Fire was discovered on board the Peking soon after 4 o'clock on Monday morning, but the Fire Bells did not ring til nearly 5: The first intimation the officers of the ship had that their vessel was on fire was when one of the quarter-masters went and informed the Chief Officer. He jumped out of his hunk and woke the second officer by hammering at the partition between the two cabins. They then rushed on deck and saw a column of flame coming up out of the port
They got some of the sailors to work, and the goal bunkerhateh justabaft the mate's room, two officers with four sailors did what they could to kill the tames which had now attacked the wood work and the spar deck on which were the boats. The flames which came out of the bunker hatch reached these boats and set them on fire, besides igniting the wood work of the houses on this spar deck. They succeeded in arresting the flames in this direction. Meanwhile the chief engineer called the other engineers, but when they came out of their rooms on the starboard side, they were met by a dense volume of smoke curling aft. The second mate made an attempt to get into his room to save his papers; he succeeded in his effort, but his hair, eyebrows and moustache were singed. Hand pumps were brought into requisition but they would not work. Some of the other ships sent assistance, and a number of hand-grenades were thrown, but beyond deadening the fire for a for moments, they had no further effect.
The watchman on board the Police Hulk saw the fire at "n early stage, and Inspector Mack sent one of his foreign assistants to the Fire Float off the Foochow Jetty and also to the Central Police Station to give the alarm. A policeman on duty in the Gardens also saw the flames and he went appears to have been some uncertainty about to the Lyceum Theatre fire alarm, but there
1 communication sent, and the Hongkew Station was telephoned toforfurther information. The reply was, through some mistake, returned to the effect that there was no fire in Hongkew. Just after that, two policemen, in breathless haste, rushed into the station reporting the fire. 'Then the General Alarm was given, butit was then close upon o'clock. It seems that people on board the steamer had told the watchman at the China 'Merchants' Central Wharf where the Peking was at the time, to go to the Station and report. The watchman said he had despatchede messenger, but this individual did. not go, which accounts for the oticer on duty at the Station being so Jong in ignorance of the fire. The Peking rang her bell to attract attention but this could not be heard at any distance, Mr. Ashley, the Chief Engineer of the Fire Department, was the first fireman on the scene, and was followed in a remarkably short time by some of the members of No. 2 Ca, who had water playing on the flames before the Fire Bells had ceased tolling. Their hose was taken on the par deck and water poured down the engine room skylight after the fire in the Durning boats had been extinguished, as it was found the flames were proceeding from the stoke hold. Soon after this the "Deluge" Company got a couple of streams on, and were. followed by. the "Victorias and the Mik-ho-loong. Tous of water were poured down the strike hole and coal bunkers till there was eight feet of water at the forward part of this stoke hole, and all the danger was over. In ad-to the land engine companies the by steam float and the Fokelin poured water on the flames, holes having been cut in the main deck for the purpose. At one time, during the early part of the fire, the flames flared op half way. up the, funnel, that is about thirty feet high, but it did not last Jong, though an immense volume of smoke continued to rise.
The origin of the fire is unknown, but it is surmised that it was the result of spontaneous combustion of the couls, which, however, had been turned over no later thun Saturday. It is also reported that those was sume smuggled saltpetre in the bunkers, Although there were seven telephon within easy distance of the fire yesterday, nobody thought of making use of them to communicate with the Police, If this had been done, there would not have been nearly so much delay.
Since writing the above we have heard that the Police were aware of the fire at 4.30 am, but it was mistaken for the furnace over at Boyd's yard. The China Merchants have no hydruits on the premises of the Central Wharf, which is a great disadvantage in case of fires, because the street hydrants are sometimes choked with stones, as was the case with one of them yesterday morning. The cargo of the Peking has been found not to be damaged.
The damage done to the Peking consists, so far as we could ascertain, as follows Two boats on the spar deck destroyed, and the woodwork of the deck house on the spar deck: the main deck is in some places met by the heat, the houses on this deck on the port side amidships are much burnt as also all the wood work in the engine room and the contents of the engineers' store room. The hull of the steamer on the port side is bulged out by the intense heat, and the engines themselves are damaged, it is feared.
The George Washington was burnt and sunk in November 1874 while \ying at the Old Dock Wharf a few yards from where the Peking was moored on Monday,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.