The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1893-11-10
SANTANDER' HORROR.
Fearful Explosion of Dynamite Fol
lowed by Many Fires.
FULLY FIVE HUNDRED KILLED.

Mangled Bodies and burning Tinbers
Sent Flying Through tho Alr-The Ex-
plosive Was Illegally on Board Yes
sol Discharging Her Cargo.
MADRID, Nov. 6.-The terrible disaster
which has wrecked the port of Santander
and destroyed hundreds of lives has sent
thrill of horror throughout Spain
The story of this great disaster, in brief,
is as follows:
The Cabo Machichaco, "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 mum.
Der of sacks of -four, barrels Of Irvine,
many cases OF petroleum and over SOC
cases of dynamite, of which only twenty
cases were declared on the steamers man
tfest. The REMAINING 4SO cases of dynamite
were contraband
The fire was first covered in the coal
bunkers, and Is said to have been due
either to 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 az to
be beyond the control of tho ships crew,
though the latter promptly took steps to
o. Il ",
drc was spreading in the bunkers and that
the smoke was rising. the local authori
ties were notified, the fire department aud
. detachment of the civic guard being
sent to the scene. 1rtft0
The provincial governor, who was one
OF the first to. reach the spot, displayed the
greatest activity in directing the opera
tionB, and upon learning that the ships
manifest showed that thore was dypa-
mite on board the firemen wero directed to
assist the crew in bringing this explosive
matter ashore. This was done in safety,
It being believed that no more dynamite
was on board, and tug which had been
hastily summoned to the spot was or
dered to tow the burning vessel out into
the 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 $3.50 p. m. detonation on board
the steamer showed, as it afterwards
turned out, that the boilers had burst and
soon after there was another terrible de-
donation heard.
The scene following the blowing I'D of
the steamer is almost Understandable, and
the effect Of the explosion of 400 cases of
dynamite will hardly be believed Thn
power OF the explosion shot tons of irot
into the air, where it mingled with the
burning fragments of the steamer, tug
and wooden quay, as we'll as with the
mangled bodies of hundreds of unfor-
tunate people who were hurled upward at
the same time, and the falling of this hor-
rible mass can be better imagined than
described ~ fsvs
Over the adjoining buildings, lettering
with wreckage, fell a shower of iron, fol-
lowed by huge pieces of wood and the re-
mains Of human bodies, and above all
dropped flaming splinters. which set fire
to hundreds of buildings, causing a scene
of panic similar, one would imagine, to
one which would have succeeded the burst
ing forth OF volcano at the waters edge.
The force of the exploding dynamite
caused such q conclusion that In addition
to shaking hundreds of buildings Off their
foundations It sank hundred small craft
In the harbor, in addition to setting fire to
large number of other vessels, including
the Alfonso XII, which vessel caught fire
so suddenly and burned so fieroely that
forty OF her crew lost their lives on board
Of her. tl
The effect of the explosion upon the in
habttants of Santander was bewilderfng
in the intensity. For some time after the
disaster the people were stunned with dis
may, and then followed a panic, during
which hundred people are reported to
have gone stark mad.
The quay and promenade close to the
scene of the explosion was one of the most
sickening sights ever witnessed ManRled
and blackened corpses were scattered here
and there, or were in heaps, in many cases,
upon the wounded and dying, whose fear
full shrieks of agony filled the air and
struck terror into the hearts of those who
after time summoned sufficient courage
to venture near the carnage ground.
A train from the province which was
Just arriving at the station when the Cabo
Machtchaco blew up was set fire to, and
the majority of its passengers were burned
to death before any assistance could be
furnished them.
Soon after the explosion whole blocks
upon Mendez Nunez street, parallel with
the quay, We're blazing, and other portions
OF the city were in flames. No one dared
or cared to make any attempt to stay the
spread of the confiagration, and those who
preserved enough presence of mind to do
SO ran wildly about the town crying in
Mortified accents the news Of the disaster
to those who had rushed from their houses
into the streets in alarm, fancying that
the end of the world had come
The shower, of iron from the dynamite
laden steamer fell on nearly ali of the
the town and injured buildings at a
great distance. Some idea of the force of
the explosion can be formed from the
fact that man WAS killed by a piece of
falling iron at Pena' Castillo, two kilo-
meters distant from where the steamer
blew up.
Another remarkable effect of the explo-
sion is that the unfortunate steamer an