The Bourbon news. [volume] (Paris, Ky.) 1895-19??, 1900-07-03
large VESSELS burn.
Lives Lost and $40, 900, 900 Worth
Of Property Destroyed.
The Lives of at Least Fifteen Hum
dred People Were ImperiIed BY
the FIames-The Fire Origi-
mated in a Bale of Cotton.

New York, July ALMOST $1O,OOO,-
600 worth of property was destroyed,
many lives were lost, many persons
were injured and at least 1,5OO lives
were imperiled by fire that started
among cotton bales under Pier of
the North German Lloyd Steamship
Co. 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 out
ward from the actual shore line to
the bulkheads from 600 to 1000 feet
away and had caught four great
ocean liners and a dozen or more
smaller harbor craft in its grasp.
Stories in regard to the loss of life
are conflicting, the number being va
lriously estimated at from so to 200.
From what can be learned, the
flames started among large pile of
cotton bales on Pier 2 of the North
German Lloyd Steamship Co., and
spread with such remarkable rapidity
that in Is minutes the entire proper
ty of the company, taking in over
third of mile of water front, and
consisting of three great piers, was
completely enveloped in a huge blaze
that sent great clouds of smoke high
up into the air.
The flames started so suddenly and
gained such Roadway that the people
on the piers and on the numerous
vessels docked were unable to reach
the street.
At the docks of the North German
Lloyd were the Saale, a single-screw
passenger steamship of 1865 gross
tons: the Bremen, twin-screw pas
senger and freight of 1886 tons, and
the Main, a twin-screw freight and
passenger steamship of 10000 gross
tons. They all caught fire and were
burned to the waters edge The
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse, which had
just come in, was the only one of the
four big vessels at the dock that es-
capped.
The loss of the crews Of these YES
sells is said to reach 100.
Eighteen bodies have been recov-
cred. Eleven of these were placed in
a row at the morgue in this city and
numbered, this being the only means
the authorities have of maintaining
any sort of identity over the corpses,
as they are so badly charred and dis
membered that Identification will be
made only by trinkets or pieces of
clothing that were found about the
bodies.
The only way the steamship Off
.cials have of approXimating the loss
of life is by comparing the list of
those reported safe with the list of
employees on the steamships. Gus
tave Schwab, general agent of the
North German Lloyd line, gave out a
list showing what men on each vessel
are missing. On the Saale 255 men
were employed, and 127 of these have
only been accounted for, leaving 128
men actually employed as officers,
sailors, stewards, engineers, coal
passers, oilers and trimmers to be ac-
counted for.
The Bremen had 2O4 men on board,
but only 1877 of these have been found.
The Main had 137 employed on her at
the time, and of these only 76 have
been reported safe.
Eight barges and II canal boats
were either burned or sunk with their
.cargOes. Total valuation, $125,OOO.
The Hoboken Shore railroad had
number of cars burned and other
property damaged. Loss, $1,000.
Minor losses on floating property,
burned at the fire proper or set OF.
fire by burning driftwood, will
amount to about $4,000.
The personal losses sustained by
those aboard the steamships can sim
ply be surmised, as there is no way of
-ascertaining this at the present time,