Morning journal and courier., 1893-11-06
HUNDREDS WE'RE KILLED.

HUNDREDS WE'RE KILLED.
Spain-A Vessel Takes FIre-Thous-
ands of People Gather at the
Water Front to Watch 1.-THE
Vessel Was Loaded with Dyna-
mite That Exploded3ia Scattering
Death and estrnetiOn Right and
Left-The Town Soon In Flames
Women and Children In an Agony
of Fear-A Girl Dies In Her Faith
er,s Administrations Escape OF
Men Blown High In the Air-Two
Sailors From the Vessel Were
Blown Far From Their Ship and
Found Themselves in a Mass of
wreckage-Many of tho Buildings
in the Town Are Sill Burning
Search is Going on for Bodies.
SANLANDER, Spain, Nov. 5.-A terrible
explosion occurred here Friday night. The
ship Csbo Machicaoo, with a cargo
of dynamite, Was lying at a quay.
In some way she caught fire. A
large crowd soon gathered, and the
police, who were unaware of the dan
gercus character of the ships cargo, made
no attempt to drive them away. The gov
ernor of the province personally directed
the efforts of the fremen to extipguish the
flames.
Suddenly there was a terrific explosion
that shook the city to its foundations.
Every house around the quay was wrecked.
1t ia estimated late tonight that 800 per-
sons were killed. Many more are missing,
bat most of them are believed to have
gone to the houses of friends after their
own homes were destroyed. Among the
dead are the project, the chief of police,
and two judges. Sixty houses were
wrecked.
A train which was entering the station
when the explosion occurred was fired by
the flying pieces of burning wood. The
station began to burn a moment later. The
station master was burned to death and
many passengers were suffocated. Dozens
of persons living near the bay fled from
their burning houses, and in terror flung
themselves into the water.
The hospitals are filled with the injured,
and the physicians are doing everything in
their power to alleviate suffering.
At the time the ship blew up, the Span
ish steamer Alfonso XII. was lying along
side of her. The steamer was completely
destroyed. All her officers and forty of
her crew are missing, and 1t ia certain that
every one of them was killed.
The force of the explosion may be judged
from the fact that portions of the ship and
Alfonso XII. were thrown into the middle
of the town, carrying death and destruc-
ton with them. It will be necessary to
send troops here from other cities to aid
the officials.
MADRID, Nov 5.-Santander dispatches
confirm the report of last night that the
vessel which was blown up was the Cabo
tons of iron and many barrels of petroleum
and flour and several wine Casks. The
captain had declared only twenty cases of
dynamite.
When night fell the sky luridly reflected
the fires burning fercely in various parts
of the city. Mendez Nunez street, running
parallel with the quay, was ablaze from
end to end. In the binding light and heat
the bands of rescaers worked to extricate
the dead and wounded. On every eide were
scenes of indescribable confusion and over
whelming grief. The fire burned un-
checked throughout the night. Block
after block sank in ruins. Every street near
the water front was filled with the noise
of crashing buildings. The people were
terror stricken. Thousands abandoned
their homes and fed to the fields or outly
ing villages. Others remained to search
franticslly among the heaps of ruins and
relatives. Childrens whose parents were
dead wandered weeping through the streets
calling for help.
During Saturday morning as many as
possible were collected at the town hall
and were fed and clothed. In the after
noon many injured, insane from terror or
pain, were found crouchipg in slleyways
and outhouses, far from the scenes of the
fire.
Santander to-day has been city of the
dead and dying. All shops have remained
closed. The streets have been deserted ex-
cept by q few mourners still looking for
their dead in the ruins. Most of the houses
left standing are az empty as If plague
stricken. The occupants who fled ON the
night of the fire have been sfraid to return.
Many remarkable escapes have been report
ed. One man in the crowd was thrown
high in the air, came down upon a load of
vegetables and was able to scramble to his
feet and run away. Another man in the
| crowd was hurled into the water, grasped
| q piece of floating timber and swan back
| to land at some distance from the spot
| where the explosion occurred. He was too
| weak to climb the sea wall and remained
benumbed and half unconscious in the wa
| ter for five hours before he was rescued.
The sea was tossed as if by an earth
quake. Tremendous waves broke over the
| water front and large vessels were tossed
| like shells against the docks.
The tragic incidents noticed would fill
pages. A father was seen carrying homo
a Wounded daughter. when he arrived he
| found the house in flames. While watch
ing the FIRE, almost demented, the girl died
| in his arms. II
| 1t was stated that contraband dynamite
was concealed beneath lot of iron and
! rawhides in the lower hold OF the Csbo,
| ad joining the banker, where the FIRE started.
The reports conflict regarding the stowage
| of the contrsband dynamite, and the guam
tity of the explosive. Probably the exact
truth will never be known because almost
everybody who could throw light upon the
matter, including the custom officer, WAS
killed. Eye witnesses say that the effect
of the explosion resembled the result of a
violent earthquake. Water, mud and
etones from the bottom of the harbor were
thrown high in the air as If by vast gey-
ser.
BILBAO, Nov. 5.-Two sesmen who cay
they were aboard the Cabo Maehicaco have
arrived here. They say they were thrown
q great distance seward by the explosion,
falling among mass OF floating wreckage
which was still burning. They swan to-
gether q long time, eventually reaching q
point miles beyond Ssntsnder, from which
they were conveyed to this place on pub
Lie coach. e.
They declare they did not know there
was any dynamite aboard.
A few minutes before the explosion, ao.
eording to these two seamen, the mate
rushed on deck shouting to everyone to
leave the ship instantly as the FIRE was
reaching the dynamite. A desperate strug
gle ensued to get ashore, but very few es
capped. The two seamen who tell this
story were badly injured and are in de
| jected condition. They say the sea wal
strewn with corpses and wrecksge of al
kinds. They saw some thirty bodies thrown
from the quay, several being bodies Of
women clssping children in their arms.
THE mATABRLE WAR.
| Rrarr,ier Rhadaa SAYa That Thar,