The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1900-07-05
FOUR OCEAN
GREYH0UNOS BURNED.
Rremen, Main, SaaIe and the
Phoenica DESTROYED at
New York Piers.
Relieved 200 Lives are Lost.

| n cotton Ddlt Oh pl'i > VI thC
yorth German Lloyd wharves i'll Ho-
hoken projected upon New York har-
hor to-day an unparalleled catastrO-
phe
From this--an apparently InsIg-
nifcant cause--follOwed a fire that
IN six minutes had enveloped the
eompany's entire system OF wharves.
Three great ocean liners-the Main,
Rromen and Saale-where burned to
the waters edge Thenty million dol
lars worth OF property was destroy
ed and probably 200 persons lost
their lives
The fire began at BID p. IN. At
that hour the pier was crowded with
EMPLOYEES. There We're at least 600
longshoremen at work on the piers
and in the holds OF the North Ger
man Lloyd steamers, and fully 900
other persons.
How many of these escaped is prob
ematieal.
The steamship officials say that at
Ieast eighty must be dead, and men
at work on the piers and vessels say
it's three times that number. Two
hundred is n fair estimate OF the mum
erof those that perished between
the double deaths of fire and water.
The cotton in which the fire started
was piled up awaiting shipment. Ad-
Joining it was pyramid OF whisky
in barrels 4 pay clerk first saw the
blaze and screamed warning. Al
most as il an echo to his words, the
whisky exploded, casting Jets OF fire
in all directions. With incredible ra-
pidity the blazing spirits Hooded
down the piers. igniting all i'll its
train. Horses and trucks were aban-
doned in the mad haste to escape.
In every direction screaming men
and women scampered for their lives
On board the ships the uproar was
terrible. Rushing up the sides OF the
pier sheds the flames burst their way
outward
The great steamers lay at the mer-
cy of the fire Nearly every port III
their fanks was open to the on
slaught of the flames Their tarred
rigging, canvass awnings, were tin
der in the path. Their opened
hatches yawned for the burning
brands and n following explosion
blew these blazing fragments into the
vessels very depths.
The pier where the fire started Is
joined to its neighbOr on the north
by covered driveway. 1t acted as
tunnel for the fire. In flash the
lire had traversed this outlet and
was seizing upon the cargOes piled
high therein In a minute-not more
than that-the second pier was
doomed.
Save the shipsI' was the cry.
On the worth was the old Thing
valla Line pier, just bought from that
company. On it's south side lay the
Main, brand news teamship, valued
at 81, 500, 900, and with cargo of
half million in her hold. South of
her and on the north side of pier l
was the Bremen. On the south side
q Pier l was the great express
steamship. Kaiser Wilhelm der
Grosse, the second largest liner in
the world On the north side OF Pier
2 was the Saale, and the other piers
we're vacant
There are on an average six matches
1.-THE decks of each of these ships. In
each hatch were from twelve to four
teen men at work. On the Kaiser
Wilhelm was her crew, a force num-
bering at least 400 men. On the
Bremen was force of $50 and on the
Saale 3OO On the Main were 300
Persons. In addition, great throng
81 visitors was on every ship-the
trends and relatives of officer, sailor,
steward and the engineering force.
The Kaiser Wilhelm was the first to
1scape. Every effort had been made
~ drag her TO safety, for many mil
lions of dollars were invested in her
giant hull and sumptuous cabin fit