The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1900-07-05

Great Ocean Liners Caught and Members
Of Crew and Passengers Found Death In
| Flames or Water.
New York (SpeciaD .-AlmOst Sl0;
100000 worth OF property was de-
stroyed many lives lost, many persons
were injured and at least 1900 lives
we're imperiled by fire that started
among cotton bales stored on Pier No.
of the North German Lloyd Steam
ship Company, in Hoboken, N. j.
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 500 to 1000 feet away, and had
caught four great ocean liners and a
| dozen or more smaller harbor craft in
! its grasp. II is believed that about
| 200 lives were lost and 300 persons
were injured. The hospitals in New
York. Hoboken and Jersey City were
crowded with the injured.
Those who gathered along the shores
of the Hudson river to witness the
great Conflagration saw spectacle
that they can never forget, and one
that will always have conspicuous
place in the history of New York.
pail of black smoke, through which
angry flames, bursting as from vol
canoes. on the Jersey shore, and in the
water itself, leaped like red spheres in
to the sky. 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 rush to rescue more pre-
cious human life, threatening or being
sacrificed in the great ships. And
through the pail of smoke a great
crimson sun, enlarged to thrice it's size
by the haze, glared like an enormous
| eye as It slowly sank in the West
| Such was the tremendous spectacle pre-
sented on the surface of the Hudson
river, as If 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 greatest loss of life appears to
have been on the Saale. She carried
450 people, and was to have sailed for
Boston. When the police-boat captain
went aboard of her with his rescue
party he saw bodies lying all about the
deck. The steamship Bremen carried n
crew of 300 men, the Main $50. and il
as many lives were lost on the Bremen
and Main as on the Saale the number
of lives will be very great Then, also,
many perished on the piers the canal
| boats and lighters.
The burning or smoldering remains
of canal-boats, lighters and barges are
scattered all the way down the river
and bay to State, Island and Cover
nor's Island. Each of these craft will
add something to the list of the dead
Ihe loss tc the North German LLOYD
docks alone is placed at $4,000, 600.
The value of the great quantities of
cotton, oil and various other merchan-
disc on the docks has not been esti.
mated at this time. The loss to the
North German Lloyd Steamship Com
pany alone will probably come close
to S1OO00,000, as the Bremen. the
Main and the Saale were almost to.
tally destroyed. The Kaiser Wilhelm
was somewhat damaged. The five
storehouses of the Campbell Company
We're greatly damaged, the loss on one
building alone being placed at $780,
OO0. The value of the Hamburg.
american Line steamer Phoenicia is
not known, but this will swell the
amount of damage. The Thingvalla
pier was burned, and the dock of the
hamDurg-America Line suffered
greatly number of small buildings
IN Hoboken were destroyed along the
wharves, with their contents.
from what can be learned the flames
slarted among large pile of cotton
Dales on Pier 2 of the North German
Lioyd steamship Company, and spread
| with such remarkable rapidity that i'm
10 minutes the entire properly of the
company, taking in over a third of a
mile of water front and consisting of
three great piers, was completely en-
veloped in huge blaze that sent great
clouds of smoke high up into the air.
The flames started so suddenly and
gained such headway that the people
on the piers and on the numerous YES
sells docked We're unable to reach the
street. There were great gangs of
workmen on the piers, and these to-
gether with number of people who
were at the docks on business and
visiting the ships scattered i'm all di-
rections. AS all means of exit were
cut off by the flames, they were forced
to jump overheard.
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 10,526 tons, and
the Main, twin-screw freight and
| passenger steamship of 10.200 gross
tons. They all caught fire and were
burned to the waters edge The Kai-
ser 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 will reach 100.
The fire was first discovered by a
watchman on the pier at o'clock. He
saw small streak of fame shoot from
bale of cotton on Pier No. 2, at which
was docked the steamer Saale. He inn
mediately sent in an alarm.
In few minutes the flames had ex-
tended to the steamship and were com
municated to the adjoining pier on the
north Here were docked the Kaiser
Wilhelm der Crosse and the Main.
Killed by Lightning.
New Haven, Conn. (SpeciaD AT
| XUfnctaaA LYMAN Raaabnr aUad cE