The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1894-08-21
A TERRIFIC EXPLOSION.
The Demolition of the City of
Santander, Spain.
THOUSAND POUNDS OF DYNAMITE.

| a Graphic Description OF the wreck OF
the steamer Cabo Machichacho, Writ
ten by William II. GuIick shortly
After the ExpIosion-An Awful Day.
The following graphic and real
istic description of the explosion
on board Il burning steamer, Of
one thousand pounds Of dynamite,
was written by William II. Gulick,
shortly aftor the event occurred.
On the Sd of November the fine
steamship Cabo MachichacO Cape of
Machichaco, the prominent cape just
east of BiIbao), of $500 tons burden,
having passed the eight days of quar-
antine in Santander, imposed on all
| craft from the cholera infected port Of
Bilbao, steamed across the bay and
moored to one of the principal
| wharves of the city of Santander, and
at half-past two O'Clock commenced
to discharge her freight.
On the opening of the fore hold it
was discovered that she was on fire.
| The alarm was given and in few mo-
ments the Civil Governor, the Captain
| of the Port, the Mayor, the colonel of
| one OF the garrison regiments, with
| several of the civil guards, one of the
| owners, the ships consignee and q
multitude of other persons were on
the ship, or near it, helping to extin-
guish the fire, or to discharge the
| freight, or were watching the fire from
q distance.
Among those who hastened to help
| were the captain of the Alfonso XIII,
one of the fine new mail steamships
of the Trans Atlantic Company, ply
ing between Spain and the West In
dian colonies. He came alongside in
| one of the cOmpany's tugs with a
| crew of thirty seven men. AS he
drew UP to the side of the burning
ship, he called to the captain: "By
all you hold dearest in this life, tell
me truly, is there anything explosive
| in your ships cargO?'' to which the
reply was given: ''NO; the twenty
boxes of dynamite for this port have
been discharged and the rest of the
| freight is harmless On this assur-
ance, with his men, and under the di
rectiOn of the captain Of the port, he
commenced to open hole in the side
of the ship for the purpose of sinking
her, as the valves for that purpose had
become disarranged and would not
work. But a few minutes only had
elapsed before terrific explosion took
place. The ship sprang fifty feet into
the air and sank again into the water
like wounded monster. A column
of water hundred feet high rose with
her and fell like a water spout on dock
and street, and a horrible shower Of
iron beams and steel bars and axle
trees, OF NUS and bolts and nails, and
of steel plates and bar iron of all
kinds, in masses of hundreds of tons,
mingled with dense and fetid smoke
from petroleum oil, and sulphuric and
muriatic acid, and dynamite, that
formed part of the ships cargo,
swept through the masses of men,
women and children " 10 were watch
ing the burning ship.
The shock and the roar of the burst
ing volcano was felt throughout the
city Of 10000 inhabitants and from
fifty to sixty miles away. y million
panes of glass were broken to frag
ments, aud the interiors of a thousand
houses were torn and shattered by the
conclusion of air.
On the dock and in the neighbor-
hood of the ship the dead and the dy-
ing lay i'm scores and hundreds-more
than six hundred dead and over a
thousand wounded. The great floor
beams of iron, from eight to ten yards
i'm length, and rails, and bars, and
steel aXles, and nuts, and screws, and
spikes, swept through the crowd like
the bolts from an anarchists bomb
charged with ten thousand pounds Of
dynamite-thp most fearful bomb that
l. oh fY. In, I.,
history Of the world
Crushed and maugled and writhiug
bodies lay amongst heaps Of dead.
After the crash that sounded like the
splitting open of the crust of the
world. there was a moment OF appar.
eut silence, and then there rose the
grOaus and shrieks of the wounded
and the frightened and the crazed
For "a moment, all who could ran from
the vortex that had opened at their
feet, end from the raking ire Of bars
and bolts-those who were able TO
thIul, fearing another explosion.
Gradually the smoke, that gave out
an OJor that was almost unbearable-
said TO bp the poisonous fumes of
dyna amite-cleared away, the fren-
Zied people recovered their senses
somewhat, aud the work of rescue
began.
The steam tug of the Trans Atlantic
Company, with the captain of the
mail ship Alfonso Mi, aud all the
men who were with him, had disap-
peared- blown into indistiugui4hable
fragments; and So also number OF
coasting cr0ft that Icy in the stream
not far away. The captain Of the i'll
fated shin was gone, and 60 also the
civil governor, the captain OF the puft,
the Northumberland of the infantry
regiment and several of his officers