The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1912-03-27
By ERNEST N. SMITH.

fires occurring in San francisco har-
Dor in years threatened for time the
destruction of the steamship Manchu-
ria, and before the stubborn blaze in
the interior of the vessel was over
come one fireman was dead, five in
| jured and thousands of dollars worth
OF cargo was ruined, not to mention
the possible delay of many days in
the sailing of the vessel At this
writing the total damage to the Man
| churia is not known, and while the
officials said today that the steamer
would probably sail on Thursday, the
final decision will come from the I'M
derwriters whose experts will ex-
anime the plates of the vessel and
report as to whether she is sea-
worthy.
The damage to the cargo, so far as
is known now, was confined to the
most inexpensive part of the stores,
including cotton iR-bales and govern
ment supplies en- route to Cavite and
, Manila to the quartermasters depart
ment, and general merchandise to
Philippine merchants
The fire was discovered in hold No
4 when smoke issuing from the bat
tened hatch attracted the attention Of
the few Cinnamon who were summing
! themselves on the deck of the vessel
on quiet Sunday afternoon, And a
strange feature of the whole affair
was the action of the Chinese on
board after they first gave the alarm
Some got into action to fight the fire.
but the quick arrival of two fire.
boats and five fire engines and dozens
of firemen, threw them out of a job.
So while the firemen were fighting for
their lives in the steamrng, raging hot
hold of the vessel, and while all the
engines and freboats were pouring
thousands of gallons of water into the
/ hold, the Chinese went back to their
relocating and games and siestas.
Huge clouds of black smoke rolled
skyward, but not even the Chinese
barber seemed to know that any
, thing unusual was going on. for he
remained steadily at his work.
, There were indications, however
that there was danger of other things
g than the fire, for the customs and
= immigration officials were nearly as
thick as the fremen, guarding the
vessel on all sides. No one was
caught trying to get any opium ashore
but one ex-convict was discovered
who had got on board in the excite
ment and was gathering up every
thing in sight for a getaway.
The fire filled the vessel, particu
larly the narrow passageways, with
thick smoke, which made it difficult
for the firemen to find their way
about the vessel. There were many
narrow escapes from suffocation. AT
ter a four hours hard fight the fire
men succeeded in quelling the blaze
and it was only after the tired men
had returned to their stations that il
was discovered that one of the mel
was missing. A thorough search OF
the vessel was made at once and
Thomas Ahearn, a hoseman, was
found dead, lying face downward il
the hold near one of the matches.
How the fire started is still a mys
terry but it is thought to have been
caused by spontaneous combustion
However it started, once discovered
the crew was gotten into action i'm
mediately and the matches were un
covered in an effort to locate the fire
All was confusion until the arrival o.
Fire Chief Murphy, who first riskeC
his life by going in company with En-
gineer Birmingham of the marine
branch of the department into the
depths of the vessel. The men haC
maps of the vessel, which were rem
dered useless once they found them
selves in the smoke-filled passageways
and holds They worked their way
into the alley beside the crank shat
IN the very bottom of the vessel anC
crawled to where the paint was peel
ing from the steel bulkheads from
the heat. But they located the fire
exactly and returned to the deck witt
a definite plan of action which prob
ably saved the steamer and certainly
, saved thousands of dollars worth o
merchandise making up the cargo
Six men wearing the new Dedaga1
oxygen helmets, which were tried GU
for the first time and gave great sat
isfaction, were sent into the holds t.
work toward the fire. These men
We're assisted by some of the Chinese
members of the crew who did braef
and wonderful work in directing the
fremen in unknown parts of the yes
} sell The Cinnamon worked with
sponges in their mouths, but seyera