To the level 81 her upper
deck. the Ward Line steamer Vigilancia lies on
the river bottom, just of Joralemon street
Brooklyn. From $40 o'clock Yesterday after
noon til 1870 o'clock she blazed furiousy in
spite II the torrents OF water hurled into her
from areboats and from Brookyn's high press
ure fire hghtins service
Through the efforts OF the land and water
forces the blaze was confined to the two for
ward compartments OF the two lower holds and
the woodwork above IN the rorecaste. the mates
room and the smoking room. II left the cap
tain's cabin intact. Alfred G. Smith. general
manager of the Ward Line, estimates the loss
al Gbout $1,000 This IS mostly covered by in
surHnCe. he thinks.
The boat came IN from Nassau in the Ba-
haras at - o'clock yesterday morning. She
had hfty-six male and thirty female pas
senEers Her cargo consisted Of four hundred
and fifty tons OF hemp. palm leaves, tobacco
lumber. hides honey, sugar. spouges. shells
canned pineapTIes and other produce. which she
had picked up in her twenty-five days cruise
10 Santiago. Cuba The passengers were landed
with their baggage two or three hours before the
fire broke out.
II was about $50 O'Clock when Oscar Sestrum.
the second officer who was sitting in his cabin
snclIed smoke, Captain Walker Mckay had
gone ashore Sestrum rushed to the forecastle
where he found John Ichabar. engineer; Will
lam I.oblay. an oiler. f. w. Bowman. the wire
less telegrapher. and others. and called upon
them to search for the blaze. They traced the
smoke to the two forward matches.
Patrolman Thomas Russell. Of the Amity street
police station attracted by the excitement, turned
in an alarm. The fire companies turned the
mate and his ont and Fire Chief Lally took
charge OF operations. Bowman meanwhile had
gone TO his instrument and sent a message u
the cornpany's offices at No. ~ Broadway Man
haitian. announcing the fire
The boat lay between Piers is and 19. both
wooden rooted structures some four hundred
five hundred feet long All about are large
warehouses After the first streams from the
ancines had been found inadequate the high
rrassure service was drawn into use The fire
boats David 4 Boody and Abram 5. Hewitt ar
rived soon after the land forces and turned their
no,yerful streams upon the flames. The Seth
low later replaced the Hewitt Several tugs
were also on hand.
The great diffculty In handling the fire WAS
the lack of means of reaching the furnace be
low decks Finally twelve men Of the Fourth
Divisjon of the I'd Naval Battalion, under Gun
cantain 4. r. Verify. came along in their launch
Nohawk They were called into service and
knocked three holes in the side of the burning
vessel with the launchs prov. This made way
for several high pressure streams.
when the crew was driven from the boat by
the Aremen and police they carried off two Kit
tens but q parrot the property of one OF the
cra,,- refused 70 desert the ship. Screeching
"Caramba," and other Spanish cussWords, the
bird crawled up into the rigging and perched
there through most Of the fire. turning its beak
contemptuousIy away from the fire fight.
When the fire had been under way less than
an hour the cargo suddenly shifted with a rum
BILE 10 the starboard and the boat keeed over
- or 30 degrees a dozen firemen and police
men who were on the deck were thrown off their
feet Matthew Shannon, Of Engine Company
134 vas hurled into the water. He swan to
safety
The masts and the big steel smokestack de
scended until they touched the roof of the dock
Two hawsers that were holding the vessel To
the dock snapped and the ships tackle broke
against the roof When II seemed inevitable
that the rocf of the dock would be smashed into
kin6Iing the boat suddenly began To right her
self She then settled in the twenty-four feet
OF water in the slip-the tide was at ebb-and al
9:30 o'clock she lay on the river bottom, ABOUT
6ftv feet south of the subway tube.