The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-08-28
Steamer Lay At HObOkGH Wharf When Cracking Flames Aroused The Tenants
 From Sleep
Crew Of 1,2OO Fought The Blaze Before Fire Fighting Graf And HObOken Fire Fight
 CTS Arrived

New York. Aug. 2S-The steamshfp ImpSrator, largest vessel af1oat, was swept by fire, early today, as she Jay at her dock in Hoboken. with her crew and 1.131 steerage passeng gers aboard
 Second Officer Gobrecht, who led the crew into the hold to fight the flames, was cut off from histmen,s en- ve1oped in cloud of smoke and. suf- located. His body was found an hour afterwards, untouched by fire and brought ashore.
 A fleet of firefgtting craft. aug mented by apparatus on shore, sur
 rounded the ship and poured tons of water into her hold. When the fire was checked at o'clock, the great vessel had listed IS degrees
 The small army in the steeraEe.
 aroused from their sleep by the
 cracking of flames, rushed, panic stricken, for the pier Most of them returned to the ship for their clothing when treasured by the ships officers
 and spent the remainder of the night
 huddled in discomfort at the shore end of the pier. None of thetsteeraB8 1 passengers had been inspected by the
 customs or health authoritLes- Be- cause of this armed guards surround ed them. The immigration authorf- ties planned to rush them to Ellis
 Island at the earliest moment, this forenoon.
 The great ship was dark with all on board asleep save the officers on watch when smoke, ascending from the provision room, was discovered simultaneously by man on dock watch and a petty officer on the bridge. Almost at the same moment the cracking of flames was heard fin l the steerage quarters.
 An alarm was quickly sounded Cap
 tain Ruesser, commander-in-chfef of the vessel, was among the first to re- spond. The crew of 1,15O men were ] in their places within minute The
 complex fire fighting apparatus of the
 vessel was set in motion. Every com partment was ordered closed except those which it was necessary to leave open for the steerage passengers to
 get ashore.t s
 The stampede of steerage passeng- CTS toward the deck checked for a moment the fight against the 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 pier l Dith the ship clear, the entire force turned to extingu1sh the flames. i For three quarters of an hour they | fought the fire with only the Impera- l tors own apparatus. Then the Hobo ken fire department was notified and l a general alarm was sounded. Tn the
 first sharp sl1irmish with the flames. l Second Officer Herman Gobrecht and l Seaman Otto Stumpf, caught in the | withering belch of flame, were cut oI 1 from the door by which they had en-
 tered. Their companions were driven l back to open air. Although they | stormed the flames again and again. the wall of smoke kept them from l rescuing Gobrecht and Stumpf- When J l the fire was checked, their bodies were l found and taken ashore. Laf av71 Inf gfE of the firefghting force, were equip | ped with smoke masks, hose and ropes
 which served as guide lines.
 The wisp of smoke crzrling into the
 second cabin when the flames were
 first discovered had, by this times grown to a cloud. Through this cloud. 1 the Hoboken fremen rushed, dragging their. hose. The dining saloon of the | second cabin suffered the greategt l damage from smoke and the work of
 the firemen. The handsome appoint ments of the saloon were a wreck l when the smoke cleared away Despite the reinforcement of the ! fremen, the flames gained headway- | A tug, steaming slowly down the riv- l CT, reused the waterfront with its
 siren. Fire boats from New York, a
 fleet of tugs and another battery Of 1 fire engines from Hoboken rushed to | the pier.
 A dozen tugs were held in readi- | ness to tow the snip out 10 u1u- 1 stream as the flames threatened mo-
 mentarily, at their height, to destroy
 her. Preparations were made to cut | the liners moorings when the fire boats began pumping water into the 1 hold.
 | With IS streams playing hundreds l of tons of water on the fire every
 minute, the flames lost headway and
 the vessel began to list. At 8 o'clock there were only two streams on the
 blaze and it was practically extin- l guished.
 The cabin presented a dismal ap- l pearance when the smoke cleared. It's | gilded furnishings were discoIored and | carpets soaked, the furniture scared | blackened and broken The damage
 nCOntinued on Page 2.)