The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-07-03
THE VICTIMS OF
THE HOBOKEN FIRE.
- ss
Sixty-Seven Bodies Have
Been Recovered.
THE MISSING NEARLY 300
Next Week the Corpses in the River
Will Rise.
THOSE WHO WILL SWELL LIST OF DEAD
The Two Hundred and Forty Odd Men From
The Steamships. There Were Also
About 35 Men on Boats and
About the Decks.

L
New York, July Sixty-seven bod
| les of victims of the Hoboken fire
have been recovered. Each hour. that
passes witnesses additional recoveries
of bodies, scared, manned and burned
beyond all semblance of humanity,
| And the half has not yet been told,
| as all the bodies brought to the sur
| face today were caught on graphing
| hooks. About the first of next week
people will realize the appalling loss
| of life. as it will then be time for the
| bodies that are now lying at the bot
| tom of the river to come to the surface
of their own accord. The list of miss
| ing is still placed at but few below
| the three hundred mark, and when
the bodies begin floating to the sur
| face, the grewsomeness OF the sltua~
| ton will be realized.
| Thirty-seven have been either posi-
| tiyelv or partly identified. most OF
| them. so far as has been discovered,
being victims from the steamship
| Saale.
| Those who will undoubtedly swell
| the list of the dead are, the two nun
| dred and forty odd men from the
| steamships, including officers, SUB
| officers, seamen, oilers, machinlStss
| coal passers, and trimmers, the great
| err loss of course being among the
| men who were below decks and could
| not get to the open before the fiames
| debries beat them down TO their
failing debris beat them down to their
| death OF these the greater part are
| foreigners and the lists of their names
are being checked off by the steamship
company officers as soon as any iden-
| tification can be made. Then, too
| there are some 35 persons who were
on canal boats, lighters and about
| the docks in various capacities.
| The burned North German piers
| with that of the Thingvalla Line
| reached out into the river like long,
| charred arms of some great body,
which still steamed and smoked in its
| last hours of life, rising above the
whole mass is still> a heavy cloud of
smoke that tells of much fire and
heat remaining in the ruins of the
large storehouse at the north end of
| the ruins.
The general agent of the North Ger
man LLOYD Line, Gustav II. Schwab, was
| at his temporary office in Hoboken
most of the day, trying to straighten
| out the situation. He could not form
any exact estimate of the losses as yet.
but the company was doing all it could
| to get itself out of the tangle. The
company sent money down to the
docks and paid it out to the survivors.
More than fourteen thousand dollars
| i'm cash was dealt out to the men to-
| day and suits of clothing were given
| to every man that asked for them.
Food and shelter was also provided for
the company's men.
Yesterday the great scenes of the
| fire were more on the big steamers
that lay burning in the river, than at
the docks, which were just pile of
smoking ruins, but TODAY when the
bodies began to be found in pairs, in
| groups of half a dozen and then by
| the dozen, the scene then presented
the most grewsome sights. Hundreds of
| thousands of people banked on the
streets all day long and watched with
| incredible interest the little groups
| of men that brought in the bodies
| from the ends of the piers. Thous-
| ands of small children were allowed
| in the crowds to view the horrible
| spectacle, and women with babies in
= arms craned their necks to get
glimpse of sights from which many
men turned their faces.
To O'Donnell's undertaking shop,
which was nearest to the scene of the
| fire, the wagons went. The bodies
were placed in a row, in plain pine
boxes and on the front of each box,
was tag bearing the number in the
order which the bodies were laid out.
Each body was searched for valuables
before it was put in the box and a
quantity of money was found on near
" every man, also trinl<lets and other
personal valuables. All Of these were
put in bags and labelled one for each
victim. The bodies were enclosed in
the box save for space of about
three feet at the head, leaving lust
| room enough for people to make iden-
tification. On each body the precau-
ton was taken Of placing large
piece of ice.
Second officer Sander, of the Saale,
said tonight that several of the Off
GERS of the steamships would issue
statement in several days, signed and
sworn to. that the captains of the
tug boats did not do all in their power
to help the ships that were lying in
their docks.
Officer Sander said his ship had been
cut loose from the pier and that he
and another officer stood at the stern
of the ship with the man ready to man
lines to a,tug boat. He said he shout
ed to the tug boats captains. num-
4 4 Iii
but that no response was made, the
tugs simply lying still, until they
could get near enough to the great
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse to render
enough assistance to claim salvage.