The Portland daily press., 1897-05-11
aCApTAIN WILDER ARRESTED.
Further Particulars of the Le0na
Tragedy.

Ills Experience-Story of Cabin Pas
senger-owner Mallory Does Not Hold
Captain Responsible.
New York, May 1O.-It was gruesome
sight on the deck of the i'll fated Mallory
line steamer Leona early this morning,
thirteen dead bodies charred and baked
were lying in the steamers steerage, and
men and women were on the deck look
ing as if they had passed through an
wful siege.
Coroner Hoeber arrived about 2. 90
O'Clock this morning at the pier and found
Charles E. Mallory, one of the owners of
the vessel, in conversation with Captain
Wilder in the latter's cabin. Accom-
panied by Mr.. Mallory and the captain,
Coroner Hoeber went to the Storage and
viewed the charred bodies. Then he gave
permission for their removal. The coroner
told Captain Wilder that as matter of
form he would be compelled to have him
placed under arrest
He was Immediately paroled in the Gus
tody of Mr. Mallory.
Coroner Hoeber found steerage pas
senger whom he ordered detained until
after the inquest. This mans name is
Thomas Doyle. He is sixty seven years
old and lives at Paterson, N. j. He was
on his way to Vallejo, Cal. to see his
uncle and aunt. Doyle is veteran of
the late war. He was taken to the old
| slip station house where he will be de-
tanned until the inquest is held.
"a Doyle said that he was among the steer
age passengers who occupied hunks on the
starboard side of the vessel He said that
among the passengers who could speak
English were himself and two other men,
whose names he did not know and a
young Irish girl named Lizzie Sullivan.
He said the Sullivan girl was on her way
to Los Angeles, Cal, to go to work. She
was about seventeen years of age and
| pretty.
Doyle said that he had not made the
acquaintance of any of the other passen
gers. He stated that he was lying asleep
in his bunk early Sunday morning, when
he was awakened by a suffocating feeling.
| He first thought that some one was
smoking cheroot, but when he opened
| his eyes and saw the apartment filled
| with smoke he jumped from his bunk
| and made for the cOmpanionway leading
to the upper deck. This was only short
distance from where he slept. At the en-
trance of the companionway he met the
steward, who was shouting fire. as
| loudly as he could He started up the
companionway and found that two men
had preceded him.
| On reaching the deck his first thought
was of the safety of Lizzie Sullivan, and
he started down into the women's side of
the Storage to rescue her, but he was
pulled back by members of the crew. The
moon was shining brightly at the time
and it was scarcely any time from the
| moment he reached the deck when the
| forward portion of the steamer was en- p.
shrouded in smoke.
The crew worked liked beavers to put
out the flames. The matches, burlap and
sewing ma chines which caught fire were
stored only a short distance away from
the steerage apartments and when the fire
broke out its course must have necessarily
been toward where the Storage passengers
were sleeping.
AT $50 O'Clock this morning two dead
wagons drove on the pier and threw
aboard the steamer twelve pine boxes, in
which the bodies of the victims were to
be removed. The members of the crew
refused to touch the bodies, and the work
had to be performed by the wagon at
tendants.
The thirteen bodies were placed in nine
of the pine boxes, some of the bodies be-
ing those of children and others charred
and burned to about one-half their
natural size. The bodies were taken to
the morgue, where they will remain to
Those who cannot be identified will be
buried in the potter's field.
Captain Wilder stated that later the
purser would have a list of the people who
lost their lives and other information
which would be made public.
Samuel Schillchraut, one of the passen-
gers in the Storage of the Leona, came
here from Hungary and was on his way
to Columbus, Texas. He had $3.50 with
him, with which he was going to start a
small business at Columbus and then
send for his family. He lost everything
he had, both money and clothing.
Through an interpreter he told this story :
1.-THE fire occurred between two and
three O'Clock this morning. The first
sensation had was one of choking and
I scrambled out of bed and rushed for the
upper deck. There were ten other passen-
gers in the compartment with me, one of
whom was smothered; the others got out
safely. There was the widest excitement
among the passengers, and the steerage
was completely filled with smoke L
CROPPED my way to the ladder leading to
the deck, and found that there were a
number of people ahead of me scrambling
up the ladder. The screams of the women
and children were frightful to hear.
'sThe crew made no effort to help the
passengers and none of us were awakened
by them. They simply took care of
themselves and left us to our fate. All
their lives might have been saved if the
crew had done anything to help the
smothering passengers. When we gathered
on deck we found some life preservers and
nearly all of us put them on. Then the
crew assured us that there was no danger
and the excitement was somewhat al
layed.
Mr.. Schillchraut said that the general
impression was that the fire was caused
by lighted match droppetd by one of the