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52 The Marine REVIEW THE WHITE STAR LINE 'STEAMER WAUKETA ON THE 20TH DAY. THE PREVENTION OF FIRE - ABOARDSHIP. The loss of life and property by fire at sea during the past year should bring forcibly to the attention of the ship owner and builder the necessity of equipping vessels with some relia- ble fire detecting appliances. There are no persons more helpless in the face of an overwhelming conflagration than' the master and crew of a ves- sel; and, particularly, if the vessel should 'happen to be a freighter and no reinforcements of the fire fighting force are to be had. From time to time cases of fire at sea have been reported in which the master and of- ficers have been overcome by tthe dense smoke and fumes while directing the efforts of the crew, a most dan- gerous condition where the men with the hose and hatchet are accustomed to looking to their superiors for all = orders and are practically at a loss when left to their own devices even for a short period. : In vessels not equipped with any fire detecting device, a fire may be smoldering and spreading some con- siderable time before the smoke or heat should make its presence known, and, when discovered, may have gained considerable headway. Again, it takes but the faintest smell of burning to throw a shipful of passen- gers into a condition of unreasonable excitement, and fortunate indeed are the officers of vessels in the passenger service who have not had the task of dispelling the fears of several hundred excited men and women. Damage by fire aboardship totals up in the course of a year to a consider- able item, yet, as is also the case on land, much more damage is often done ' THE WHITE THE WHITE STAR LINE STEAMER WAUKETA ON THE 20TH DAY. <. STAR LINE STEAMER WAUKETA ON THE 20TH DAY. by the material used in extinguishing the flame than is done by the flames themselves. On the majority of ves- sels steam flooding and hose connec- tions are provided for the cargo spaces, and at the first sign of an out- burst of fire every means provided to suppress it are brought into play. The fire may be soon under control, but the damage done to the freight in the hold by the steam and water is oft- times disastrous. The remedy, therefore, seems to be provision of an efficient fire detecting system, a system which will not only announce the presence of fire, but will forewarn of the approach of fire by announcing a rise in temperature dangerously near the point of ignition. A device of this type which has met with considerable approval, though of comparatively recent adaptation to ship