Evening star., 1934-09-11

into the air.
at was raging and all the lights
were off"
When you got into the boat was
there any water being played on the
fire?"
Some think, but not very much"
who was in that boat besides your
self?"
"Thirty-two altogether"
ANY paSsengers?"
1.-TWO, SIR
"All the rest were of the crew then?"
"Yes sir. One was DR.. Cochrane
and lady passenger"
What I want to know" Hoover
said sternly, why No l boat did not
take off more passengers?"
No Passengers on Deck.
"When I left A deck, there were no
passengers on deck. Any one down
below must have burned up. We saw
no passengers. There were none in
sight"
How long did all this take after
you aWOKe at o CLOCK?
Not more than half an hour-a
half an hour at the most"
What I am concerned about" in
sisted Hoover, "is if you made any
attempt to take of passengers"
I'VE didn't see any"
And not seeing any passengers,
you didn't make any attempt to find
passengers?"
Il don't know about that was
ordered to take the boat Off"
Chief" asked Hoover, have you
ever had any difficulty with your
crew."
Never, sir"
What theory have you as to how
the fire started?" Abbott took a long
time in answering.
ut was such a big fire." he said
II couldn't be sure. Some said some
thing about ball of fire, but
couldn't be sure"
Asked what he believed to be the
pressure on the fire hoses, Abbott
said it was 100 pounds square inch
He had no evidence, he added, there
was ever a failure of the pumps.
IF they told about the fire." Abbott
said, I'VE in. the engine room knew
nothing about it,"
Too Late to Stop Fire.
Gould it have been stopped wher
those on deck reported it?"
mo, sir-when I saw that fire
said to myself it's too late now"
Hoover questioned Abbott about tht
fre-resisting bulkheads in the ship
They went all the way through every
deck, he said.
He said he did not believe the door.
in the fire screens were shut.
"I know the door between thu
lounge and the library was open be-
cause I saw it on my way down"
Gould it have been closed them?
"Never, sir. And I think it was bet
ter to leave bulkhead doors open, be-
cause if they were closed those pas
sengers on c deck would have been
trapped and could never have escaped
What" asked Hoover, was the
material in the cabin walls between
the two main steel flre-resisting bulk
heads?"
Wood and beaverboard and possibly
some other light composition I be-
lieve"
No Kerosene on Board.
Hoover turned to inquiries con-
cerning the electrical installation
Abbott, under questioning, said the
social hall would readily burn out the
system and destroy the emergency set
Abbott said there was no kerosene
on board, because the company die
not permit its use on the ship.
Crone elected from Abbott the
statement that there was no fire be-
low C deck. 1t was on A deck and E
deck, he said and never got below
while he was aboard. This would
limit it to the superstructure.
What time did the engine room
force leave the engine room?" Cront
asked.
Somewhere between 3:15 and 3:20,
he answered.
1T was impossible for them Il
stay there in the smoke and fumes
because the fire was burning so furi
ously."
He said by the time he got to thu
bridge from D deck, where he me
| the first assistant, the engines hat
stopped and the anchor had to b.
| dropped.
| Il told the engine room force no
to leave under any circumstances un
less it was impossible to live"
Third Assistant Called.
Arthur Stamper, %, third assistan
engineer, who was on watch at tn
time of the fire. was called next.
Everything was working perfectly il
the engine room, Stamper testified.
The first 1 knew that there was fir
aboard was when the telephone ran
and some one told me.
THE fire alarm rang about tha
time. 1t was about 3 o'clock.
Then smoke began to come dow
| into the engine room"
Stamper said he stopped the fore
drought ventilation system for a fey
minutes, but the smoke seemed to "ge
worse" and he started the motor agair
The first order we got from tn
bridge was a standby. Then cam
q Slow-down order"
What time did you decide to leav
the engine room?"
Soon after the lights went ou'
The, smoke got SO dense"
Did you nave ample time to shu