The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1900-07-03

New York, July 2.--Almost ten mil
stroyed, many lives lost, many per-
sons were injured, and at least fifteen
hundred lives were imperiled by a fire
that started among cotton bales stored
on pier No. Of the North German
Lloyd Steamship company. in Hoboken,
N. j., at 4 o'clock Saturday afternoon.
In less than Is minutes the flames
covered an area a quarter Of a mile
long, extending outward from the
actual shore line to the bulkheads,
from six hundred to one thousand feet
away, and had caught four great ocean
liners and a dozen or more smaller
harbor craft in its grasp.
The steamship Main was burned 1t
her dock with a great number of men
aboard. The Saale, now beached on
the Jersey flats. went down the river
all afire with fireboats and a fleet of
tugs picking off of her such men as they
could and picking up such as flung
themselves overheard to escape the
flames. In her hold are many corpses.
The Bremen, with seventeen living
men aboard, penned on one side by her
hold, fire aft and forward and fire above
them and on the other side, was beach
ed off Weehawken at night. Fifty tugs
hung around her striving to put out
the fire and cool her Off with hundreds
of tons of water. The living men talked
with the big boatmen through the
ports. They said the men on the other
side Of the hold must be dead. Late at
night the rescuers had good hopes of
getting the living men off alive.
The fire destroyed all the North Ger
TInvd Iiuh
and canal boats, a great quantity of
cotton-for it was q cotton fire at the
start-and the storage warehouse of
Campbell & Company to the north of
the pier, great building full Of mer-
chandise.
The surface Of the water was covered
with floating and blazing masses of
freight, thrown in haste from the
doomed vessels-all unnoticed in the
mad race to rescue more precious hui
man life threatening or being sacrificed
On the great ships. And through the pail
of smoke a great crimson sun, enlarg-
ed to thrice its size by the haze, glared
like an enormous eye as 1t slowly sunk
In the west. NJ
Such was the tremendous spectacle
presented on the surface Of the Hudson
river as IL it had been some holiday
pageant. 1t was made tragic by the
realization that somewhere in that
smoke, somewhere beneath the turbid
waters, scores of lives had been lost or
were then in their last desperate strug-
gle against death.
The spectacle was witnessed by thou
sands and thousands from both shores,
and by other thousands, who crowded
upon every ferry boat, every excursion
boat, upon every variet. of river craft
that could be secured for the purpose
The crowd upon the banks of the river
was almost as great as that which
formed to witness the triumphant re-
turn of Admiral Dewey.
The fearful havoc of life and property
caused by the fire cannot be approxi-
mated with any degree Of certainty
Conservative people, who have had ex-
perience along the docks, are of the
opinion that not over two hundred lives
were lost.
1t Is estimated that from three to
four hundred persons were injured and
taken to the different hospitals in this
city, Jersey City and Hoboken. Many
Of them were found to be not seriously
hurt and were discharged today. Many
Others are believed to be seriously in
Jured and they cannot recover.
While the fire was still burning the
work of relief was begun. Men came
to the Office of the North German Lloyd
line almost naked and with their cloth
ing ruined by the salt water. Men
who had been treated by doctors, but
who had not been sufficiently injured
to be taken to the hospitals, also
gathered at the Office. Every man was
given money and clothing and taken
to temporary lodging house by agents
of the company. The sailors from the
ships lost absolutely everything they
possessed.
Women besieged the officers for in
formation in regard to relatives. There
were about seventy missing reported
at the North German Lloyd office
alone. Fully so per cent Of the sailors
are Germans, who have no home and
no relatives in this country. Most of
them lived in Germany.
Nineteen men, machinists and fire.
men, were taken of the steamship
Bremen after being held very close
bound, with death staring them in the
face for nearly twelve hours. They
were brought ashore on tugs and taken
care Of in hotels near to the company's
charred property. No loss Of life was
reported from the Bremen with the ex-
ception Of the probability Of deaths oc-
curing from the capsizing Of the boat,
already mentioned. AS seventy -four
persons were rescued from the river by
six boats crews from the steamer
Phoenicia, Of the Hamburg American
line, 1t Is Just possible that there was
not soul lost from the Bremen.
Three dead bodies were picked up
near the Hamburg American line dock |
in Hoboken. One of them was identi- |
fed as that Of Lena 8. Cordts, a stew |
ardess of the steamer Saale. The other |
two were bodies Of mates, one of whom |
was identified through a rent receipt |
found In his pocket as Henry Kordeli, |
of Hoboken. The other body lies as yet |
unidentified at the morgue, but from |
<ha aonaa ro poo NJ Tho clothirv a. q.