New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1893-11-06
THE HORROR AT SANTANDER
MORE THAN 100 BODIES FOUND
APPALLING SCENES AFTER THE DYNAMITE
EXPLOSION on SHIPBOARD.

ATOMS-THE PRESENCE OF DYNAMITE CON-
CEALED-THE QUAY. CROWDED WITH
SPECTATORS LIFTED BODILY-MORE
THAN 100 HoC.>Ns BURNED
MANY PERSONS MAZE
INSANE.
Madrid Nov 5--An official dispatch from San
tander this evening says that the bodies of lG5
persons killed by the dynamite explosion aboard
ship there Friday night have been recovered The
search is still in progress. Many persons are miss
ing At present 100 persons under treatment
for injuries received by the explosion. The damage
10 property amounts to several million francs.
Dispatches from Santander this evening conirm
the report OF last night that the vessel which
was blown up the CabJ Machcaco she was
discharging 1000 tons of iron and many barrels or
petroleum and flour. and several wine sacks The
captain had declared only twenty cases of dyna-
mite otherwise he would not have been allowed TO
enter the dock The FIRE started at three o'clock on
Friday afternoon in the coal bunkers The customs
officers and police FASTENED to remove the twenty
cases of dynamite. which soon were landed at
safe distance from the vessel a tug was then
chartered to tow the Cabo Machicaco seaward
Meantime desperate efforts had been made to
auench trA flames The captain and crew of the
steamer Alfonso XII boarded the burning vessel
10 help fight the flames They worked Tor an hour
and a half without success. AT the enc OF that
time the fire reached the petroleum.
There were a series OF awful explosions. the
flames went from barrel-to barrel of petroleum until
they reached the contraband dynamite The tug
had lust been moored alongside the vessel. and
many townspeople had gone aboard either 10 satisfy
their curiosity or to help extingush the fire
Then came the explosion OF the dynamite. All
the persons on board the Cabo Machcaco and many
along the dock blown to atoms The tug
vanished The quay. with its enormous crowd OF
spectators rose slowly in the air The people were
into fha nd llpon
the land Frebrands fell In showers for radius
of mile and a half The Cabo Machcacos an
chor was hurled 500 yards and fell on the balcony
OF a house. which it completely wrecked 1t then
sank deep in the pavement below.
The shock felt in every part of the city
Houses rocked to their foundations. and more than
100 were set on fire by falling firebrands The de-
struction in the harbor was equally appalling. Inc
launch of the steamer Alfonso NIL which was
lying alongside and which contained all of the
crew not aboard the Cabo Machcaco, vanished with
the others The survivors ashore fed shriekins
leaving the promenade adjoining the quay strewh
with the dead and dying, and with fhe maneled
remnants of human bodies Wherever the TERMED
fugitves turned they only frghtful destruction
Horror was added to horror in the wrecked ana
burning buildings, from which came piteous cries
for help. Many OF the fugtives were thrown down
and trampled upon. a large number are salo to
have lost their reason The people were 100 panic
stricken to think of anything but saving their own
or relatives lives, and ignored their burning prop
erty.
When at last a few persons, with some presence
of mind collected IL was resolved 10 telegraph an
appeal for help to the Government ana 10 the
municipal authorities Of other cities Every a'~n-
able surgeon was summoned to the scene. ana such
supplies of medicine stlmulants, bandages. etc,
as could be hurriedly collected were distributed
where they would do he most good
when night fell the sky luridy reflected the fires
burning fercey in various parts OF the city. Meh-
dez Nunez-st.. running parallel with the quay
was ablaze from end TO END. In the Dihdihs Hs'''
and heat the bands OF rescuers worked TO eXtrcate
the dead and injured. on ever side were scenes
of indescribable confusion and overwhelm ns gflel
The fire burned unchecked throughout the night
Block after block sank in ruins. Every street near
the waterfront was filed with the noise of crash
ing buildings The people terror-stricken
Thousands abandoned their homes ana led 10 lhe
fields or outlying villages Others remained to
search frantically among the heaps OF ruins ana
hals-burned bodes for their lost friends or reIa1
tives ChiidIen "hose no csTIgng for bep Dur
Ing Saturday morning as many Of them as pos
slSe ~ere ,oSeS In the afternoon many injured
persons I insane from terror or pain. were found
crouching in alleyways ana outhouses Tar from 'e
santander to-day has been like city, Of the
dead and dying. All shops have remained closea; seq
mourners still looking for their dead in the ruins
Most OF the houses St ssnag ARE bo as G p1 the
night Of the fire have been afraid 70 return to the
m
Many remarkable escapes have been reported:
One man in the crowd on the quay was thrown
high In the air, came down upon load OF Vege,,
tables and was able TO scramble 10 his feet and
r,p swav avn Another man in the crowd hurled
into the sea grasped piece OF hoatlng timber
and swan back to land at some dlstance from inc
Snot where the explosion occurred. He was too
yeak 10 climb the seawall and remained benumbed
and half-unconscious in the water , lot hve hours
hefore ne was rescued. A father was seen carrying
home wounded daughter When ne arrived ne
found the house In flames: WINE watching thc
Ara almos, deuented. the girl died In MS arms
" n is stated that contraband dynamite was con-
csaled beneath a lot of iron and rawhides in the
iowar hold OF the Cabo Machcaco, adjoining the
bunker In which the fire started The reports con.
ficf regarding the storage OF the contraDand
dvnamite anC the quantity of the explosive AL
MOST evervhodv who could throw any light upon
The matter ircluding the customs oincers was
killed Eye-witnesses say that the eHect OF the
EXPLOSION resembled the result OF violent earth-
o,ska Water mud and stones from the bottom
OF the harfor were thrown high in the air as II by
a vast geyser N .aor, tho,
they were aboard the steamer Cabo Macnlc"co
have arrived here They say they were thrown
great distance seaward by the explosion ldiling x
among a mass of floating wreckage which was sun
burning They swan together a long uine, redch
ing a point miles beyond Santander, from which
coach They declare that they dld not kno" 'heie
was any dynamite aboard the Cabo Machcaco pc
yond the twenty cases which were Idhieo. - Il"
minutes before the explosion according 10 these
seamen the mate rushed on deck, shouting 10
everybody to leave the ship instantly as the llTe
was reaching the dynamite A desperate s,rngggie
ensued to get ashore. but very few escaped me
two seamen who tell this story were badly injured
and are in a detected condition. They say the sea
WIS strewn with dead bodies and Wreckage OF all
kinds They about thirty bodies thrown from
the quay. several being bodies OF women claSplhS
children in their arms.