The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-02
DEATH LIST IS INCOMPLETE.
Number of Dead Estimated
Between Two Hundred
and Four Hundred.
PROPERTY LOSS IMMENSE.
Piers, Ships and Warehouses
Valued at Over Twenty
Million Dollars.
lREPUBLIC SPECIAL.

lREPUBLIC SPECIAL.
New York. July More appalling even
than the first estimates indicated was the
disaster which br.ell the North German
I-loyds on Saturday.
In the fire which wiped out of ex!stsn nee
their entire wharf property in Hoboken
ard wrecked three fine steamships Of the
line at least 2ln people. and perhaps double
that number persisted. meeting death in
the most horrible form conceivable
About the smake-aeckeG ruins to-day
gathered ;he weeping relatives Of the dock
laborcrs who lost their lives In the flames
and the widows. aweetheartS and families
of the sailors who persisted in the holds OF
the SaaIe. Bremen and Main. These IN
fortunates were comforted by thousands OF
New Workers who visited the gruesonle
scene. but sympathy failed under such dis
trezsing circumstances and the stricken
ones were left alone with their sorrow and
IN. poor ashes of their dead al evsntide
with only an army Of rescuers and salvage
Il.en for company.
The most conservative estimates place the
loss of life at between &+' and 80 and the
property Gamegc at S2a."".0"
Gi-stay II schwab. the American agent OF
the North German LloyGS places the conn
yarv's loss al S5.Jaaa9". This estimate does
M, infguja bov-ev =. the loss of business
enfailed in The destruction of the piers. nor
Goes it take coCn.zance of the loss OF the
services Of three fine passenger ships a; the
height of the season, nor the salvage
claims. other conservative estimates place
the loss of tn North German Lloyd Com
many at Sl0.p0.c1 ard Other losses AZ an
\ equal amount
Mr. Schwab-s estimate as TO the less OF
life Is considered by many as ultra con-
servat:ve He pieces the loss OF life of men
connected with his company at 49, OF the
Saalc's complement Of 225 men he says that
~ have teen accounted for: that of the
Bremen's a0i men, II are known to be
alive, and that 81 men are missing from the
Mains complement Of 10, Thus g'5 men
are uracCoUuted fCr.
Mr.. Schwab believes that In addition to
these a considerable number of lOngshore-
men and others Of a similar calling lost
their lives.
The police of Hoboken accept Mr..
Schwabs figures as to the loss Of life on
board the three steamers but their reports,
telling of missing men among the dock
workers inJieais s2aat the loss of life may
feach so Their estimate does not take into
account the several hundred persons who
have teen located in the hospitals of Hobo
ken. Jersey City and New York.
There were about 800 persons on board
the North German Lloyd steamers and on
the wharves when the fire was discovered
Saturday and Of this number not more
than 100 have been actually accounted for.
The police think. however, that when all
proper allowances are made for persons who
escaped, the death list will not go beyond
100.
Preferred Fire TO Water.
Had it not happened one would listen
with incredulity TO a tale of three modern
steamships being so quickly enveloped with
flames caught from piers at which they
We're lying as 10 cause the death Of most
of those on board.
1t seems incredible how so many men
should have lost their lives by 1ire-why
so many victims Of this extraordinary trag-
edy apparently preferred death by fire than
taking the risk of a plunge into the water
No description can give any idea of the
SCARED and biackened wreck which now
lies in the mud off Liberty Island. and
alongside which coffin boat from the
morgue was lying to-day. The wreck IS
that Of the Saalc. From her flooded COM
partments ten bodies including the torso of
woman, were taken to-day.
In another of the flooded compart-
ments IL was said that more than thirty
other bodies were floating.
Divers are at work endeayoring to re-
cover them.
Captain MirOw the only officer lost
I'm the great confiagration. and that he met
death hcroically and in the performance of
duty seemed abundantly attested by the
fact that from the open deck where the
portion of the body was found he could
well have found the less horrible death of
drowning and with better opportunity OF
being saved. had he not delayed effort to
escape till so exhausted he fell on the very
deck.
Further up stream, in the mud off Wee
hawken. and close in shore, are two other
wrecks. that Of the ill-starred Bremen and
her fated sister. the lucFless Main Gust
a Spniinn
over the still smoldering fabrics.
The Main lies deep in the water and al
YEARLY toward the shore. the Hudson lap.
ping her cabin oead lights and her decks
at an angle as steep as That OF Servis
crews, the smoke still swirling upward
from burning interiors. miuglnS with the
cascades of water which the big boats
threw over the two.
LoOting the Wrecked Vessels.
Thousands thronged the Jersey shore 10
gaze upon the ships. some drawn by idle.
some by morbid curiosity. Others were
drawn 10 them through purposes of loot.
Scores of small boats lay alongside the ve--
sells, and there being none to say them
nay, their occupants crowded through open
portfolios and hayd ed out armfui after arm
full of crockeryw3re, cushions, pillows, any
thing. in fact. that the despoilers could find.
over IN Hoboken. where the burned PIERS
were still sulenly smoldering. gathered an
neighbOring street and overfiowed into
thoroughfares. from which no view what
ever could be hao of the fire-wrecksd piers.
A topic for discussion was that column of
smoke which uprose from blazing piers and
ships and rolled like a thunder cloud over
New York City. That cloud. however, had
a silver lining for many hereabouts. though
II meant the doom of many lives and the
destruction OF some gallant ships
To the numerous tugs and harbor craft
IL meant so much in salvage that owners
ana masters and mates and deckhanGs
draw their breath when they think about IT,
Crosse alone Is worth. with her cargo. about
10 use In following their suggestions. An
Admiralty Court will decide it,
The-e may be st;ll more salvage, or per-
h3ps dock fees for some one II the bay
does not soon clear itself of the debris
which now encurlbers II. Charred logs and
sections Of panking from half-burned scows |
and lighters and other wreckage Is now
plentifully strewn over the waters of lie
upper and lower bays. much of the wreck |
age being sufficiently large to cripple paddle |
wheeis and damage screws.
Accoroingg to estimate made to-day |
between three and four hundred persons |
suffering from injuries consequent on ,he |
IRE went or were taken TO the hospitals Of |
New lofk Jersey City and Hoboken. The
word estimate" is used because many suc-
fered from trifing Injury and left on hav-
Ing tneir wounds dressed
For.y-two persons were received In the
New 1ork hospitals. Of whom fifteen Nere