Norwich bulletin., 1912-04-09
FIGHTING THE FLAMES.
Steamer Crew of Fifty Men 5attlsd
 All Day.

Montaunk Point, April S-E1ho fats of the steamer Ontario of the Mer- chants and Miners Transportation company which was beached here on fire, early this morning, was still iu doubt tonight. Her 3l passengers having been gotten safely on, tho steamers crew of fifty men stuck Co the ship and at a late hour were still on board fighting the flames fin Dths hold. The fire which mad rIged all day appeared, however, 10 Do slowly getting the better of the men and from the shore tonight flames conld oe seen l occasionally bursting through the for ward deck.
 No fear was felt, however. for the safety of the crew. The revenue cut- | ters Acushnet and MOha Wk and two wrecking tugs stood by to tl.e ths men off in case the flames got entire | ly beyond their control. The rogcnu5 cutter Seneca was also nearing tho | scene and hope was expressed by the | officers on the cutters that tho fire, which was forward, would be confined | by the engine room bulkhead. Tho announced plan was for the cutters ! Mohawk and Seneca to go alongside when the sea had sufficiently moderat- | ed and put water on the blaze. There ! appeared to be no doubt that once the ! fire was extinguished the vessel could easily be fioated. When the steam CT was boarded by newspaper repre- sentative late today 1t looked a8 f the flames would be gubdued. bat scarcely had he returned tO shor when they broke out afresh.
 A wrecklng barge lay alOngside h. to which the cargo, consisting mostly of cotton, was being jettisoned. Thsrs was, however, a considerable quanti- ty of whiskey, turpentine and rosin in the after hold which was being TO moved as rapidly as possible Captain Bond told tho newspaper man that tho fire broke out at t.30 o'clock when the steamer was about ten miles UT Shin- necock.
 "The crew abeyed orders without any excitement" the captain said "and ws
 soon had the pump pouring stream
 of water into the forward hold where
 the flames spread through the ndam-
 mable cargo with rapidity. lt soon
 became evident to me that in order Go
 save the ship and passengers that
 would have to beach her. but owing fJ
 the direction of the wind J yas un-
 able to take a straight northeriy
 course as the wind would have driven
 the flames aft. I consequently set A
 course nOrtheasterly for MOntauE !
 fore three o'clock
 We had S1 passengers aboard. about IS of them, I think, women. We did
 not awaken them until more than half
 an hour after the ship had strucl. ! They accepted the situation with Bur-
 prising coolness and there was abso-
 lutely no panic"
 ] When the ship struck Inc fire had
 eaten it's way through the forward
 deck to the pilot house and the wire
 less apparatus. Captain Bond and
 First Mate Harding were nearly suf-
 rocated by smoke but stuck to their positions until the last moment
 Hubert Ingalls,, of Lynn, Mass, the wireless operator, only i9 years old,
 who sent out the call which brought
 timely assistance, stuck to his post
 until the flames reached a part Of the apparatus and put it out of cOmmis-
 sion He sald it was more than thrss quarters of an hour before he could get a response to his call for help. The passengers and their luFgaEa were taken from tho burning vessel to the tugboat Tasco from New Lon , don in small boats. Tn adjusting tho brooches buoy apparatus David Miller.
 a life saver, was seriously hurt and an
 oiler who had previous experience ia
 the army, was sent ashore to give aid , to the injured
 Besides the revenue cutters, a life saving power boat from Watch Hnl. | R. l., was alongside the Ontario to- ? night. A strong northwest wind vas blowing, but being afr shore, the sea was comparatively smooth.