Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1913-10-16
to be worked at their greatest

engines to be worked at their greatest
speed.
THE news was distributed among the
passengers and preparations were made
for the work of rescue. Some 10 or 20
men among our passengers were yachts
men or otherwise familiar with the sea
and these all volunteered to help to man
the lifeboats but their services were not
needed.
1--WE reached the volturno at about nine
o'clock in the evening and found Zen other
stea mers already on the scene.
Heavy smoke was streaming away
from the forward matches of the Volturno
whose passengers had assembled in the
afterpart of the ship. | noticed that the
women and children on board the Vol
turno had all been placed farthcst from
the fire while the men formed a line near
est to the point of danger.
Everything on board the Volturno APP
peared quiet and under organized control.
! could observe the crew working steadily
with the hose pouring water in to the
patches from which red tingcd smoke was
issuing.
ut was obvious from the bridge of La
Tourainc that the efforts of the crew OF
the Volturno to extinEuish the fire were
futile as the flames rapidly gained
strength"
What followed after the arrival of the
La Tourainc in the vicinity Of tho Vol
turno is related in a detailed report
written by Captain Caussin to the French
Transatlantic company. He says:
The forward part OF the Volturno
looked to mo like an ~incandesccnt
brazicr. AS the sea was beginning to
moderate thought of putting out boats
but the opinion OF all my officers was
against the lowering of lifeboats. / sent
out a whale boat, however. The Vol
turno at this time had her stern in the
air while forward and amidships she was
nothing but n great torch"
FIRST TO DISCOVER THE FIRE.
Friedrich Badtko. Il younc Storage
passenger, was the first person on board
the Inflated Nolturno to discover the
fire. Recounting his experiences, he
said:
II saw smoke coming through Cl ,cks
in the floor of my quarters forward and
became sure that the hold below was
afre. | ran as fast as | could to the
deck in front of the bridge. The captain
himself was there and ! yelled to him
i'm German that the ship was on fire.
He did not understand me. | called out
again in Polish and then shouted in
Yiddish but still ! was unable to make
him understand and he sent down a sailor
to inquire what was the matter.
II led the sailor down to the steeraSe
deck. When he saw the smoke he opened
one of the matches and was met with a
rush of smoke and heat. The sailor then
rcturned to the bride and warned the
captain.
IAN the passengers in the forward
Storage had by this time become aroused
and every one seemed panic stricken. I
believe some jumped overheard as the
result of sheer fright. When the smoke
and choking flames became visible there
was an excited rush aft and the passages
and stairwaYs for a while were crowded
with struggling. fighting people.
"In tho meantime the captain had given
the alarm. The fire crew was manning
the fire apparatus under the eye OF Cap
tain Inch who thus was unable for the
present to keep order on deck where the
panic stricken passengers had gathered
around the lifeboats in the stern. In the
absence of the captain and the other Off
t'l' Nv WV Wv 80 NA' ~
there was much disorder"
BELIEVES SMOKER SET IT.
The origin of the fire seems to have
been due to the carelessness OF a
storage passenger. Hans Magnus, n
mcmbe of the Nolturno's crew. AYERS
there We're frequent violations of the
steamship ~company's strict order for
bidding persons in the Storage to
smoke.
The company fined anyone smok-
ing five dollars. as is usual on emil
grant ships Magnus said, yet tn"
rule was broken. | have found Gig
arctic stubs and half burned matches
often pushed into "acks or under OBJ
jects.
II feel sure that some steeraee pas
senger. when an inspector was seen,
threw a cigarette down a ~hatchway.
The fire broke out in a part of the
hold where a lot of rugs and other
stun that would burn easily were
piled"
Magnus says there was no explosion
on the Nolturno except when one of
the bulkheads blew out under the
pressure of heat. He worked at a
hose from seven o'clock in the morn
IT, $500. - -.I.