Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-04-25
QDgIo Statesrrarr,
THE ASPINWALL HORROR.

ed and Missing.
The European arrived at Aspinwall on
the morning of the I'd inst, and on the af-
ternOon of the same day came alongside
the Railroad COmpany's wharf, generally
used BY this line, and commenced discharg-
ing her cargo. Nearly, if not all, the local
| freight had been delivered, when about Z
o'clock on the morning of the Sd terrible
explosion occurred on board, which tore
| away the upper parts of the ship and blew
away large plates on the side. The wharf
at which the vessel was unloading, and
which was some four hundred feet long,
was literally torn to pieces; the superstruc-
ture was completely demolished to within
hundred feet of the freight-house, and
hardly q plank remained in the entire
J length of the structure which was not
! wrenched from its fastenings. Immediate
| ly in front of where the vessel lay, a gap
was cut through the wharf, piles, planking,
&c, all disappearing. The ship and wharf
both caught fire, and the latter was saved
from entire destruction only by the exer-
| tions of several citizens, who got the fire
engine to work. and after few hours eX-
| tinguished the flames, regardlessOt OF the risk
| they incurred from another explosion OF
| the burning ship. The p. X. X. Co.'S
splendid freight house is left pile of ruins.
| The force of air caused by the conclusion
seems to have raised the roOt-which was
constructed of iron aud slate-upwards, a
| few feet, its own weight bringing IL down
with immense force into the building, and
carrying with both the end walls, leaving
| the house, except the side walls, which APP
pear but little if at all injured mass of
ruins. 1t would be difficult to imagine
more complete wreck than that presented
hut ha frDi ifrh
Scarcely building in the place escaped
without more or less damage, those of
substantial nature suffering most; nearly
all the brick and stone buildings were bad
ly injured; but the freight house is the
only one we have heard of which has been
rendered uninhabitabe. Hardly whole
window of glass remains in the city, and
the destruction of glassware, CrOckery and
such like is really wonderful. Although
many vessels were lying in close prOXimi-
ty to the European at the time OF the dis
aster, none excepting the Caribbean, of the
same line, sustained any serious damage.
The last named vessel was mOOred on the
opposite side of the wharf from the Eu-
rOpean, and received very serious injury.
Her hull externally appears untouched;
but the effect of the conclusion internally
was very severe. We are assured that some
immense iron girders, nearly twelve inches
deep were snapped off like a pipe stem
thirteen of her frames were broken, and
knees and braces of the heaviest timber
were torn from their places. The strain
upon the ship must have been of immense
force, and nothing but the superior build
and structure of the vessel saved her from
being knocked to pieces. All her boats,
and, in fact, every thing of a fragile nature,
were rendered useless
The most awful part of the catastrophe
was the dreadful loss of life and suffering
attending it, OF the number of killed and
missing it is impossible to give Il correct
estimate, but from present data the num-
Der may safely be put down at fifty. and is,
we fear, more likely to prove over this num-
Der than under it. OF the fOrty-one men
comprising the crew OF the European, nine
have been killed and twelve are missing.
Two clerks engaged on the wharf-Mr.
Swanson, of the w. L. & p. Steamship Co.,
and Mr.. Calvo, of the Panama Railroad
Company, were both instantly killed, and
of thirteen natives or Jamaicans employed
on the wharf, and in the freight house,
none are supposed to have been saved be-
sides it is believed small gang of native
laborers who had gone on board the untOr-
tunate steamer had met the fate of the
others. 1t will be several days before
correct estimate can be made of the loss.
Many bodies were no doubt thrown into
the water and picked up by sharks, whilst
others are still buried beneath the ruins of
the freight house and wharf, or went down
with the ill-fated ship. The scene in AS
pinwall, after the first explosion, cannot be
described-it was narrowing in the eX-
treme. Whilst the ruins gave an air of
desoation to the place, the mangled and
laccrated bodies, or pieces of bodies, to be
met with in every direction for great
distance around the ruin of the disaster,
were heart-rending, and the suffering of
the poor mortalS crushed and bruised, in
whom life was not extinct, was really
dreadful
Fears being entertained that second ex-
plosion would occur. and az the cause of the
disaster was still unknown, and none of the
officers or crew of the ship were LETT who
could give any explanation of its cause it
was thought best to have the burning ship
towed into the stream. The royal mail
steamship lamar, Captain MOir which had
arrived the evening previous, Immediately
got up steam, and prepared TO tow out the
burning ship; but before this could be ac-
complished, another explosion took place,
though not of sufficient force to cause any
injury. 1t was supposed to be the maga-
zine, which contained small quantity of
powder for the ships use. The lamar
then made fast to the burning hulk and
towed her out. The two vessels had barely
reached the opposite side of the bay when
another explosion, more terrific than the
first, occurred, but fortunately, the ship be-
ing far from the city and in deep water, no
harm resulted. The last explosion is sup
posed to have broken up the hull, as in less
than halt an hour after itoccurred the un-
fortunate ship went down. The top of her
smoke stack is the only part now visible.
At first the cause of the explosion was
wrapped in mystery, and, as no one was
saved from the wreck who could give any
satisfactory explanation all was left to con-
lecture. A boiler explosion was impossible,
as there was no steam on the main boiler,
and there was no necessity to use the en-
gines, as the ship had been lying at the
whartOver eighteen hours discharging car
go. Gunpowder seemed most plausible,
but there WAS none known to be on board,
excepting few pounds in the magazine for
ship use, Which could not possibly cause
so much destruction. If any were on board |
it must be under a false bill of lading, as
none appeared on the ships manifest. Be-
sides, it seemed impossible powder could
explode in such immense quantities with !
out creating cloud of smoke, and leaving |
its marks on everything around, whereas
in this case few minutes after the explosion
no traces whatever were visible, excepting
the general ruin. 1t was then discoyerd that |
some seventy cases of Glouoine or Nitro
,Glycerine, one of the most powerful ex-
plosive agents known at the present day,
was on board under an ordinary bill Of
lading. This at once cleared up the mys-
terry, This compOund is used for BLASTING |