Omaha daily bee., 1889-09-08
ANTWERP'S HORROR,
. The Great Blaze of Petroleum Still
Raging Furiously.
BIG WAREHOUSES; IN RUINS.
The Exploding Cartridges Kill Many
Sailors in the Harbor.
IMMENSE DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.
Burned Corpses Found Half a Mile
From the Powder Factory.
PLACING THE RESPONSIBILITY.
The Town Council Will Lay the Blame
the Provincial Council-The
Terrible Mine Accident
in Scotland.
The Exploding Cartridges Kill Many
Sailors in the Harbor.
IMMENSE DAMAGE TO PROPERTY.
Burned Corpses f ound Half a Mile
From the Powder Factory.
PLACING THE RESPONSIBILITY.
The Fire Still, Ropine.

ANTWERP, Sept. 7-INew York Herald
Cable-Special to THE BEE. 1.-The horizon is
still blood-red with the glare of the great
fire, which IS even yet raging furiously,
though the petroleum warehouses them
selves are but heap Of ruins 1t appears
that, as q measure of precaution, large
proportion of the forty millions of cartridges
in the Corvlian factory had been buried In
the ground. After the explosion the men
employed in a petroleum warehouse close at
hand turned on the taps Of the reservoirs,
containing millions of gallons of the
liquid, and sent it flowing along the
trenches The petroleum reached the
powder manufactory and penetrated
to where the cartridges were buried
to-day The fire spread to these cartridges.
Frequent and loud reports are heard rs pack
cts of the cartridges explode from time to
time adding to the panic of the population.
Several sailors on board the vessels in the
port have been killed, among them a cabin
boy on board the City of Boston. He was in
the rigging when he was struck by box of
cartridges He fell to the deck below and
death was instantaneous
An English vessel, the Labrador, which
was on the point of. sailing for London with
cargo Of mineral ore, had her deck cabins
in the chest by packet of cartridges and
killed instantly.
The Belgian steamer Prince Albert was
much damaged.
A gang of dockers unloading German
vessel were thrown down into the hold and
three of them were killed by the fall, while
an equal number were seriously injured.
AS cabed last night, the number of win
dows broken Is incalculable Scarcely
shop or cafe can show an intact pane of
4 glass. The number Of persons wounded by
spllnters is immense and at one cafe ver
anda, running along the front, fell, iniuring
a majority of the customers sitting beneath.
Half burned corpses and fragments of hui
man bodies have been found to-day at a dis
tance of nearly half mile away from the
powder factory.
Devolder, minister of justice, who came
here Immediately on receipt of the news Of
the disaster, has wired the king all of the
details. He says that no further danger to
the docks need be apprehended. He speaks
In terms of the highest praise of the truly
admirable conduct of the firemen, soldiers,
hospital surgeonf and authorities.
The funeral Of the victims will take place
on Monday morning. Subscription lists in
favor Of the KILLED and injured are being
widely circulated.
With regard to the question of responsi-
bility, various reports are circulating. 1t Is
authoritatively stated that the city engineer
prepared report to tho effect that the town
would be exposed to great danger were the
permission demanded by the Corvilian
granted. 1t would be worse than folly, he
said, to allow forty million cartridges to be
stored in such close proximity to the
petroleum warehouses. The town council
which meets on Monday, will, it is expected,
ssue proclamation throwing all the re-
sponsibility upon the provincial council. II
is probable that lawsuits will spring out o.
the affair. The Corvilian is naturally moi
held blameless
1t is, however, stated that the cartridges
which We're purchased from the Spanish
government, contained a small quantity o
dynamite; that the Corviian was left in tn,
dark about this fact If it should prove cor
rect it would probably cause storm of in
dignation at the Spanish government, as thu
international convention of Geneva prohib
tied the use of explosive substances in cart
ridges
The Corvilian wasin Paris when lis factor
blew up. He returned here to-day an(
had an interview with the municipal au
tnOTltltS ucIe. Ilc TGluScu w Dc Stcu W
any one else. The popular indignation
against him is very strong, and the fire ha
been famed by the report that he pur
chased cartridges at a cost not exceeding thu
mere value OF the metal. He expected t
make half million francs profit on tn
speculation.
The town is crowded with thousands o
visitors whom the news of the catastroph
has brought from every part of Belgium.
II is believed that the measures alread
taken will be sufficient to prevent the fir
from spreading any further, although it wi
probably last at least twenty -four hour
longer. The chapter of accidents is long an
terrible. 1t is as yet impossible to tell wha
may be the number Of the dead buried be
meath the ruins, but it is certain that a
least two hundred persons perished. Elf
teen Of those who were carried to the no!
pitals have to-day died.
THE SCOTLAND NINE ACCInEN1