The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-03
List of North German Lloyd Fire Victims
Is Heightened.
Rescued Tell of Tugboat Captains Disregard for Human L
-Exacted Pay of Drowning Men or Let
Them Die

the same way. All OF the bodies recovered
ana laid out in these places to-day are
OF them are burned or scared to the cN-
tent OF those OF the twelve victims IN the
horribly mutilated and dismembered.
e a are 5iacsensd BY fire Or
steamship from which they were taken.
Some are drab-colored from the water and
some still look almost as wh;e they did
In life.
At the New York morgue. where twelve
bodies are now lying, the most horrible
IN a pine box As the people come into the
building looking for dead friends or rela-
t!ves. the men OF that place who have be
come hardened toall human sympathy.
slide out body after body ana push it back
unfeelingly as The person passes on de-
spartngly to the next. The scenes at these
most any man.
Tugs Ignored the saaIe.
Second Offcer Sander OF the Saale said
tonight that several of .he officers of the
steamship would issue "A statement IN sew
eIal days. signed and sworn to. ;hat the
captains Of the tugbUats did not do all ia
their power to help the ships that were
oficer Sander sad that his ship had been
cut loose from the per and that he and
ship with men ready to man lines 10 the
tugboats. He said they shouted to thu tug
boat CAPTAINS; a lumber of whom l..,' were
was made: the tugs simply lying by until
they could aet near enoggh TO the s,eat
enough assistance to claim salvage.
Human Life Disregard
John Lupth. a painter employed In decor
attns the first cabin Of the Saale, was
alarmed by the cry OF fire and rushed from
the cabin TO the deck just in time to see a
great sheet of flames sweep over the for
ward part OF the vessel and envelop Captain
Mirow, who was standing between ne
q I
a panic-stricken group OF laboreIs 10 bat
ten the hatch down
The fire wrapped around him and in an in
, slant he was crumpled into shapeless
mass. falling where he stood.
AT that" says Lupth. half a dozen tugs;
blowing their whistles, steamed up toward
| the Kaiser Wilhelm. hich was lying on the
opposite side of the dock. Sixty men fol-
lowed me in a leap, TO lighter, and We
were coming ny to help the Kaiser Wilhelm
Those tugboatmen were too greedy for
| money TO help US. One OF them, came up
close and threw ont a new manila line. II
fell short and was hauled back again
Cast that line over yelled. The fire
from the Main was then pouring over our
heads, and the heat was something fearful
Give US hand here" another man shouted
after me. For Gods sake. don't let Us die
The captain Of the tug paid no atten-
ton 10 whatever and made no answer.
Instead OF trying to reach US with the line
second time he backed water and got
under the prov OF the big ship. We could
see him throwing small! hand line 10 those
on board. We could not understand that
We had been deserted and thought that our
cries had not been heard.
Another tug came within haifing dis
lance and We spoke her. but the only an
swer We got was: NO time now: will see
you later There were not less than a doz-
en- tugs close by US then. but no ons would
do Do, anything !t for US The hawsers which
through and parted and we drifted out into
the stream and fioatsd down alsnngshore
a TO-
US q tow TO poirt below Hobokea. where
al hands got ashore"
Had to Pay for Their Lives.
John voss was on the pier when the cot
at the end OF the wharf and saw the feet
of tugs coming toward the Kaiser Wilhelm.
81 saw three men swimming and trying
to get away from the burning pier" said
Voss The hair Of one Of them was on
fire. He ducked his head to put Il out
When he came up he shouted. Help! help"
IN German man on small tug leaned
over the side and yelled out: Have you
any gelt? We are not here Tor our health
in some way. because he couldn't make any
reply. He threw up his hands and sank.
Il could not tell what became OF the
others. One of them cried out: For Gods
sake" two or three times, but nobody
would do anything for him. / guess he
must have been struck in the head by one
of the tugs. The crews on board kept
calling out. How much have you eot?'
Where Is all your money!"
For four hours and thirty minutes VII
helm Meyer, fireman Of che Main, chung
to spite the front Of the pier where
the Saele was. unable. by reason of burns
and his exhausted condition, to swim more
than dozen yards in frequent attempts TO
gain place OF greater safety. The heat
over his head was blisterinS and he was
nearly drowned by being obliged to dive
beneath the surface at frequent intervals
TO escape roasting.
Il called nifty times TO- tugboats that.
came near me-. said he, but they would
hrn ma ffra.. IL,
SO weak that could hardly keep my head
above water; but l kept calling all the
time big Big b baziPg pieces Of Wood fell
Of the way | Saw i've or six men swim
ming around as If they did not know what
they were doing Whenever they saw a
had more money than had, for / did
not see one Of them picked up"
Three Dollars for Rope.
Tho second storekeeper of the Main. AL
He found a place TO cling TO. and shouted
for help until he was exhausted. Tugs
were within fifty yards of him. but not
one made an effort to take him aboard.
zone Of the crew OF a tug offered me a
rope IL l would give him s.. hut how could
!? After while a small yawl boat came
by and was pretty near gone, but I hailed
her and the man pulled me in and took
me ashore
inspector OF steam vessels. said that his de-
partmeut would take immediate action in
the case Of the officers Of the tugbcats
who are reported to have declined 10 save
drowning men.
Before the guard was placed about the
Bremen Sunday afternoon thieves clam
bered aboard ard looted the statCroOms.
Wild Scenes on the SRnir.
A body at the New York NorCue was
identified to-day as that Of August Weller
"a years old. married who lived in B.e;n-r-
haven, Germany. He was a boss machini.t
on the Saale.
The identiication was made by Wilhelm
Schermeistef. the first electrician OF the
Saale. S;cherme!ster ssid he went on the
Saale at O'Clock. Weller and his men
were on the machine deck az work. The
electricians were on the deck below him
When the fire occurred Weller vent up
10 see what II announced 70.
He came back and reported that Pier 3
was fire, and the flames had communi-
Gated to the vessel He told his rner, to
found their means Of egress cut or BY
fame and smoke. They rushed back Well
er tried to organize his men so that they
would act in concert and did so for a time.
They rushed back to q hatchway and
found n battened down They r1u 10 an
other and found this also fastened From
place to place they went. followed ny the
electricians and others. Finally Weller
told his men TO make their escape the best
thew could.
near the upper deck right III the midst OF
Are and smoke. Schermeister said that he
and n number OF others clamber.d through
the machinery over coal bins and through
devious and narrow Passages IN the sh p
to the station pump. way below the water
ing purnped into tie vessel found ffs way
there and the men clunE to the pumu In
This narrow and confined place men hung
TO them until they dropped from exhaustion