Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1866-05-03
NITRO-GLYCERLNE.

occurred at Aspinwall On Tuesday n 3rnlng
the Sd inst, by the explosion OF the DrNIoh
steamer European, causing the toiat
strnctjou of the ship, and the loss OF tne
lives Of her captain and the majority OF her
oefcars and crew. as we'll as of several per-
sons resident in Aspinwall, besides DONG an
;oroense amount of damage to property On
sh ore.
Immediately after the intelligence was
teIeora nbed to Panama, we proceeded to
Aspinwal TO ascertain as correctly as posi-
the fnll extent of the damage, particulars
Of which we are now able to place before
our readers.
THE EXPLOSION.
TIE European arrived at Aspinwal on the
morning Of the "a inst, and on the afternoon
Of the same day came alongside the railroad
conpany's wharf, generally used by this
line, and comm enced discharging her cargo.
Nearly, If not all, the local freight had been
delivered, when sbout7 o'clock on the morn
ing Of the I'd, terrific explosion occurred
On board, which tore away the upper parts
OF the ship and blew away large plates of
the side. The wharf ut which the vessel
was unloading, and which was some AGO feet
long, was literally torn to pieces; the SUPER
structure was completely demolished TO
within 100 feet OF the freight-house, ard
hardly plank remained in the entire length
OF the structure which was not wreAched
from ita fastenings. Immediately in front
of where the vessel lay, gap was cut thro'
the wharf, piles, plankIng. etc, ali disap-
pearing. The ship and wharf both caught
fire, aud the latter was saved from entire
destruction only by the ezertions Of several
citizens, who got the fire engine TO work, and
after few hours extinguished the flames,
regardless Of the risk they incurred from
another explosion Of the burning ship The
2 K. Il. Co 5 splendid freight house is lett
O pile of ruins The force Of air caused by
the conclusion seems to have raised the roof
which was constructed of iron and slate
upwards, a few feet, its own weight bring
ing it down with immense force into the
building, and carrying with il both the end
walls, leaving tae house, excepting the side
walls, which appear but little, if at ell in
jured, mass OF ruins. 1t would be difficult
to imagine more complete wreck than that
presented by the freight-house and wharf
DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY.
Scarcely building in the place escaped
without more or less damage, those of a
substantial nature suffering most; nearly all
the brick and stone buildings were badly
injured but the freight-bouse is the only
one we heard Of which was rendered unin-
habit&ble. 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 proximity to the European at
the time Of the disaster, none excepting the
Caribbean, Of the same line, sustained any
serious damage. The last-named vessel was
moored at the opposite side of the wharf
from the European, and received very seri-
GUS injury. Her hull externally appears
untouched; but the effect Of the conclusion
internally very severe. We are assured
that some immense iron Orders, nearly II
inches deep, were snapped off like pipe
stems; IL 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, everything Of fragile nature,
were rendered useless.
DREADFUL LOSS OF LIFE.
The most awful part of the catastrophe
<
attending it. OF the number Of killed and
missing it is impossible to give q correct es-
innate, but from present data the number
may be safely put down at fifty, and is, we
fear, more likely to prove over this number
than under it. Of the forty one men COM
prising the crew of the European, nine
have been killed and twelve are missing.
Two clerks engaged on the wharf-Alr.
= 81 Id De- Go
Steamship 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 besides it is believed a small gang of
native laborers who had gone on board the
unfortunate steamer have met the fate Of the
others. 1t will be several days before cor
rect estimate can be made of the loss.
Many bodies were no doubt thrown into the
water and picked up by sharks, whilst 9TH
ers are still buried beneath the ruins CT the
freight-house and wharf. or went down with
the Inflated ship. The scene in Aspinwall,
after the first explosion, cannot be described
lit was narrowing in the extreme Whilst
the ruins gave an air of desolation to the
place, the mangled and lacerated 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.
a SECOND EXPLOSION FEARED.
Fears being entertained that second ex-
piosion would occur, and as the cluse of the
disaster was still unknown, and none OF the
officers or crew of the ship were left who
cou Id give any explanation of the cause, ii
was thought best 10 have the burning ship
towed INFO the stream The royal mail
steamship lamar. Capt. Moir, which has
arrived the evening previous, Immediately
got up steam and prepared to tow out The
burning ship; but before this could be ac-
plished another explosion took place, though
not of sufficient force TO cause any injury.
II was supposed 10 be the magazine which
contained small quantity of powder fer
ships use. The lamar then made fast to
the burning hulk and towed her out. The
two vessels had barely reached the opposite
eide of the bay when another explosion
more terrific than the frs; occurred, but
fortunately the ship being far from the city
and in deep water no harm resulted. The
last explosion is supposed to have broken
up the hull, as in less than half an hour the
unfortunate 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 an
gines, as the ship had been lying at the
wharf over eighteen hours discharging
cargo. Gunpowder seemed most plausible,