The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1900-07-05
THREE HUNDRED Arc DEAD.
Tho Unparalleled Catastrophe a,
Hoboken Wharf.
CAUGHT LIKE RATS IN A TRAP
The Unfortunate Victims Yield to Heat
and smoke-Not Remnant of the
Bodies Win BE Recovered from the
Charnel ELips-Loss s1o,ooo,ooo.

NnarnoA re APS-LoSS &1O,OOO,OOO.
New York, July "a flash Of fire in
"a cotton bale on pier of the North
German Lloyd wharves in Hoboken
projected upon New York harbor an
unparalleled catastrophe. From this,
an apparently Insignificant cause, fol-
lowed fire that in six minutes envel-
oped the entire system of wharves. The
great ocean liners. the Main, Bremen
and Saale were burned to the waters
edge, and the Kaiser Wilhelm der
Groose and Phoenicia damaged. Twen-
ty-hve million dollars worth of prop
erty was destroyed and at least 300
persons lost their lives. The fire be-
gan at 3:45 p. m. At that hour the
pier was crowded with employees.
There were at least $50 longshoremen
at work on the piers and in the holds,
and on the ships were fully 900 other
persons. How many of these escaped
is problematical. How many lost their
lives by fire and water is mere guess
work.
The steamship officials say that at
least eighty must be dead, and men at
work on the piers and vessels say it Is
three times that number. Three hun
dred is fair estimate of the number
OF those that persisted between the dou-
BILE death Of the fire and water. The
cotton in which the fire started was
piled up awaiting shipment. Adjoining
Ut was pyramid of whisky in barrels.
A pay clerk saw the fire and screamed a
warning. Almost as if an echo to his
words the whisky exploded, casting
jets of fire in all directions.
With incredible rapidity the blazing
spirit flooded down the piers, igniting
all in its train. Horses and trucks
were abandoned in the mad haste to
escape. In every direction screaming
men and women scampered for their
lives. On board the ships the uproar
was terrific. Rushing up the sides of
the pier sheds the flames burst their
way outward. The great steamers lay
at the mercy of the fire. Nearly every
port in their TANKS was opened to the
onslaught Of the fame. Their tarred
rigging, their canvas awnings were tin
der in the path. Their opened matches
.yawned for the burning brands and a
following explosion blew these blazing
fragments into the vessels very
depths. The pier where the fire first
started was joined to it's neighbor on
the north by covered driveway. 1t
acted as a funnel for the fire. In a
flash the fire had traversed this outlet
and was selling upon the cargoes
piled therein. In minute-not more
than that-the second pier was
doomed.
lime pier just Dol Y com
On - lain ~
branS-new steamship vays:d at
50, SOC, 900, and with cargo of $780,
900 In her hold. South of her and on
the north sidesof pier was the Bre-
men. On the south side Of pier was
the great express steamship Kaiser
Wilhelm der Crosse, the second largest
liner in the world. On the north side
Of pier 2 was the Saale. There were
on an average six matches in the decks
of each of these ships. In each hatch
were from twelve to fourteen men at
work. On the Kaiser Wilhelm were
her crew, a force numbering at least
400 men. On the Bremen were force
OF $50 and on the Saale 300 On the
Main were 300 persons at work. Many
more were on every ship-the friends
and relatives of officers, sailors, ste
wards and the engineers force.
Not even single remnant of scores
OF the bodies will ever be recovered.
In the charnel ships, the Main, Saale,
and Bremen, many were completely In
Generated and the ashes washed away
/ by the tons of water poured into the
vessels. Scores persisted on the four
great piers of the North German Lloyd
Steamship company, but nothing now
remains of the splendid wharves but
the charred stumps of the piles that
supported them. On the bottom of the
river. under the piers, may be some
human bones. But it is not believed
that even vestige remains of most of
those burned on the piers.
Flames Swept Over $50.
There were $50 longshoremen at
work over them, besides visitors and
swept over them, besides visitors and
loungers. All the books containing
the names and addresses of the long
shoremen were burned. This makes a
systematic count Of the saved and
missing impossible. Many of the men
have no families or relatives here to
make inquiries for them. The officials
of the company can only hope for the
best Gustav H. Schwab, local general
agent of the steamship company, esti-
mated that the dead among the crews
of the three ships would total 127. This
estimate is regarded as most conserva-
tive. 1t does not include the dead
among the longshoremen, the visitors
and sightseers on the piers and the
ships. the crews of the twenty canal
boats, lighters, and barges, or other
workmen. An the Saale alone there
were fifty painters employed by Con-
tractor Bruchenstein of Hoboken.
Nine of these have been given up as
lost. There were outside workmen on
Only Twenty-Six Bodies Recovered.
both the Main and the Bremen. So
far only twenty-six bodies, or the rem