The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1912-02-15
DEADLY OIL TANKS
Ships That Are a Constant Men.
ace to All on Board.
DEATH Turks IN THE CARGO.

Besides the Constant Danger Of the on
Heating and Exploding and Instantly
Destroying the Vessel There Is Also
the Peril Of "Fumins."
The most. dangerous sort of shiE
a1oat is that particular kind of vesse
known aS the oil tank. and there isn't
a sailornan who will sign on for u
voyage in one If be can get job OF
board any other class of vessel
The oil tank Is Il vessel whose cargo
consists Of oil. which Is carried IL
great tanks Two dangers are evei
present to all on board namely. that
the Uii may heat and explode. whict
means the instant destruction of the
ship. or that II may burst from the
tanks. in which ease the ship is almost
certain to be destroyed by fire
There Ii also the remote danger Of
the oil "fuming"' When the oil
fumes the working of the ship I've
comes almost impossible On FUN
ing oil tank no one can remain below
4
out becoming overcome by the oil
fumes. which are a hundred times
more deadly to human life than coal
gas.
The most terrible tragedies of the
ocean have occurred ON board these
death traps.
few years ago Russian ell tank,
the Omar. which sailed from Ratum
bound for bombay with 40,tsM gallons
of nil on board. was sighted in the PA.
cific by German tramp steamer nam.
ed the Velter Fend The Omar was
fyin. signals of distress and when
sighted was apparently completely dis
abled. for she was making no head
way
The sen was quite calm. and the cap
tain of the Velter Fend approacheG
within hailinc distance Of the disabled
ship. bui no reply came from her In
response to his hail.
Then the captain of the German
tramp sent n .nat to the silent ship.
When the boats crew reached nor
decks they saw five men lying on the
derk three of whom were dead The
other two We're in Il state Of collapse.
but alive.
The ma'e nf tin, German tramp who
was In charge of shr boat at once
GUESSED! that The ni had '.fnmed' on
board the oil tank. prn!mbly ut night.
and that the two men In II state OF
collapse were probably the only sur
. vivorS vt the disaster. This subse-
-, ri
, Rplnw the decks which tie crew Of
the German tramp penetrated with
!, great difficulty and danger to them.
selves. for the oil was still fnmng six
. of the oil tanks crew We're found
: dead IN their hunks. where they had
. been snffWateil by the fumes in their
sleep. Three of the crew had succeed
;, ed III rcarhing the deck. bnt bad died
!. subsequently.
! The two survivors were the only two
\ on deck when the fumes burst from
:. the tanks and i'm their efforts tu save
/. the others had very nearly perished
themselves
The crew Of Norwegian oil tank
named the HeIios had n terrible eype-
a ripnre y few years ago In mid Atlan-
+, tie. During heavy gale. In which
), the Hplios suffered very rough ham
q ding in the mountainous seas. her oil
:, tanks. cn,nainine ,;D.tAM gallons of
,.r,,d. oil hurst and flowed into the
4 ii:i,kers. threatening to penetrate in a
few minutes into the tirproOin.
The crew tiung themselves at the
:, pumps like n,adnen The oil soon he
gan to fulne. and no man could keep
Mt the pumps for more than few
minutes without becoming overpower
ed The captain Of the Heli0s order
ed all the crew or deck. and four in
: their turn went below every five min
'c utcS to work ut the pumps.
=" The fight they made for their lives
=" was one Ot the most desperate that
le has ever been waged on the ocean
directly the tank had burst the fire
men had been ordered out of the fire
room, There was no time to quencf
the fires. for the 6renien would Ger
rt tainly have been suffocated by IN,
nj fumes Of the oil had they remained
III leIOw to do 80.
NJ For clever, hours the officers ant
le crew of the Helios worked like d.
&C. nous at the pumps. making the mos
he desperate efforts to keep the oil froi
er reaching the fire room. BY the end o
d. that time eight of the crew lay nncO
NJ SciOus gu the deck. overcome partly b
or exhaustion and partly by the fumes
1t was now only possible to work tw
OF the pumps. and 1t became rerih
that. unless help arrived in anotlir
ed hour. the ship. with every living -ot
on board. would perish Il should h
de- mentioned that every lifeboat on III
Helios had been damaged during Il,
by storm.
Yep Half an hour passed. and by the
ne. only the captain and the r'air w'.t
working at the pumps The de>tru'
ton OF the vessel was now only ma
ter OF minutes. II was ai this rrismi
-ou juncture that the oil tank was >is!itt
ust by the Majestic Of the White Star ii'i
and twenty minutes later the crew
we the doomed ship were safely n,, i,o;l'
th. the liner.
to AS the last man scrambled on mss
the Majestic from the boat which n.
been sent to the help Of lm iiplin>
mountain Of flame Spranr tron
tho decks of the oil tank and II few mi
,sh. uics later the blazing vessel sank !
low the water.
r. A Russian oil tank named the VIA
mir some years ago expiodet in III