SERIOUS FIRE ON BOARD AN
ATLANTIC MAIL  STEAMER
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GREAT EXCITEMENT ON BOARD THE  BURNING
VESSEL. DEATH FROM FRIGHT.
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Our Queenstown correspondent telegraphs that great excitement prevailed  in
Queenstown, yesterday morning when, at eleven o’clock the tender arrived at  
the landing stage from the Guion mail steamer, Nevada, homeward bound from New  
York, and reported that the vessel was on fire and that her crew were in an  
exhausted condition, owing to their efforts to subdue the flames. The agents of
 the Guion company at once engaged a number of stokers and laborers, and sent
 them out, with other assistance to the steamer. It was discovered, however,  
that, thanks to the strenuous efforts of the crew and the assistance of some  
passengers, the fire had been subdued, and at half past two the tender
returned  to Queenstown and landed a number of passengers who had booked for  
Ireland.

Narratives furnished by passengers gave the following account of  the voyage.
The Nevada left New York on Tuesday the 7th inst., with 30 saloon,  ten
intermediate, and 25 steerage passengers. The voyage was an uneventful one  until
Wednesday the 15th, when about noon, just before dinner time, an alarm of  fire
was heard, and smoke was seen to be issuing from  the fore part of the  hold
forward of the engine room. A hasty examination showed that some bales of  
cotton and hops stored in a compartment  by themselves, were well alight.  Great
excitement at once prevailed amongst the passengers and a number of women  
rushed about the deck with their children in their arms imploring the officers  
to save them, and they were pacified with difficulty, and in the meantime the  
crew, ably and coolly directed by the captain and officers, worked with a will
 on the flaming hold. The captain and some of the officers gallantly made
their  way into the hold itself, with the object of ascertaining the exact
dimensions  of the fire; but were half suffocated and compelled to retreat by the
dense and  pungent smoke emitted by the burning cotton. Huge quantities of water
were,  however, poured down the hold; but for some time it apparently had no
effect,  for the fire managed to spread to the other side of the engine-room,
and burned  so fiercely that some of the outside plates of the vessel became
red hot.

 Ultimately, however, the enormous volume of water began to tell, and  at
length the fire had been so far subdued that some of the crew, accompanied by  
several passenger volunteers, penetrated to the hold, previously taking the  
precaution to tie handkerchiefs round their mouths and nostrils, and commenced  
to get out some of the smoldering bales, which, as they were passed on deck,  
were promptly jettisoned. The removal of the upper bales unfortunately caused a
 draught, which caused the lower bales to burn more furiously. The hose was
then  again brought into requisition, and continued to play. Still there were
ten feet  of water in the hold, causing the vessel to settle perfectly, and
necessitating  the employment of a steam pump which thenceforward had to be kept
going day and  night.

 On Thursday morning the cotton was still smoldering, and thirty bales  were
jettisoned. In the evening another fifteen bales were thrown overboard,  
together with a large quantity of bacon. The crew and the volunteers continued  to
work with the hose until the arrival of the vessel at Queenstown yesterday  
morning, by which time, thanks to their labours and the effective use of the  
steam extinguisher, the fire was practically extinguished. It was, however,  
discovered that the vessel had a dangerous list to starboard; but this was  
removed by pumping out the flooded hold, and in the afternoon the vessel  continued
her voyage to Liverpool.

All the passengers speak in terms of the most enthusiastic praise  of the
conduct of the officers and the crew, whose courage and coolness  contributed
more than anything else to allay the natural excitement of the  passengers. None
of the passengers sustained even the slightest injury, bit  Bridget McEUCE, a
consumptive steerage passenger, bound for Ireland, died of  fright and
excitement. Two saloon passengers, Mr. James OGG, of London, and Rev.  James DAVIES,
landed at Queenstown.