A new article has been added at Newspaper Abstracts > United States > District of Columbia http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/index.php?action=displaycat&catid=323 Direct link to article: http://www.newspaperabstracts.com/link.php?id=31378 Submitted by: barbara-dave Article Title: Washington Post Article Date: April 9 1912 Article Description: Burning Ship Pages 1,3 Article Text: Washington Post April 9, 1912 Burning Ship Pages 1,3 PRAY AS SHIP BURNS Passengers Have Thrilling Experience Before Rescue. WOMEN BRAVER THAN MEN Crew of the Ontario Still Aboard Battling With Flames. Wireless Operator Sticks to His Post Until Driven Out by Heat - Steerage Passengers in Mad Panic Before They Are Taken Off - Two Washington Women Start for Home - Officers Are Praised for Coolness and Heroism New London, Conn., April 8 - Thrilling stories of how many of the passengers aboard the burning steamship Ontario knelt and prayed for rescue were brought here at noon today, when the tug Tasco arrived with the first survivors. "I wouldn't go through that again for anything" said H. W. SANFORD, one of the rescued ones who had been asleep when the cry of 'Fire' was first shouted. I don't know very much of just what happened, he continued only I know it was terrible. I awakened my wife as soon as I heard the cry and we dressed hurriedly and went up on deck. Smoke was pouring through the hatchways and the passengers for the most part were panic stricken. Some were running around crying while others were huddled in the bow praying. We joined the latter group and remained there while the crew fought the flames. I must say that the crew were very brave. There was absolutely no panic among them and their coolness as well as that of Capt. BOND who beached his ship as soon as he realized the fire was serious, undoubtedly saved our lives. Passengers Taken Off. While the crew battled with the flames and the passengers prayed for rescue, life-saving crews from the Ditch Plain and Montauk Point stations shot a lifeline to the stranded steamship, sent out a breeches buoy and then sent off their lifeboats and took off the fifteen passengers transferring them later to the Tasco which arrived from New London in answer to wireless "S O S" signals. The 40 men composing the crew, under the direction of Capt. William J. BOND, continued to fight the fire, which frequently burned through the decks and threatened to sweep through the super structure. Responding to wireless messages repeated along the coast from half a dozen stations, three revenue cutters from New York and Woods Hole, Mass. were rushed to the scene while passing steamships turned from their course to give aid to the burning vessel and her imperiled company. Operator Sticks to Post With the flames scorching his back and licking the walls of his cabin, the wireless operator on board the Ontario stuck to his post and repeated his calls for aid interspersing them with reports of the progress of the thrilling fight until he was driven out by the unbearable heat. A great cloud of smoke and steam rose from the burning vessel and spread along the shore as the crew chopped holes in the deck and cabins and turned the nozzles of the hose upon the blazing interior. All day long and tonight they fought the flames at times believing they had the control but late tonight the fire seemed to be getting the better of the contest. No fear is felt for the crew however as revenue cutters are standing by to take them off. Passengers Reach Boston Boston, April 8 - A group of tired, hungry passengers from the Merchants and Miners steamer Ontario which was driven ashore burning on Montauk Point, Long Island early today arrived in this city late this afternoon from New London, Conn. where they were landed by a tug from the burning steamer earlier in the afternoon. Most of them were without baggage. Some had dressed so hurriedly in the excitement that they had scarcely sufficient clothing. When the Ontario was run ashore she carried 32 passengers - 22 first and second cabin and 10 Italians in the steerage. With the exception of two, Misses Nellie SHEEHAN and Katherine C. SCHWARTZ of Washington, D. C., all were brought to Boston in care of Thomas BARBER and C. R. MERRY, of the line and Purser W. T. JAMES of Norfolk and Stewardess, Mrs. Mary GALLAGHER, of Baltimore, from the steamer. Miss SHEEHAN and Miss SCHWARTZ went to Washington. List Of Cabin Passengers. Following are the first and second cabin passengers: Miss Katherine I. SCHWARTZ and Miss Nellie SHEEHAN, Washington, D. C.; Thomas A. GRAY, jr., Boston; H. W. SANBORN and wife, Dover, N. H.; Nathan O. WEEKS, East Lakeville, N. H.; Mrs. Marie SPEAD, Lowell, Mass.; R. T. WINDLEY, Wilmington, N. C.; Charles E. PERKINS and wife, Madbury, N. H.; Miss Mabel PERKINS, Madbury, N. H.; Andrew ADAMS, Portland, Me.; Charles B. BELLOWS and wife, Winslow, Me.; J. ?. BOND and wife, Boston, D. C. CANNON, Norfolk, Timothy CARNEY, Stoughton, Mass.; Fred A. BOWDEN, Troy, Me.; Mrs. M. J. GALLANT, Pittsfield, Me.; A. E. CAHILL and wife, North Waymouth, Mass.; Mrs. W. J. BENT, wife of the captain of the steamer, was also aboard and came to Boston with the passengers. Steerage Passengers Frightened "It was an unavoidable misfortune," said one, while others declared they believed no one was to blame. There was no panic except among the steerage passengers who, not understanding English, could not be calmed and directed. They were forced by the ship's crew into the saloon. Some of them insisted on running on deck and a few tried to climb the masts thinking the ship was going to sink. The women, said H. W. SANDBORN of Dover, N. H., behaved better than the men, in my opinion, and they are deserving of much praise. Of course, we all got a little excited, but who wouldn't? I was sleeping in the stateroom next to that of the wireless operator, Hubert INGALLS of Lynn, Mass., and right on the other side the fire was raging. About 2 o'clock this morning I awoke and looked out and saw people running out on deck crying, 'The ship is afire.' I thought it was a fire drill as I had seen something similar on a ship at Norfolk, but the next minute the smoke enveloped us and I realized it was no joke. Two Plucky Men If there were any heroes on that boat they were INGALLS, the plucky little wireless operator and Chief Engineer T. F. DISNEY, of Baltimore. Both of them stuck to their posts until their duty was done, and they were mostly responsible for our safety. One of the busiest men on the boat was Purser JAMES who was also one of the first to be awakened. The fire was discovered, he said, by a seaman, who notified First Officer R. C. HAWDING, a Cape Cod man in charge of the first watch. This was about 1:40 a. m. I think the fire must have been burning for some time for there was a good lively blaze and plenty of smoke. I ran around the ship knocking at stateroom doors and waking people up until I thought everybody was awake. CONTINUED ON THIRD PAGE CONTINUED FROM FIRST PAGE. "Then I ran to Operator INGALLS' room, and we both sent messages to our mothers. He was sitting at his instrument with a raincoat buttoned up over his pajamas, just as he had tumbled out of bed at the first call. "Then I went outside and with James LYNCH, a waiter from East Boston, tried to calm the Italians, who were bordering on the hysterical." Thinks Fire Smoldered Long. That the fire started before the ship left Baltimore was the opinion expressed by D. C. CANNON, one of the passengers. CANNON is from Norfolk, Va., and claims he knows cotton "as well as any one on the boat." He says that the fire must have smoldered a long time before it broke out at 1:40. CANNON declares that he saw stevedores smoking while stowing the cotton, and it is his theory that a smoldering match or cigarette started a blaze before the steamer left port. The passengers were grouped in the South station upon their arrival here, and after the line officials had arranged for transportation of the baggage left on the boat they scattred [sp.] for their various destinations. Vessel's Fate in Doubt. Montauk Point, N. Y., April 8, - The fate of the steamer Ontario, of the Merchants and Miners Transportation Company, which was beached here on fire early this morning, was still in doubt tonight. With her passengers safely off, the steamer's crew of 40 men stuck to the ship, and at a late hour were still on board fighting the flames in the hold. The fire, which had raged all day, appeared, however, to be slowly getting the better of the men, and from the shore tonight flames could be seen bursting occasionally through the forward decks. Despite the doubt as to the eventual quelling of the flames, no fear was felt for the safety of the crew. The revenue cutters Acushnet and Mohawk and two wrecking tugs stood by to take the crew off in case the flames got completely beyond control. The revenue cutter Seneca was also nearing the scene to give assistance, and hope was expressed by officers on the cutter that the fire, which was forward, would be held by the engine room bulkhead. The announced plan was for the cutters Mohawk and Seneca, when the sea had sufficiently moderated, to go alongside and pour water on the blaze. There appeared to be no doubt that once the fire was controlled the vessel could easily be floated. When the steamer was boarded by a newspaper representative late today, it looked as it the flames would be subdued, but he had scarcely returned to shore when they burst out afresh. Baltimore, Md., April 8, - The steamer Ontario, of the Merchants and Miners Line, was built in 1904 at a cost of more than $400,000, and was equipped with all modern conveniences. She was a single-screw steamship, 315 feet long, 42 feet beam, and 31 feet depth of hold. Her gross tonnage was 3,300. 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