The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1875-12-18 00:00:00

TLRRIBLE EXPLOSION AND LOSS OF

LIFE.

A teliible calamity occurred on Saturday at Bre-
merhaven. A case of dynamite was lying on the
quay among the luggage of the passengers about to
proceed to New York by the Mosel, a sister ship of the
Deutschland, and it exploded just as the Mosel was
being hauled out of dock. Sixty-eight persons were
killed and thirty five wounded, mostly spectators from
Bremerhaven. Four passengers, however, were killed.

The following official statement of the fearful explosion
has been received from Bremen :

"On Saturday forenoon the North German Lloyd
steamer Mbsel was ready to sail for New York.
The passengers who had come down from Bremen
were nearly all on board, but some were still
ashore taking leave of their friends, and looking
after their luggage. The tug boat Simeon was close
to the big steamer to tow her from the ante-harbour
of the new port into the roadstead. ri he luggage
and packages were being carted from the Lloyd's
luggage sb d to be placed on the steamer. A
fresh cart-load arrived, and the packages were
thrown down, when, sudilenly. a terrible ex-
plosion was heard. Fearfully mutilated corpses
and human limbs were flying shout; the whole deck
of the Simson was bl,wn away; and it is stated
that the Mosel had some of her iron ribs broken.
Most of the skylights were broken, and several boats
and the rigging were damaged. Many of the passen-
gers and crew were killed and wounded—viz., 60 killed
and 40 wounded. The first, third, and fourth officers
of the Mosel were killed. Captain Leist was stunned,
but otherwise uninjured.

A later telegram says that harrowing particulars
have been received in Berlin respecting the dynamite
explosion at Bremerhaven. Sixty-eight were killed,
35 more or less hurt, and eight were &ming. The
total number of victims. is 111. Of the 6i corpses found
only 32 had been identified. The appearance of the
vessel after the accident, with the dead and mutilated
in a confused mass, and the fragments of the shattered
vessels, was awful beyond description.

The Mosel, says the Weser Gazette, was ready to
commence her journey on Saturday forenoon. The
steam tug Simson lay under under her bows, having to
tug the Mosel through the ice into the channel.
At the last moment two waggons came on from Lloyd's
hall, one with mail goods, the other with passenger's
luggage, both to be shipped. The whole was taken
towards the steamer by carts, and when the last
of these, with four Cases and a barrel, was unloaded
in front of the Mosel a stupendous explosion took place.
The effect was horrible. The quay was then thronged
with people, partly belonging to the steamer, partly
spectators, and partly passengers who had remained
there to take a last farewell of their friends. An
ocular witness who stood under the gangway of the
Mosel, on hearing the terrific report, saw a number of
black lumps flying about in the air, whilst very few
of the persons on land remained visible. Apprehend-
ing a boiler explosion, he threw himself flat on deck,
where he received a volley of Band, broken glass, frag-
ments of flesh, bones, &c. The devastation on board
the Mosel was terrific. No skylight was left; the
cabins aft, starboard and port, were either crushed in or
bulged out by the pressure, or altogether smashed ; the
side plates of the ship were burst: the ports, with their
glasses and rivets, forced inwards; and the whole ship
was besmeared with blood and stuck over with pieces
of flesh and other human clabris. In the hold and all
parts of the ship were fund arms, legs, and other por-
tions of the human frame; thus the lower hold re-
ceived some limbs through the open hatchways. The
e'des of the hatchways were burst by the pressure,
and the front of the navigation cabin on deck stove
in. The whole ship was littered with glass shreds,
which even filed the dishes flora the steam
kitchen as they were being served to the 'tween
deck or steerage passengers. The tug got off com-
paratively unhurt, being so much more below the
quay line than the Mosel; still the whole of its deck
was destroyed. The crew came off with a mere
fright, only the engineers and stokers having been
hurt slightly. On land, where the package had been
unloaded, a hole had been produced from six to seven
feet deep, which looked as if the earth had been rammed
in from above. The whole place was strewn with
limbs, shreds of dress, &c. In large reeking pools of
blood you might see here an arm, there a calf, intes-
tines, mutilated busts, &c. Amongst the most
horrible details of this calamity is the fate of the
Etmer family, who were seeing off one of their sons
to California. The father, mother, son, and son-in-
law are dead, all four; the daughter-in-law has had
her arm, and her child its hand blown off.