Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1900-07-05

From Burning ships.
New York. July 3.-At least 800 hui
man lives lost, 800 In the hospitals suf-
fering from more or less serious burns
and injuries, three huge and costly
ocean steamships destroyed, twelve
tugs and lighters b~urned--in oil $10,-
100000 worth of property consumed
is the story of a fire which swept the
piers of the North German Lloyd and
Hanburg-American Steamship com
panies 1t Hoboken Saturday afternoon.
The disaster, the most terrible that has
eve happened here, and perhaps the
most shocking on record, was accompa-
MED by heroic rescues, miraculous eS-
capes and agonizing deaths.
Burn or Jump to Death.
Thousands of persons in Hoboken
and New York lined the sides of North
river near the fire and saw men and
women burn or jump to death in the
water. The ships destroyed were the
Saale,, the Bremen and the Main OF
the North German Lloyd line. The
Kaiser Friedrich der Groose and the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse OF the
North German line were damaged to
some extent. but not badly. There
were hundreds of men on each of the
destroyed steamships and a few wo-
men. There were
Crowds Of Dock Laborers
and employees on all the piers. There
We're men. women and children In the
canal boats, and men on the barges
and lighters. SO quickly did the fire
spread that escape for all of these hun
dreds was cut off almost before they
knew the fire had started. Men work
ing in the holds Of the three steam
ships were shut In by walls of flame.
1t was impossible to reach them IN
any way. Men on the pier jumped into
the water to save themselves. Many
of them were saved, but others sank
before help could reach them.
Caused by Explosion.
The fire originated on pier 3 Of the
North German Lloyd series, near the
foot Of Third street. 1t was caused by
the explosion of a benzine tank. so the
fire fighters declared, which ignited a
large quantity of cotton awaiting
shipment. Near by were moored the
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse. the Main,
the Saale and the Bremen. The Saale
was due TO sail for Boston Sunday
morning to pick up a party of Chris
tian Endeavorers en- route TO Cher'
bourg. The Kaiser was scheduled TO
sail Tuesday for Southampton. The
Main was also
To Have Smiled
on Tuesday and the Bremen on Thurs
day for Bremen. The Saalp and the
Bremen lay at either side of pier No. 2,
while the Kaiser lay on the north side
of pier No. /, Immediately down
stream. The Main lay just down
stream from the Kaiser. When the
first burst Of flame appeared the
hoarse whistles of the liners were
sounded. and all hands were sum-
moned to fight fire. The blaze, howev-
err, outstripped the fire fighters four
fold and leaped toward the huge liners,
powerless in their slips. The shed on
pier No. 3, piled with cotton and
stored with hundreds Of
Barrels of OIL,
was ready food for the flames, which
spread with i~ncalculable rapidity. The
pier was a furnace within a few min
utes. and the tongues of fire jumped
across the slip and seized upon the
Saale, which lay at the northward OF
the pier just below. On the four
piers there were 1000 persons working
when the fire started. Five hundred
were near the entrance and escaped
into the street. The remaining 1,3O0
jumped into the water and Were either
picked up by passing craft Of drowned.
Loss Only Approximnted.
The property loss can simply be ap-
proximated mt this time. None of the
officials around the docks could give
anything like a precise estimate or
their losses and none was prepared 10
make a statement en- this point. a
conservative estimate made by a prom
inent fire underwater places the en-
tire loss at less than $10.000,C COO. The
three docks of the North German
Lloyd line are total losses. with all
their contents. and they are still
smouldering with
Many streams From Fire Hose
PLAYING constantly on the debris. The
pier OF the Thingvalla line Is totally
wiped away and an extension which
had just been built on the Hamburg
American lines expanse of piers was
burned down TO the pile tops. The
warehouses; Of Palmer & Campbell,
which were across the street from the
North German Lloyd line dock. suf'
fered greatly, and q number of houses
along the street were scorched badly.
The loss to the steamship properties
and other companies Is estimated APP
proximately as follows: The steam
ship Main, Of the North German Lloyd
line, cost S1,5O0,OO0 outside Of the
cargo. fitting and stores.
The Loss Is Place
at 81, 900, 900 for the vessel and about
100000 for fittings, stores and cargo
that was on board of her. The Bre-
men of the same line. cost S ,2JO.0OO,
and her fitting and cargo were valued
at 100000. The cargo and stores
were entirely consumed and the loss
10 the vessel proper will amount to at
least 100000. She is beached of
weehawken and still smouldering. ap.
parently destroyed. save for her ma
chinery. The Saale, the steamship
which will have the most horrible
story Of death 10 unfold when the
divers go down In her. cost the Lloyd
company S1.25O,000 and the fittings
L NM AnA