Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-28

NEW YORK, August 2S-The steam-
ship Imperator. largest vessel anoat, was
swept by fire early today as she lay at
her dock In Hoboken with her crew and
lib steerage passengers aboard Second
Officer Cobrecht who led the crew into
the hold to fight the flames, was cut or
from his men, enveloped in q cloud Of
smoke and suffocated. His body was
found an hour afterward, untouched by
fire, and brought ashore.
Otto Stunts. a seaman. one of the party
who went down with Cobrecht into the
bowels of the vessel, was thought dead
when found. but later recovered
A feet OF fre-fghting craft augmented
by apparatus on shore surrounded the
| ship and poured tons Of water into her
! hold. When the fre was checked at Q
o'clock the great vessel had listed fifteen
degrees.
Steerage in q Panic.
The small army in the steerage, aroused
from their sleep by the cracking OF
flames. rushed panic-stricken for the pier.
where most Of them spent the rest OF the
night huddled in discomfort at the shore
| end Of the pier. None of the steerage
passengers had been inspected by the Gus
toms or health authorities. Because OF
this armed guards surrounded them. The
| immigration authorities rushed them to
Ellis Island at the earliest possible mo-
| ment this forenoon.
| The great ship was dark, with all on
board asleep save the officers on watch
when smoke ascending from the pro-
vision room was discovered simultane-
| ously by a seaman on deck watch. and
| q petty officer on the bridge. Almost at
| the same moment the cracking OF names
was heard in the steeraSe quarters. A
quiet alarm was SOUNDED. Commodore
Russer commander-in-chief of the ves-
sci, was among the first to respond. The
crew of 1.1SO men were in their places
within a minute
Prompt Work Of Crew.
The complex fire-fghting apparatus OF
the vessel was set in motion. Every
compartment was ordered closed. ex-
cept those which it was necessary to
leave open for the steerage passengers
to get ashore. The stampede OF steer
age passengers toward the deck checked
for a moment the fight against tne
flames Ships officers and hundreds OF
the crew, lined up in two columns along
the route to safety, guided the terror
stricken men and women to the pieI.
With the ship clear, the entire iorce
turned it's hand to extinguishing the
flames. -
For three-quarters of an hour they
fought the fire with only the lmpera-
tors own apparatus. Then, despairins
of success, the Hoboken fire department
was notified, and general alarm was
sounded. -. -,
flames Second Officer Herman Gebrecht
and Seaman Strunts. caught in the with
ering breath of a belch of flames, were
cut or from the door by which they had
entered. Their companions were driven
back to open ar; ..;n A,,noasn and asa,n 'n rb,.
wall of smoke kept them from rescuing
Gebrecht and Strunts. When the fire
was checked they found Gebrecht dead
and Strunts apparently So and S.r,,n,s ne mas
like the rest of the fire-fiehting
force, were equipped with smoke masAs.
hose and ropes, which served as guide
lines
Smoke Cloud Shrouds Ship.
wisp of smoke curling into the
second cabin when the flames were first
discovered had by this time grown into
a cloud. Through this cloud the
Hoboken firemen rushed, dragging their
hose. The dining saloon of the second
cabin suffered the greatest damage from
the smoke and the f1remens passage.
The handsome appointments OF tne
saloon were a wreck when the smoke
cleared away. Despite the reinforce
ment of the f1remen the flames gained
headway. A tug, steaming slowly down
the river. reused the water front with
it's siren Fireboats from New York. q
fleet Of tugs and another battery OF nre
engines from Hoboken rushed to the
pier A heavy cloud Of smoke swung
lazily over the vessel and settled down
on the water.
A dozen tugs floating nearby were
held in readiness to tow the ship out
to midstream as the flames threatened
momentarily at their height, to destroy
her. Preparations were made to cut the
liners moorings when the fire boats
began pumping water into the hold
With fifty streams playing hundreds
Of tons of water on the fire every min
ute. the flames lost heart, and the ves-
sci began to list. At o'clock there
were oIiiy two streams on the blase. and
II was practically extinguished.
Handsome Fittings Ruined.
The second cabin presented Q dismal
appearance whsn the smohe fifesd. It's