224 Sir Frederick Abel [March 13, 



prescribed precautions, a part of such a cargo does become ignited, the 

 prompt and, as far as practicable, complete exclusion of air from the 

 seat of the fire, by the secure battening down of the hatches, will most 

 probably save the ship from destruction. There are numerous records 

 of vessels having discharged cargoes of petroleum oil, many barrels of 

 which have been found greatly charred on the outside, occasionally 

 even to such an extent that the receptacle has scarcely sufficient 

 strength remaining to retain its contents. A remarkable illustration 

 of the controllable nature of fire in a petroleum-laden ship was 

 furnished by the ship Joseph Fish, laden with refined petroleum, 

 lubricating oil, and turpentine, which, a fortnight after leaving New 

 York (in September 1879), was struck by lightning during a heavy 

 squall, the hatches being closed at the time. Smoke at once issued 

 from below, and the force-pumps were set to work directly to keep 

 the fire down. The hatches were removed for examination as the fire 

 appeared to gain ground, but were immediately rej)laced, and, after 

 further pumping, as the fire appeared to increase, and an explosion 

 w^as feared, the crew took to their boats, remaining near the ship. 

 Eight hours afterwards they were picked up by a passing ship, which 

 remained near the Joseph Fish until daylight. Her captain then 

 returned on board, and as he found that the fire aj)peared to be out, 

 the crew returned and the ship resumed her voyage, reaching the port 

 of London without further incident, except that during the use of the 

 pumps for removing the water, considerable quantities of petroleum 

 and turpentine were pumped up with it from the hold. When the 

 cargo was discharged, a large number of the barrels bore evidence of 

 the great heat to which they had been exposed ; several casks had 

 gone to pieces and the staves of others were charred quite half-w\n,y 

 through, although they still retained their contents. 



The lecturer had occasion, ten years ago, to dwell upon the 

 recklessness with which fearful risks were incurred, in some cases no 

 doubt ignorantly, but in others scarcely without a knowledge on the 

 part of those who were responsible, of the nature of the materials 

 dealt with, by transporting volatile and highly inflammable liquids 

 together with explosive substances in barges or other craft, and in 

 doing so, moreover, without the adoption of even the most obvious 

 j)recautions for guarding against access of fire to the contents of those 

 vessels. The instance of the explosion in 1864 of the Lottie Sleigh 

 at Liverpool, laden with 11 J tons of gunpowder, inconsequence of the 

 accidental spilling andignifion of some paraffin oil in the cabin of the 

 ship, illustrated the danger incurred in permitting these materials to 

 bo together on board a vessel, and should have furnished some 

 warning by the publicity it received ; but the explosion ten years later, 

 on the Kegent's Park canal, of the barge Tilbury, revealed the 

 continued prevalence of the same reckless disregard of all dictates of 

 common prudence in dealing with the joint transport of explosives 

 and vfjlatile inflammable liquids. 



The efficient laws and Government inspection to wliich all traffic 



