Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1913-12-26
Trivial Causes of Some Terrible
Ocean Catastrophes.
they Are Frequently Destroyed Owing
to the Spontaneous Combustion Of
Their carsoes-Thrillino 40
counts Of Fires at Sea.

It would seem almost impossible to
set fire to and burn to the waters
edge big modern ship. built, as such
vessels almost invariably are now, Of
steel or iron, with transverse bulk.
heads Of the same metal.
Experience, however. has shown
otherwise. for the catastrophe that
happened to the Volturno short time
ago is not by any means a solitary
example OF its kind.
1t Is extraordinary, too. how little a
thing will start the biggest and most
devasting Of the ocean fires. Thus
the carelessness Of q member OF the
crew, who dropped lighted ol-lamp
on the forecastle roof, was responsible
for the burning In midccean Of the
big emigrant ship Cospatrick on No
vember IS. 1874, when no fewer than
465 lives were lost.
The fate of these poor people was
exactly what would have been that OF
those on board the Volturno If WIRE
less telegraph had not been invented.
They fought the flames with the frenzy
Of despair until overpowered, then
they persisted. A few--about five or
six-got away in a boat, and were
picked up ten days later half dead
from starvation and exposure. These
were the sole survivors.
One of the most thrilling stories
OF fires at sea, the burning of the Sa-
rah Sands, had a similar origin--the
careless handling Of q naked light IN
a lazaretto filed with government
stores. She had 800 soldiers on board,
and these worked like heroes remov-
ing and throwing overheard the gun
powder, of which there was a large
quantity stored in the hold.
One barrel did explode, blowing up
the entire port quarter Of the ship
Nevertheless, after weeks Of dreadful
anxiety, the still smouldering hulk was
navigated safely to the Mauritius,
without losing single life.
Ships are frequently fired owing to
the spontaneous combustion of their
cargoes. A striking example was at
forded by the case of the Micronesia,
bound from South America for Ant
werp, with nitrate In bags. The flames
burned every scrap of woodwork in
the skin of the vessel, causing the nj
trate to became fused, owing to the
terrific heat, so that from soft and
powdery substance 1t was transformed
into species of liquor cement, which
ran down into the lower hold and held
together the plates that had previous
ly started, thereby preventing her
from sinking. She was picked up event
ually-a red.hot hulk-by tug and
beached at Deal. Her passengers
and crew escaped in the boats.
OIL in barrels is fearfully dangerous.
A few years ago big iron ship, the
Blengfell, Of Liverpool, was proceed
ing up channel with the pilot on
board when she suddenly burst into
flames from some unexplained cause,
and every soul on her persisted. No
trace OF the bodies was ever found,
nor could any craft approach any
where near the blazing vessel owing
to the intense heat, while the stencil
of the burning oil was said to have
been well-nigh intolerable.
Cotton, too. is responsible for many
fires at sea. 1t gets heated, shoulders
for days, or for weeks sometimes, and
then bursts into flame. After this
fashion the Inman liner City Of Mon
treal was burned in midocean while on
her way from New York to Liverpool
in August, 1887; and on Christmas
eve in the year 1890 the China NaVi-
cation company's steamer Shanghai
took fire after a like manner, when
300 lives were lost.
One of New York's wharf rats"
(homeless lads who hang about the
wharves and piers and live by petty
pilfering) was responsible for the
dreadful fire which broke out among
the shipping at Hoboken in the sum-
mer of 1900, when half a dozen great
liners we're burned, with over 200 Of
their officers and crews. The burning
Of the excursion steamer, General slo-
cum, Of New York, in June, 1904, when
1000 lives were lost, was due to the
careless handling of lump Of greasy
cotton waste.