Weekly expositor. (Brockway Centre, Mich.) 1882-1894, 1893-11-10
CURRENT CHRONICLE.
Almost TERRIBLE ACCIDENT TO
A SPANISH CITY.
Over 500 People Killed by a ship-Load oil
Dynamite Exploding. THE Stars and
stripe Fired Upon by Honduras.
A yeritlble Volcano.

Over 800 killed outright, over 500
wonDded-many fatally-half city
destroyed by fire is the terribly shock
ing story of the explosion of $50 kegs
of dynamite on a steamer in the port
of Santander, Spain, on the Bay of
Biscay.
The Cabo Machicaco, Spanish
steamship, caught fire while the
steamer was alongside the quay dis
charging part of her cargo, which
comprised nearly 1900 tons of mer-
chandise, consisting of iron ore, a num-
Der of sacks of flour, barrels of wine,
many cases of petroleum and over 500
cases of dynamite of which only 20
cases were declared on the steamers
manifest. The remaining $50 cases of
dynamite were contra band and, to the
shame of the shippers it has caused the
immense loss of life and vast damage
TO property.
The crew attempted to fight the fire
for time, but had to send out an
alarm. The local authorities did their
utmost, but could not kill the flames
and shey finally dispatched tug to
tow the vessel away from the quay to
prevent the fire spreading to other YES
sells and adjoining property. In the
meantime thousands of people had
crowded down to the quay attracted
by the fire on board the steamer. The
fire spread quickly and ignited the
petroleum which formed part of the
cargo. At about 1880 p III. detona-
ton on board the steamer she wed that
the boiler had burst and soon after
there was another terrible explosion.
the steamer seemed TO open in half,
sending blaze of fire skyward. Then
came a report of such awful intensity
that it shook the earth for miles
around, caused houses to totter,
smashed every window within the RAJ
dius of a rifle shot, filed the air with
an immense mass of flying iron ore
burning wood, blackened timbers and
seorched beams and mangled, bleeding
human bodies.
The force of the exploding dynamite
caused such a conclusion that in addi-
ton to shaking hundreds of buildings
off their foundations, it actually sank
a hundred small craft in the harbor, in
addition TO setting fire TO a large num-
Der of other vessels and starting flames
upon several of the larger ships, in
Guiding the Alfonso NIL, which vessel
caught fire SO suddenly and burned so
lives on board of her. A train from
the province which was just arriving
at the railroad station when the
steamer blew up experienced the force
of the explosion, was wrecked and set
fire to and the majority of its passen-
gers were burned to death before any
assistance could be furnished them.
The effect of the explosion upon the
inhabitants of Santander was bewil-
dering in the intensity. For some time
after the disaster the people were pos
itively stunned with dismay and hor-
ror and then followed a panic during
which hundred people are reported
to have gone stark mad while the vast
majority was SO paralyzed with fear
and shock that they were incapable of
moving to the assistance of the dying
or of making any effort TO eXtinguish
the flames whtcn sprang up from a
mass of buildings and which began to
spread with the most threatening ra-
pidity.
Among the killed were Marquis
Pombo, also the governor of the prov
vince, leading municipal officers, col
onel and chief officers of the civic
guards who were experimenting the
fighting of the fire.