The farmers' union. (Memphis, Mo.) 1891-1895, 1893-11-16
BLOWN INTO THE SEA.
AWFUL EXPLOSION OF DYNA-
MITE ON A VESSEL.
The Spanish Town Of Santander Wrecked
by the Disaster and Over 500 Persons
kiled-Ship Carried Contraband Exp:o-
sfves-Murderer stone Sentenced.


the report OF the terrible disaster
which wrecked the port. detr yed
hundreds of lives. and sent thrill! of
horror throughout the wGole of Spain.
The vessel which was blown up was
the Cabo Nachica>o. She was dis
charging 900 tons If iron and many
barrels of petroleum and flour and sew
eral wine casks The Captain had de-
clared only twenty cases If dynamite.
otherwise he hal not been allowed to
use tho dock. The fire started at 3
o'clock in the afternoon in the coal
bunkers. The customs officers and po-
lice fastened to remove the twenty cases
of dynamite. which soon We're landed
at a safe distance from the vessel. \
tug was then chartered TO tow the
Cabo Machicaco seward. Meanwhile
desperate efforts had been made To
quench the flames. The captain and
crew of tic ~teame" -tlfonzo MI.
boarded the burning vessel 10 help
fight the flames. They worked Tor an
/ hour ana a half without success. At
the end of that time the fire reached
the petroleum. Then came 4 -eric, rf
awful explosions as the flames went
from barrel TO barrel of petroleum. ui-
til they reached the contranand dyna-
mite. The tug had just been mourcd
, al, ngsidc the vessel and many towns
| people had gone aboard either to sat
| i>fy their curiosity or to help h. cX
, tinguish the fire.
Then came the explosion of the dy-
Mantle. All on board the Cab, Mach
lea . and many on he deck Wee blown
| to atoms. The tug vanish, q. The
! quay. with its enormDu u crowd OF spt c
totors. rose slowly in the air. Tie
| people We're scattered in every dirrc-
| ton, into the sea. upon the land. Fire
| brands fell in showers over sea and
land for 4 radius of !, mile and Il half.
! The Cabo Machicicu's anchor WAS
| hurled 500 yard, and fell on the tn'cony
! OF a house, which it completely
| wrecked. Huu, : T., cked on thti"
| foundations and more than a hundred
were set on fire by falling tirehlalds.
| The uestrlcti N in the harbor wa,
equally appalling. The launch of tie
steamer AlphonZo MI. was lying
alongside, and contained all the "a ~
not aboard the Machi,-co. Ii van
/ isEed with the others. The Survivors
| ashore fled shricking. ie tring the
promenade adjoining the quay town
with dead and dying ana mao glcu rcri-
nant, Of human bolis $ Wherever the
terrified fuyitives turned they mot
| only frighttul d. strlltti,n. Horror va
added t. horror in the wrecked and
! burning buildings. from which came
piteuus cries for help. Many of the
fu~itive> We thrown Il wn and tram
pied upon Numbers are aid t. have
lost their rea on. The Icuplc were tou
panicstrickcn to think OF anything bat
saving their own or their relatives
lives. ard ignored their burning Prop
ertv.
When at last Il few persons with
some presence Of mind collected. It was
at once resolved to tclc- :ti,h an appeal
for help to the Government and to the
municipal authorities Of other cities.
| Every available surgeon was summons
to the scene. When night fell the * V
luridlv reelected the fires burning
tercely in various parts OF the city.
The fire went on unchccke d throughout
the night. Block after block were IN
ruins. The people were tcrror-strick-
en-. Thousand abandoned their homes
and fed to the field, or outlying VII
lagos. Others remained to search
frantically among the heaps of ruins
and half-barcd bodies for their lost
friends or relatives
Santander was lately among the most
pro porous towns in Spain. but it will
take years to repair the disa ter which
has ova rtaken it. The whole country
is Indignant at the criminal conduct OF
the captain and crew of the Cab
Machicaco. as we'll as the criminality
of those who shipped the contraband
$50 eases of dynamite, the general opin-
ion being that the government must
take immt diate steps t. punish the
shippers. The death OF the c:ptai,
r and crew of the dynamite steamer is
but poor compensation to the Thousand
victims. The eSpIo-isn Of the dyna
mite lifted the SEA up into the air like
! a water spout, minglinG enormous
, quantities O. mud and stones with th6
wreckarc ~ q hurting them for a grca
distance on every SD. Reports difel
a. to the nEm'cr k lied. The mos
conservative est innate places the mum
Der at 800 while others say that fully
1909 have lie II killed and njurcd. This
! disaster is one of the most appalling
that has occurred in Europe in I. gen
GRAFTON.
>, ISSUE 4 SILVER ADDRESS.