The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1900-07-03
FOUR LINERS BURN
CONTINUED FROM FIRST PACE

river when seized By the terror o. the
flames. These boats were padded here and
there, but soon their occupants had moth
Ing to do but to watch the mad sweep of
. the flames. Those who had plunged into
the water had been rescued or had gone
10 the bottom.
There were hundreds OF men on each Of
the destroyed steamships. and a few wo-
men Crowds Of dock laborers and also
employees OF the companies were on all
the piers. Men, women. and children
were on the canal-boats. and men on the
barges and lighters. and when the fire
made its quick descent upon them escape
was cut of before they realized their aw-
ful position. The people on the piers
.; Jumped into the water to save themselves,
and scores OF men huddled under the
piers clinging to the supports. only to be
suffocated by the flames or to drop back
into the water from exhaustion.
Men working in the holds OF the four
steamships were shut in by walls Of fame.
and it was impossible to reach them. II
probably never will be known how many
men perished ir the ships, as the flames
would leave but few If any remnants Of
the human boey.
4 Thousand on Board.
The greatest loss Of life coDears to
have been on the SaaIe She carried ld9
people, and was 10 have sailed for Bremen
this afternoon. When the police boat cap
tain went out with his rescuing party he
saw codes lying all around the deck The
steamship Bremen carried a crew of 800
men and the Main go. and r as many
lives were lost on the Bremen and the
Main. the number Of lives lost will be
very great
| TIE burning CT smoidering remains OF
| canal boats. lighters. and barges are scat
| tered all the way down the river ard bay
| to Staten Island and Governors Island.
Each Of these craft win add something -
the list of the dead.
The loss to the North German docks
alone is placed at s9V09,O00 The value
| Of the great quantities OF cotton. oil. and
various other merchandise on the docks
has not been estimated at this time. The
loss to the North German Lloyd Steam
ship Company alone will probably come
close to $l00O0600 as the Bremen. the
Main, and the Saale were almost totally
destroyed. The Kaiser Wilhelm was
somewhat damaged. The FIVE store houses
or the Campbell Company were greatly
damaged, the loss on one building alone
being placed AT S,5CO,OO0. The value Of
the Hamburg-American Line steamer
Phoenicia is not known, but this VIII
swell the amount of damage.
The Thingvalla pier was burned. and
the dock Of the Hamburg American Lire
suHered greatly. a number of small
buildings in Hoboken were DESTROYED at |
one OF the wharves, with their contents |
but no idea of the value Of these can he |
obtained. The amount of insurance car
ried cannot be learned
Probable Origin of the Fire,
From what can be learned tonight the |
names started among large pile of cot |
ton bales on Pier ?, of the North German /
Lloyd Steamship Company. and spread |
with such r6markabla rapldity that in /
htteen minutes the en- ire property of the |
company, taking in over a third of a mile
OF water front and consisting of three /
great piers, was completed enve oped In |
a huge blaze that sent clouds of ,mOL,e /
high up into the air. The flames started
SO suddenly and gained such hea way
that the pc pie on the numerous pi rs and !
on the vessels dOcked were unable TO
reach the ST. eets. Tlers w,rs great gangs
OF workmen on the piers, and these. to-
gether with number of people who were
al the docks on business and Wis ting the
ships, scattered in all direct ons. AS all
means Of exit were cut off by the flames.
they were forced to jump overheard. and
no doubt great number of people w.re
drowned
At the docks of the North German
Lloyd were the Saale, a single screw mas
senger steamship of 1855 gross tons; the
Bremen, a twin screw passenger and
freight Of lO,526 tons, and the Main,
twin-Screw freight and pss enger steam
ship of l0200 gross tons. They all eau hit
fire. and were burn d to the wlter edge.
The Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse. which
had Just come in, was she only one of the
four biz vessels al the DO k n escap d.
The loss Of the crews Of the e Vesse Is is
said 10 reach 100 The FIRE was first dis
covered by a watchman on the pier at
O'Clock. He saw a small streak of fame
shoot from bale Of cot on on Pier No. 2,
at which was docked the steamer Saale.
He Immediately sent in an alarm.
Kaiser Wilhelm der Crosse saved.
In a few minutes the flames had ex-
tended to the steamship and were comnou-
nicated to the adjoining pier on the north. |
Here were dOcked the Kaiser Wilhelm der
Crosse and the Main. Tugs were immedi-
ately made fast 10 the big Kaiser VIII |
helm der Crosse and she was gotten out
into midstream with safety. altough badly
scOrched at the bows The steamship
Main, however, was doomed, as the
flames had already become 50 fierce on
the north side Of the pier that no tug
could approach the vessel. Then, by a !
shift in the wind, the flames were sent in
the direction OF pier No. !, which was 10 :
the south of pier No. 2. To the north OF y
pier No. was the dock Of the Hamburg !.
American Line, at which the steamship
PhOenicia, a twin-sCreW passenger steam
er OF 500 gross tons. was dOcked. The .
flames got a good hold on the Phoenicia !
and she was tOWed out into midstceam =
abldZe.
The fire had by this time become so
fierce that the officers CT the Hamburg
American Line decided that the only way a
TO prevent total destruction OF their :
great pier Was TO blow up the side OF the L
lock at which the Phoenicia lay. and this 7
was done. A number Of barges docked al ,
he pier also took fire, but in the effort 10 2
save the other property no attention was b
PAID 10 them and they were allowed 10 Y
burn. h
II is feared that the loss OF life in the 4
holds OF vessels was frightful, and IL Is
SAID that many OF the crews who we're y
iSleep [ the time were imprisoned there =
The worst tale will come from the steam j
NIP Main, which was unable TO be toRed 7
rom the pier. b
Panic on the Burning ship.
The vessel had only arrived this noru-
ng and some passengers were stiu on
board, and when the cry OF fire was =,
'aised number Of them were seen 10 =
'un 10 the burning decks. Most OF them &c
Jumped overheard, and, save for the few y
Who were picked up by the tugs. not one y
has been heard from, although every no. 8
el and hospital in the city of Hoboken
: crowded with injured Some OF the G
passengers OF the Main tried 10 escape ,.