J 00 On the Means most proper to he resorted to 



fire on board a ship. If the fire cannot be got at, and in- 

 stantly extinguished with a bucket or two ot water, no lime 

 should be wasted in fruitless attempts to reach the spot j 

 for during all this time the prime auxiliary, the most for- 

 midable mgredicnt in the conflagration, viz. the atmo- 

 spheric air, is allowed to pour itself upon the burning ma- 

 terials and to furnish the very essence of the flame, — for the 

 fire IS FURNISHED BY THE Aiu, and not by the wood, tar, 

 c^c. ; a fact too well established to be insisted on here. In- 

 stead of suffering this to take place, all hands should be 

 called up; the ports, hatches. Sec. should be shut, and erery 

 one set to work to stop up with oakum, tallow, pitch, (any 

 thing,) every chink and crevice all over the vessel. She 

 would thus literally become a large extinguisher ; and it 

 would be just as rational to insist that a man could live de- 

 prived of fresh air, as to assert that fire can continue to 

 burn in the interior of a ship when every possibility of a 

 fresh supply of air is thus cut oflf. 



Such is the general principle that ought to direct the pro- 

 ceedings of the officers and crew on every emergency of this 

 kind. They ought all to be drilled to the business, that 

 every one may know the particular station and specific duty 

 allotted to him in case of such an accident taking place. 

 This would be an antidote against that confusion and in- 

 subordination which almost alwavs take place in cases of 

 fire. The means are so infallibly certain in their effect, 

 that not only the oflicers, but a great number of the men 

 would have full confidence in the issue of their exertions; 

 this would insure firmness, and the unrulv would be as ef- 

 fectually kept in order as on any common occasion. 



The general principle we have stated to be, the cutting 

 off evcri/ pQssibililij of a frash supplij of atmospheric air 

 getting into the interior of the ship. But a still further ad- 

 vantage may be taken of the natural laws before examined, 

 so as to hasten the destructh.ni of the whole air contained in 

 the ship, and to render it unfit for maintaining combustion. 

 We have already brought to recollection, that the larger the 

 mass of burning materials compared with the quantity of 

 air present, the sooner will the fire extinguish itself: th'is is 

 a truth that cannot be too forcibly impressed on the minds 

 both of the officeis and crews ; for, however fiercely the 

 fire may be raging below, the sooner will it be extinguished 

 if they can only succeed in making every thing air-tight 

 above decks and round the ship (as the ports, scuttles, scup- 

 pers, wmdows, &c.) : the full conviction of this truth will 

 prevent them from relaxing in their exertions, and wonder- 

 fully 



