The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1893-11-11
.SANTANDER'S HORROR.
Fearful Explosion ofDynamite Fol
lowed by Many Fires,
FULLY FIVE HUNDRED KILLED,

FULLY FIVE HUNDRED KILLED.
nIanrled Bodies aud Burning Timbers
Sent Flying Through the Alr-The EH-
piosive Was Illegally on Board YES
sci Disohargins Her Cargo.
MADRID, Nov. o.-The terrible disaster
which has wrecked the port Of santander
and destroyed hundreds Of lives has sent a
thfill Of horror throughout Spain.
The story Of this great disaster. in brief,
"a as followsi
The Cabo Machiohaco,a Spanish steamer
belonging to Bilbao, caught fire while the
steamer was at the quay side discharging
part Of her cargo, which comprised 1900
tons Of merchandise, though the main
part Of the cargo was iron ore and a num-
ber Of sacks Of -four, barrels Of twine,
many eases Of petroleum and over 800
cases Of dynamite, Of which only twenty
eases were declared on the steamers man
fest Tho remaining 4sO cases Of dynamite
were contraband.
The Gre was first discovered In the coal
bunkors, and Ia said to have been due
either 10 spontaneous combustion or to
carelessness on the part Of the engineers.
In any case flames broke out from the
bunkers, and soon ragged so fercely as to
be boyond the control Of the ships crew,
though the latter promptly took steps to
smother the fire. Finally, seeing that the
fire was spreading in the bunkers and that
ths smoke was rising. the local authori
tiss were notified the fire department and
detachment of the civic guard being
sent 70 the scene.
The provincial governor, who was one
Of the first to reach the spot, displayed the
greatest activity in directing the opera
tions, aud upon learning that the ships
manifest showed that there was dyna-
mite on board the fremen were directed to
assist the crew in bringing this explosive
matter ashore This was done in safety,
Il being believed that no more dynamite
was on board, and a tug which had been
hastily summoned to the spot was or
dered 10 tow the burning vessel out into
me bay,
The fire from the ships bunkers spread
quickly and ignited the petroleum which
formed part Of the cargo. and which the
authorities had for some reason failed to
move when the twenty cases Of dynamite
was taken ashore.
About 4,9o p. m detonatlon on board
the steamer showed, RS 1t afterwards
turned out, that the boilers had burst. and
tonation heard.
The scene following the blowing up OF
the steamer is almost indescribable, and
the effect Of the explosion of $50 cases oil
dynamite will hardly be believed. The
power Of the explosion shot tons Of iron
Into the air, where it mingled with thI
burning fragments Of the steamer, tue
and wooden quay, as wei as with thu
manpled bodies Of hundreds Of unfor
tunato people who were hurled upward al
the same time, and the falling Of this hor
rible mass can be better imagined thar
described.
Over the adjoining buildings, totterinl
with wreckago, fell a shower of iron, fol
lowed by huge pieces Of wood and the re
mains Of human bodies. and above al
dropped flaming splinters, which set fir
to hundreds of buildings, causing a soen
Of panic similar, ono would imagine. t,
one which would have succeeded the burst
ing forth Of volcano at the waters edge
The force of the exploding dynamic
caused such a conoussiOn that in addition
to shaking hundreds of buildings off thei
foundations IL sank hundred small Graf
in the harbor, in addition to setting fire h
a large number of other vessels, including
the Alfonso XII, which vessel caught fir
90 suddenly and burned so hercely tina
forty OF her crew lost their lives on boar
Of her
The effect of the explosion upon the in
habitants Of Santander was bewilderin
in the intensity. For some time after tn
disaster the people were stunned with dii
may, and then followed a panic, durin
which hundred people are reported
have gone stark mad.
The quay and promenade close to tn
nf ha ,rra1o Of ha 1re
siokening sights ever witnessed. ManRle
and blackened corpses were scattered her
and there, or were in heaps,in many case
upon the wounded and dying, whose feal
ful shrieks of agony filled the air an
struck terror into the hearts of those VIII
after a time summoned sufficient courRg
70 venture near the carnage ground.
A train from the province which wa
iust arriving at the station when the Cal
Maehiohaco blew up was set hre to- an
the majority of its passengers were burne
10 death before any assistance could
furnished them.
Soon after the explosion whole bloch
upon Mendez Nunez street, parallel wit
the quay, were blazing, and other portion
Of the city were in flames No one dare
or cared to make any attempt to stay tt
HpReRd Of the conhagrRtion, and those WI
80 ran wildly about the town crying
horrihed accents the news OF the disast
TO those who had rushed from their hOus
into the streets In alarm, fancying th
the end Of the world had come.
The shower of iron from the dynami
laden stsamer fell on nearly all Of Il
the town and injured buildings at
great distance. Some idea Of the force
the explosion can be formed from Il
fact that man was killed by piece
falling iron at Pena Castillo. tive xii
meters distant from where the steam
blew up.
Another remarkable effect of the expl
sion is that the unfortunate steamer a
chored nearby was blown in the air
force Of the dynamite, causing the anch
to fall In a street 500 yards away fro
where the explosion took place In fallil
the anchor smashed a stone balcony In
pieces and sank deep into the stone pay
msnt below.
The explosion lifted the sea up into {
air like a waterspout, mingling Onormo
quantities OF mud and stones with /
wreckage, and hurling them for a gre
distance on every side
Two seamen who escaped from the q
Mantle laden steamer have arrived
Bilboa, after having been blown up
that vessel and thrown = great disthn
out to sea, falling among a mass Of hui
l ing wreokage One of the sesmen has
hair badly singed and the other hAs
arm injured. Both assert that the orr
Of the dynamite ship were ignorant Of t
presence Of the contreband dynamite
II, board Of her.
The loss OF life by the ditaster Is know
be fully 800, while over a thousand he
- ttooived Injuries which In hundreds
Gases viii cripple them for life, while ma
are dying Of their wounds.
PHILADELPHIA, Nov. S.--A mysterio
robbery OF 500 IN gold ooiu from the b hoJ
461 North Third street on the night Of o
20 and the alleged stabbing Of John Gro
who reported the theft, nave been
planned by the arrest Of Cross and his o,
fession that he stole the cash and abb
himself in order 20 make tho affair lo
genuine. The gold was the property
John Welsmau Cross fatdar-ln-laW. Or
was held IN 81 900 bail for trial
GRERNsBURG, Pa, Nov. 9.-An unkno
man committed suicide on the public re
two miles east OF here last evening.
was nearly six feet tall mad a black m
taohe, and was well dressed, In his pocl
was found a letter saying; &" l. the suioi
wish my body buried without an autop
as the cause OF my death is apparent, WI
say that | deliberately pointed the pis
70 my right temple and fired" The let
was signed "Only a Suicide
BBADDoCK, Pa, Nov. 9-Furnacos
the Edgar Thomson Steel works blew
yesterday afternoon, causing a terri
disaster. The noise OF the explos
created a panic among the HunRaril
who live near the furUngeg and the n