The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-02

| the decks II was then we witnessed the
| awful sight of human agony:
| "A hundred arms with the flesh torn from
| them and blackened with sraoke protruded
| from the small ports. which were hut a
| foot or less in diameter, II those port holes
| had been larger. sufficient 10 admit the
| passage of "A human body, the rescues
| would have been many mere in number
| than they were.
maniacs when We got them aboard. They
| could not realize they had escaped the hor-
rible death that thseni ,h 'he i,r nn, few
| fought each other after they were rescued.
| They wer- as black as coal. and their burnt
and charrci flesh peeled ca with their
cio:hne.
Horrible Scenes ON hoard.
THE most AK lnizinC sig: / witnessed
was that of 4 woman who was burned.
We could see her face ais. arms a. she
reached out and got hanIful of water.
with which she washed hc,' face, se'kln;
to cool il and gain relief fr,.n the terrible,
heat She never once uttered scream.
We passed her a cup of water. She grabbed
Il eagerly and drank IL. She could NOT
speak English. hut murmureG In foreign
dan'1t.d trat She was prayi.g. ne spoke
words. of cheer tc her. TEc boat gave a
lurch. water ii!!si the compartment which
she was in. and she Sank i-om our sight
ana saw her no more.
Lieutenant Mco;,nnis said there Were
many explosions heard aboard the Saale
back.
When the burned ard sc;i.tled SaaIe is
pumped out IL Is believed t:.nt the bodies
of many persons who persisted below her
main deck will be recovered. Some Of
those pcnned In by the "1nlcs were alive
when the steamship was tornd to the Jcr-
sry Hats, lust north of Ellis Island
Through tn, open dead lights. or port
holes the poor creatures appealed for help
several times before the vessel WAS scut-
tied in the pc of putting cut the fire
which was raging in her upI;- works The
rnTthol's being less IRAN ."t In diane
tor. Il WAS Impossible {" sac them. ana
rn,. after another people iGz.Ie sucCunbei
To the smoke AMI flames.
Keeper Hcaly Of Ellis island spoke TO
s-VersI! of the i.ufnTtuEat.S. a. dia also the
captain Of the t!Igrudt Union and Captain
|. I. Chapman. The latter salt. describing
a conversation which be HAD with IN" OF
the fire victims through an open headlight
on the S5aic:
THE imprisoned man was a stevedore
who was known to me ny sight, He told
me there were thirty men beside him
self. aud one Il woman Stewardess. penned
in by tn. flames. The poor fellow had IN
ayonizing look IN his face. and seemingly
realized that he 2nd his comrades were
doomed to 4 horrible end giving up hope of
rescue. The stevcdnrss told me tina; there
were others caught between decks. and
aSkl ire To try To- saw. them. 4 moment
after NJ sank back into the roaring flames
which soon shot out Of the open port
hobs We went back and forced a com
l'ani"nway y man wi" sough; {" gain the
ladder with \ blanket wrapped about him
wuS unable TO do so and was roasted to
death"
When the fire broke out those working
below decks ON the Main Included thirty
six fiTem.n. six oilers. 'our water boys.
machiniSts. These men. Including the six
teen who ws-. later saved. spent almost
eight hours in one Ct The coal bunkers
with th- fire raging around them
Resides the sixteen who were taken out
early this morning. fifteen others have re-
ported. This leaves tweuty-three of the force
mi iTF Ea- u. n p. * knn
Some NAV have escaped and ,hey may have
all been burned to death.
William Meyer. first fireman - thu Main.
said that the head fireman. liner. was
doubtless burned To- death and Second
Storskeeper Urburke saws that Chief Store
ke"rc~ MSlinsky persisted.
Imprisoned In Mains Hold.
Captain Pcterman Of ;he Main was M
scrt when the fire broke our, and the ship
was in charge of FIRST Officer otto Weber.
Weber has not reported since the fire. AMI
IL is believed he persisted in the flames
or was drowned
Christian GUenthe-. one Of the sixteen
men who passed almost unharmsd through
eight hours OF torture In TIL Main. says
that TIE first he and the coal passers in the
lower hold knew Of the trouble was when
coal failed 20 come down the chute. 1t had
been pouring down from canal boat. Aft
eT waiting some time ..r more coal 10 COM.
on Of them crawlei into the chute TO see
what the trouble was. and dropped back 10
report that there fame all about the
outside Of the ship. Then the rush for The
exits took place.
There was no way of getting out and th.v
refreatsd as the fire descended toward them.
back to the lowest tier of coal bunka-s
Their refuge proved a good one. Here they
remai-ed for almost eish, hours while the
fire ragged Over them, plates aboye ,hsi,
heads became 81 hot the men could 10.
touch them with their hands. When ihe
burned out by the in;enss heat and two were
temporarily made insane. The other mon
were practically unframed though badly
frightened.
bremen the Worst Injured.
Tho fire on III" Main rs she Law on the
beach near Weehawk'n was still burning
''-nirht. The Bremen appeared TO be the
Superintendent Miller of the Bremen
piers. starting out late Saturday nigh, in
quest of the Gcld. unexpectedly rescued
the Bremen and found that there were live
men aboard. He took from one of the coal
ports the fourth engineer and six of the
crew. who had mauagei to survive in the
Then he visited the Kliser Wilhelm der
Crosse; and SEEING the Main drifting with
the tide. he followed 10 where the still
burning l:ner was beached on weehawken
Flats.
Pioiiting ty his experlenc. on the
Bremen. he scanned the sides Of the vessel
closely and deserted at one Of tn coal
ports a man calling for hep Gong to the
side of the vesse! he sc.ei this man and
ihe bottom of the ship for nearly eight
hours. with the flames above them and
working their way nearer.
The men were ut their last stand and
soon would have rcrishea.
Late tonight. Mr.. Schuab prepared a. list
showing rs far as possible the number of
men employed on each steamship who have
been accounted for. OF the 80 men en-
plcyod on the Saa!e. l2i have been account
ell for as follows:
Dock department. which Includes officers
and men who actually employed as sail
prS. tWenty-sevsn: stewards department
nfty-eight. and engineers department for
;y-rwo.
OF the 2oi men employed on the Bremen
IT were accounted for as follows:
Dock department %: stewards depart
rent. sixty. and engineers department for
ty-One.
OF the 81 men employed on the Main
scvs nty-six we're accounted for as follows:
Deck department. twenty-six: stewards
department. -. and engineers department
thirty-one
Mir. Schwab said that he knew OF forty
six injured In 81. Marys HOSPITAL ir Ho-
bofen alone and that there were injured
In many other hospitals.
Says M EndcavOrers Were Lost.
Mr. Schwab declares positively there were
no members of the Christian Endeavor So
ciety aboard the Saals. He said that all
the survivors of the crews who wished and
were able would be sent to the other side
on the Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse. which
will sail Tuesday. lie thought he could not
give a list of the survivors before Tuesday.
Mr.. Schwab declared that II was also I'M
pcsSihe 30 give an estimate of the loss To
the company that would he at all accurate.
He was asked II he thought IL would reach
sic 600 Os-' and hastily declared that IL would
not He finally said that he thought the
total loss TO the company would be less
sh ~