The Bowbells tribune. [volume] (Bowbells, Ward Co., N.D.) 1899-1969, 1900-07-06

91O,OOO.OOO-NIen and Women ON
Cut on From Escape = Harbor
Swallows Up Many Who Escape
From Burning Ships.
New York. July Sat least 300 hui
man lives lost, 800 in the hospitals suf-
sering from more or less serious burns
and injuries, three huge and costly
ocean steamships destroyed, twelve
tugs and lighters burned-in all $1O,-
100000 worth of property consumed
is the story Of fire which swept the
piers of the North German Lloyd and
Hamburg American Steamship COM
panies at Hoboken Saturday afternoon.
The disaster, the most terrible that has
ever happened here, and perhaps the
most shocking on record, was accompa-
MED by heroic rescues, miraculous es-
capes and agonizing deaths.
Burn or Jump to Death.
Thousands of persons in Hoboken
and New York lined the sides of North
river near the fire and saw men and
women burn or jump to death in the
water. The ships destroyed We're the
Saale, the Bremen and the Main OF
the North German Lloyd line. The
Kaiser Friedrich der Groose and the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse of the
North German line were damaged to
some extent. but not badly. There
were hundreds of men on each of the
destroyed steamships and a few wo-
/ men. There were
Crowds of Dock LabOrcrs
and employees on all the piers. There
were men, women and children in the
canal boats, and men on the barges
and lighters. So quickly did the fire
spread that escape for all of these hum
dreds was cut off almost before they
knew the fire had started. Men work
| ing in the holds of the three steam
ships were shut in by walls of flame.
| It was impossible to reach them IN
any way Men on the pier jumped into
the water to save themselves. Many
of them were saved, but others sank
before help could reach them.
Caused by Explosion.
The fire originated on pier 3 OF the
North German Lloyd series, near the
foot of Third street. 1t was caused by
the explosion of benZine tank. so the
fire fighters declared, which ignitea a
large quantity of cotton awaiting
shipment. Near by were moored the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse, the Main,
the Saale and the Bremen. The Saale
was due to sail for Boston Sunday
morning to pick up a party OF Chris
tian EndeavOrerS en- route to Ch"r'
bourg, The Kaiser was scheduled to
sail Tuesday for southampton. The
Main was also
To Have Sailed
on Tuesday and the Bremen OIL Thurs
| day for Bremen. The Saale and the
Bremen lay at either side of pier No. =,
while the Kaiser lay on the north side
of pier No. 1, Immediately down
stream. The Main lay just down
stream from the Kaiser. When the
first burst of flame appeared the
hoarse whistles of the liners were
sounded, and all hands were sum-
moned to fight fire. The blaze. howev-
er, outstripped the fire fighters four
fold ard leaped toward the huge liners,
powerless in their slips. The shed on
pier No. 3, piled with cotton and
stored with hundreds of
Barrels of Oil,
was ready food for the flames, which
spread with incalculable rapidity. The
pier was furnace within few mn.
utes. and the tongues Of fire jumped
across the slip and seized upon the
Saale. which lay at the northward Of
the pier just below. On the four
piers there were 1000 persons working
when the fire started. Five hundred
were near the entrance and escaped
into the street. The remaining 1,5W
Jumped into the water and We're either
picked up by passing craft of drowned.
Loss Only Approximately.
The property loss can simply be ap-
proximated at this time. None Of the
officials around the docks could give
anything like precise estimate OF
their losses and none was prepared to
make statement on this point. A
conservative estimate made by prom
inent fire underwater places the en-
tire loss at less than S1O.O0OOOO. The
three docks of the North German
Lloyd line are total losses, with all
their contents, and they are still
smouldering with
Many Streams From Fire Hose
playing constantly on the debris. The
pier of the ThiDgvalla line is totally
wiped away and an extension which
had just been built on the Hamburg
American lines expanse of piers was
burned down to the pile tops. The
warehouses of Palmer & Campbell,
which were across the street from the
North German Lloyd line dock. suf'
fered greatly, and number of houses
along the street were scorched badly.
The loss to the steamship properties
and other companies is estimated ap-
proximately as follows: The steam
ship Main, Of the North German Lloyd
line, cost $1.5OO.OOO, outside of the
cargo, fitting and stores.
!" The Loss Is Placed
at S1,2OOOOO for the vessel and about
$4OO, 600 for fittings, stores and cargo
that was on board of her. The Bre.
men. of the same line, cost 81 ,2jO.OO
and her fitting and cargo We're valued