104 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



difficult operation, both boats becoming partly filled. In such 

 a sea probably all hands would have been lost, and the 

 " Eepublic" would have been posted as "missing" owing to 

 bad stowage. The "HoUinwood" stood by the burning vessel 

 all night, and at 8.30 p.m. her main and fore masts went over 

 the side, the decks and standing rigging having been weakened 

 by the fire and both rendered incapable of sustaining the 

 strain put upon them. All through the night the fire burned 

 with unrestrained fury, and when day broke Captains Hughes 

 and Kidd decided that it was useless to remain longer, and 

 the "HoUinwood" was accordingly squared away on her 

 course for San Francisco. 



Heating of the " HollimvoocVs" Cargo. 

 Captain Kidd, of the " HoUinwood," had a somewhat 

 similar experience, but managed to save the ship at the ex- 

 pense of the cargo. The " HoUinwood," a steel four-masted 

 ship, belonging to Mc Vicar, Marshall, and Co., of Liverpool, 

 sailed from Newcastle, New South Wales, on the 10th Decem- 

 ber, with a crew of thirty-three hands all told, and a cargo of 

 4,060 tons of Caledonian coal, consigned to J. D. Spreckels 

 and Co., of San Francisco. " On the eleventh day out," said 

 the captain, " the thermometer in the ventilating-tubes in the 

 vicinity of No. 2 hatch registered 98°, and upon discovering 

 that my cargo was on fire I determined to put into Lyttelton, 

 New Zealand, which was then only two days' sail distant. 

 Owing to contrary winds, however, five days were consumed 

 in making the port, during which time, of course, I made 

 every effort to keep the fire under control, and successfully. 

 At the recommendation of the surveyors who inspected the 

 vessel at Lyttelton, I discharged all but 1,400 tons of my 

 cargo there. I was fortunate in reaching port when I did, 

 for even while the work of discharging was being proceeded 

 with the heat between decks ran up to 122°. Beyond 

 scorching the paint in the hold, however, the ship sustained 

 no damage, and in accordance with instructions I sailed for 

 San Francisco on the Stli February." 



The "Knight of St. Michael." 

 As supplementary to the burning of the " Eepublic" and 

 the heating of the " Hollinwood's " coal-cargo, I quote the very 

 able report of E. F. Pitman, Esq., Geologist to the Govern- 

 ment of New South Wales (February, 1896), upon the heated 

 coal-cargo of the ship " Knight of St. Michael." I quote this 

 valuable report in full, because it appears to me to describe 

 the causes of the spontaneous combustion of coal-cargoes in a 

 fuller and more lucid manner than any other document I 

 have perused. 



