The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-01
erty 20 attention was paid TO them. and
they were allowed 10 burn
Mains PasHengers CRuSht.

said that many Of the crews, who ger'
asleep at the time. We're imprisoned there
Tha worst tale viii come From the steam
ship Mair. which Yves unable To be toweS
from the pier.
and some OF the passengers were still oI
board, and when the cry % fire was raised
burning decks. Mos, OF them Jumped over
, board. ana, save for the Jew VINO Were
picked up. up by the tugs not one mas ,. been
pital In the city OF Eohoken IS crowded
With injured.
Some Of the passengers Of the Main tried
TO escape 10 the pier. and II IS almost GER
tain that they persisted in the flames.
There was a panic on each Of the ships.
Many persons jumped overheard ana the
water for some distance along the docks
lined with people They were -lhEins,
10 the pier. and even TO the rudGeTs Of the
burning vessels Souue we're picked up;
many were drowned Peter Quinn, a Jus
tice Of the Peace. in Hoeoken. tells a story
OF having seen ut least thirty persons per-
ish. He said
Il was standing or the sna OF one of the
burg-Amertcaa IAns piers ana saw
about thirty persors crowded under Pier
No. ! OF the North German Lloyd They
vera cal Sa,iigg to some Of tie pa pas, a
when the flames got Near them. they Owed
INTO the water There YVES no assistance
,.tar them at The time. and believe that
every one either drowned or persisted in the
Earras''
much overcome from exhaustion, but were
soon revived with stimu.ants.
FireIncn beaten Back.
When the fire broke out such Roadway
was gained by the time the Honoken FIRE
men arrived that they We're utterly help
less to cope with the flames. They were
further Handicapped by having several hun
drei feet of hose burned. Calls were made
to the New York Fire Department for IS
These. however. had little effect OF the
great mountain Of flames and smoke.
BY O'Clock the three piers of the North
COMPANY
been burned TO the ground:
The southern end Of the Campbell Storage
story structures. caught fire, and flames
shot from every window of the two floors
/ filled mainly with jute and whisky. burned
rapidly. The hreren were unable TO go
within fighting distance. and the fire had
loss will be sustained.
The steamships saale and Bremen. after
being, pulled free from the docks; wers
ON the Bremen, as she blazed out in mid
stream six men could be seen. with their
heads out of portfolios. waving handker-
chiefs for assistance. Tugboats and small
beats aartea around ori II the big s'ea n fi
the terrible heat from the flames kept them
away.
der Crosse attended with exciting in
cidents 1t seemed as II il would never
be possible TO get her clear, and the fire
ened al almost any moment to break out
on the big ship: The great hawsers. in
and axes were brought into use TO chop
them. releasing the vessel. She was towed
out into nidstream and then far up the
river. Her bows were slightly burned.
Officers Vain HerOism.
: Five minutes after the fire broke out
"a woman jumped from one of the ships
flames drove her from the ship and she
plunged heediessly in the direction in which
1t seemed that safety lay.
V She leaped into burning lighter alongside
the Ship and when an officer on board the
ship, who still stood by The doomed vessel
saw her and realized what would be her
fate. he plunged down after her, hoping to
bring her out of the burning lighter into
He followed her within a couple of sec
onds and both went down into the flames In
the lighter and persisted.
= The rapid spread of the flames Is account
ed for by the shift of the wind When the
fire first broke out the wind was blowing
strongly from the south This drove the
flames across the pier above the one on
which Il started. Within a few moments
the wind shifted almost directly 20 the OPP
posite point.
: Under the great pavilion. on the land end,
the flames were soon in absolute control.
Had not the recourse TO dynamite been
pier the flames might have gone on All
the fireboats and tugs in the harbor would
not have stopped them
Flames Famed by the Wind.
:
an intense heat and the firemen suffered
greatly. Again and again il seemed as II
they mus, abandon the fight.
The vantage points at which they could
attack the flames Were few and their efforts
Were necessarily hampered. Some of the
fremen of hook and ladder truck No 2 q
Jersey City had narrow escapes They we're
out as far they could get on the pier 70
the south of the blazing docks, ana were
endeayoring to recover bodies OF persons
who might have gone under IL. There was
a burst of flame from the pier adioining.
Tov- ffrae -hrpa mod IN
men and set fire to the pier The men
dropped into the water and chung to the
piles for few moments. and then shift
of the wind drove the flames back and they
were able to retreat
The smoke which poured out OF the flames
and assembled high into the air blew almost
directly eastward and maintained irs column
for a distance Of about seventy miles, as it
was seen clearly beyond Babylon, L. l.
one man in the hospital with burned
hands and face said he was rescued by an
other man more severely burned than him
self He said he was helpless In the water.
when the other threw an arm about MN
and buoyed him up. The others face was
fearf,Illy burned and the other arm was
useless but he dreaded water and fioated so
ekillfully that they foated down the river
and tug went to t ,hsir the rescue sforv said he
tainted after being rescued and did not
know If his rescuer had also been taken out
An idea Of the intensity Of the heat was
given by the fact that the steamship fre-
men, men who are used TO working In the
freroorn Of a vessel. supposed to be the hot
test place where any human being works.
fell back from the work OF lighting tns
Games overcome by the heat
Fright Caused Insanity.
Some of those who went into the water
and were rescued and but slightly injured, |
say that when others who were caught
between the fire and water saw death COM
ing they went insane.
Men babbled Of home and friends during
the few brief moments that they and the
others faced death. The fear Of the furnace
which lay between them and the land be-
reft them Of their senses. There were acts
of cowariice as well heroism Men chung
to others and refused to let go. even though
the act meant death 70 both. One of the
survivors was seized by another man, who
chung to him frantically and refused TO
let go.
The man, who was later saved. had to
beat his companion into insensibility before
he could loosen his hold and plunge into the
The loss of their horses crippled the Eo-
bnken firemen. When they reached the fire
at first they set out to confine IL to the pier
on which /. started. They got their lines
oct on the two adjoining. and even ran their
apparatus out 10 the pump from the river.
When the flames spread the hose the
piers was lost. Some Of the apparatus mar
rowly escaped being consumed. and as It
was one hose cart and its horse were
burned.
Later Jersey City stripped itself of all the
hose possible and sent IL TO the Hobcken
s,6aernen in wagon for use. With this
streams were later got on the fire. but 1t