The Red Cloud chief., 1893-11-10
FRIGHTFUL DISASTER.
HUNDREDS OF LIVES LOST At SAN.
LANDER, SPAIN.

,IANOeN, oFNIN.
A shipload Of Dynamite Explodcs, Throw.
ing Dodics, Parts Of Bodies, Iron, Wood
and Other Debris High In the ARA
HAHN Of Destruction Follows.
MADRID, Nov. 6-tCopyright, 1893, by
the Associated Press. 1.-The terrible disas'
Ter which has wrecked the port Of Santan.
der and destroyed hundreds Of lives, has
sent . thrill Of horror throughout Spain.
Tho story OF this great disaster In brief
10 - follows: The Cabo Machichaco, n
Spanish steamship belonging to Bilboa,
caught fire Friday afternoon while the
steamer was alongside the quay discharg.
ing part Of her cargo, which comprised
nearly 1000 ton OF merchandise, though
the main part Of this cargo was iron ore
and . number Of sacks Of -four. barrels Of
wine, many oases Of petroleum and ever
600 cases Of dynamite. OF which only twen-
~ cases were declared on the steamers
manifest. The remaining $50 cases Of dyna.
mite were contrnband, and to the shame
Of the shippers Of this c%ontraband dyna.
mite II has caused immense loss Of life
ind vast damage to property.
Flames broke out from the coal bunkers
and soon ragged SO iiercely as to be beyond
control Of the ships crew, though the latter
promptly took steps to smother the flames.
They failed and called on the local author.
tiles for help and the FIRE department and
civic guard responded, headed by local
municipal officials. Tho provincial gov
ernor, who was one OF the first to reach
the spot. displayed the greatest activity
In directing the operations. and upon
learning that the ships manifest showed
that there were twenty cases Of dynamite
on board had II all taken ashore.
Crowds hrong the Sccnc OF Peril.
A tug was then summoned and ordered
TO tow the vessel out Of danger Of setting
IRE to the wharf and buildings thereon.
Meantime thousands Of people had
gathered 81 the quay and on the streets
contiguous. The fire from the ships
bunkers spread quickly and ignited the
petroleum which formed part Of the cargo
which the authorities had for some reason
or other failed to remove when the twenty
cases Of dynamite were taken ashore. At
about 4:SO y. IN. a defamation on board
slowed, M 1t afterwards turned out, that
the boilers had burst. aud soon after there
was another terrible defamation heard.
The steamer seemed to open In half,
sending q blaze Of fire skywRrd, over which
crown Of smoke rested for several min
utes. A report Of such awful intensity
was heard that II shook the earth for miles
around, caused houses to totter. smashed
every window within the radius OF a rifle
shot, Allied tho air with n mass Of flying
feOu h,srtps- sa,n,l llaLo,ul a.L--
aud scorched beams, which soon after fell,
adeath-dealing hail. upon the neighbor.
ing houses, scattering death and destruc-
tion wherever It crushed downward.
The force OF the exploding dynamite
caused such q con ussion that in addition
TO shaking hundreds OF buildings off their
foundations IL actually rank n hundred
small crafts In the harbor In addition to
setting Gre to u large number Of other
vessels aud starting co%ntlagrations upon
several OF TIE larger ships, including the
Alfonso XII, which vessel caught fire 30
suddenly and harmed so ilercely that forty
Of her crew lost their lives ON board OF
her.
One Hundred People Go stark Mad.
For a moment after the disaster the peo-
pie were positively stunned with dismay
and horror, and then followed "a panic
during which l0r people are reported to
have gone stark mad, while the vast major
ity were 30 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 which
sprang up from n mass Of buildings. The
quay and promenade close to the scene of
the explosion presented the most sicken-
ing sight ever witnessed. Mangled and
blackened corpses were scattered here aud
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 a time summoned sufficient courage
to venture near the carnage ground.
Over 100 people are said to have been
precipitated into the sea by the explosion,
land there beneath the hail of blood, wood
and iron they met death with the crews Of
the unfortunate steamer and the tug boat
which was about to tow lier into the bay.
On board the tug boat were many citizens
Of Santander who were taking part In the
work OF rescue. All Of them have disap.
peared forever. A train from the pro-
vince which was just arriving ut the rail
road station when the Cabo Machicacho
blew up wa wrecked and set fire to and
the majority Of its passengers burned to
death before II assistance could be
furnished them.
According to official kilograms the lat
est account shows that 800 people were