The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1897-05-14
DEATHS SAWFULFORM
COMES ToiMPRIsohED PAssEN.
GERS AT SEA.
Ei1teen Die in Fian1 es ON the Mallory
Liner Lcsna-Ill-Eated Boat Reaches
New York Harbor with Her GhaatIy
Cargo.
Crenat ted on the Sea.

The Msgory Inc gt=aIner Leoc,., which
iett her pier at NeT YORK on Saturday,
bound ior Galveston. .cyoE Ere al asa put
back End ar-!Ted IL Eyort Sunday night
WIKI sixteen cJrpses Oh lyari. The dead
were thirteen steerage passengers and
thrse members of TIC crew. who sue
combed 10 & terrible FIRE which occurred
off the Delaware caT,es az al carry hour
Sunday morning.
The horror ~ -l1= secry can hardy be
tnid. Thrse uiao are dead were pe1ned
mp be.o7 decks. and although frantic
efforts were made by the officers Of TIE
vessel 10 save them. the FIRE had gained
Enca tery.5.e headwey before the danger
was discovered that all escape vas cur
of. The steamer carried IL her cargo
ulaay bales nf cocton- When III. IRE was
discovered il burst tarta with such fury
ti2ac il WIS impossible u rs-aca the s.eer-
age. The saloon passengers were frs.
aroused, and in such q manner as 70 &C.
casioa lit-!e alarm. When il became sp-
parent taar rae IRE haG cut of the s-es7-
age the captain and his rnen poured grsas
quantities Of water down the venciIatoc,
and the most frantic efforts were made
for the escape of those pennei up. In
this way nine of the storage passengers
made their escape.
S. V. Winslow, Of Rutherford. y. g.,
a survivor, toid the following graphic
story Of the fire:
First Mate Wallace was pacing the
bridge about a. m, when he rhou ght
that he gTneiicd smoke. He went down
the forward 10 the companion way and
opened the door. There was q burst of
fame, which burned his face.
wallace cried the alarm Of fra - the
forward watch, telling him TO wake the
steward and have all the passengers
aroused as quickly as possible, without
creating any excitement
Warns the Passengers.
'"The steward said in calm tones that
there was slight fire in the forward part
of the ship, and it might be al rsable for
the passengers to get their things TO-
gether. It might be possible, he sdded,
that the snip would eventually have 10 be
abandoned.
There was no excitement among the
saloon passengers. The steward made
frequent trips forward. and came back
with reports Of the progress Of the fiaues.
He said that the fire was confined below
decks, and, as the flames did not rise very
high, the passengers did not fully realize
the extent Of the peril
Capt Wilder at once ordered the crew
to rescue the steerage passengers On
the same deck with the steerage, on the
port side Of the ship, a large quantity Of
cotton bagg!ng was stored, separated from
the stcerage passengers by a board parti-
ton
The main deck was almost completely
hlled with freight, cutting off all exit
from the steerage to the afterpart of the
ship. The only way out from the steer
age vas up the forward companionway.
Try to Save Those in the Storage.
Ihe crew attempted to descend They
were driven back by dense volumes Of
smoke and flames. The smoke and f1ames
also came up through the ventilators. and
1t was apparent to all who were on deck
that below decks was a roaring furnace.
When the steward aroused me I
jumped UP hastily and dressed. | ran
forward to see how extensive the fire was
The captain was just coming out Of the
companiOnway after his fruitl4gs effort
to 90 below.
w hen looked down into that horribls.
hole the thought came over me like it had
over the captain and the crew that there
were helpless people down below who
Were probably burning to death.
Stokers Desert Their Posts.
When the news Of the fire reached the
lower depths Of the ship, where the stok-
ers were feeding the boilers, they desert
ed their posts and rushed to the deck
eighteen Of them in all. They Chamber
ed into the second boat On the port side
and began cntting it away. First Officer
Wallace and Chief Engineer Taylor were
after them in moment.
Get out Of that boat thundered Wal
2ace.
The stokcrs refused to obey and went
on cutting away the lashings Of the boat
Come out Of that boat re-echoed
Taylor. Then he reached for his rerol-
yer. i will shoot the man who cuts azgav
the boat
The Spaniards looked at the chief ea.
glneer and then sullenly obeyed.
Nine Make Their Escape.
During the excitement of the first
hour we did not know that anyone had
gotten out Of the slcerage alive, but later
we found in the cabin that nine of them
had managed to get out Their hunks had
been nearest to the companiouway. and
they had been awakened by the part of
the crew rushing out Of the forecagtle.
The fire crept up through cracks about
the pilot-houSc and then into the house
Itself. The quartcrmaster stuck to the
wheel until the flames almost cnveloped
him.
Captain Wilder ordered signal lights
of distress burned, and in a very few
minutes there flashed up in the darkness
far to the north an answering signal. 1t
came from the City of Augusta Of the
Savannah line, which came alongside
about daybreak.'
1.-The passengers were all transferred to
the City of Augusta in safety and the
work Of fighting the fire was continued.
About O'Clock in the morning the flames
were under control and the steamer out of
danger. The passengers were sent back
10 the Leona and the City of Augusta CON
ddnued on her way 10 Savannah. The
Aeona put about and returned to port un-
der her own steam"
Spurks from the Wires,
The miners eight hour bill was defeated
dn the British commons
The Federation of Labor Will aid the