The Savannah morning news., 1902-12-04
BURNED AND MANNED
WE'RE VICTIMS OF FRIGHTFUL Ex-
PLosION ON AN OIL STEAMER.
ELEVEN MEN ARE MISSING
AND MANY NURSE INJURIES FROM
THE ACCIDENT.

Steamer PrOgresO at San Francisco
Was Being Converted Into an Oil
Burning Oil Carrier, When, With
out Warming, There Came "A
Mighty ExpIOsiOn-Death and Ruin
1t Caused - Property Valued ut
100000 Was Observation-Disclosures
of the Accident.
San Francisco, Dec. 3.-While the
steamer Progreso was lying at the
wharft of the Fulton Iron Works at
Harbor View this morning an explo-
sion occurred. AS a result twelve men
are missing.
A score were more or less seriously
injured and property valued at 100000
was destroyed. The missing are First
Assistant Engineer Sparks, Joseph Rex,
Charles eileen. Howard Dove, James
Cavatt Dan Gallagher, Joseph Ma
guire, F. Nelson, c. c. McGregor,
Jack Strand and Jack Ashton.
First Assistant Engineer Sparks,
Joseph Rex, Charles Gieen and How
ard Dove of the crew of the Progreso
were shipped only this morning. Joseph
Rex is a son of Mate Rex of the ship
w. p. Babcock. Charles eileen is a
brother of Second officer eileen of
the transport Sheridan. James Cavatt
,wds an electrician, and Gallagher,
Mcguire, F. Nelson and McGregor
were shipbuilders. Jack Strand was
employed as a fireman. His home is at
Vallejo Ashton was a fireman on the
Progreso and Dove was a seaman.
The list of seriously injured includes
Henry Conama, aged Is, arm ampu-
tated; Robert Gibson. both legs brok-
en-; A. Kane, fractured leg and foot;
r. Bucoll, fractured left wrist; George
McNeemy, severe burns; ]. Morgan,
injured about arms and legs; I. Nc
Gill, severely burned: Willie Wander
set, head bruised; Peter Hanson, frac-
ture of right leg.
Many on Board at the Time.
The disaster occurred at GAS o'clock,
while forty mechanics of the iron
works and twenty employees of the ship
were on board. Below the decks the
mechanics were busy completing the
work of changing the vessel from a
coal burning coal carrier to an oil
burning oil carrier, when suddenly one
of the tanks blew up. Men were hurled
against the steel wall, and sheet of
flame came sweeping into their faces.
On the upper deck men were hurled
into the air or thrown into the water.
Three sailors. engaged in washing
paint outside the pilot house. disap-
peared as the cloud of black smoke
came up from the ship and were seen
no more.
Following the explosion the ship
sagged in the center, showing that she
had broken in two. In the office of the
iron works, twenty feet away. every
window was shattered, and flying glass
cut the faces and hands of many of
the officials and clerks.
AS they rushed out into the open,
survivors who were able to help them
selves were leaping from the ship. A
great crowd of mechanics came run
ming out of the works. AS soon as the
panic had subsidized, these men set to
work to rescue men from the burning
vessel A stream of burning OIL run
ming from the tanks, spread out until
the ship lay on waves of fire. The
flames crept under the wharf, and soon
the timbers were blazing, adding to the
difficulty of the work of rescue.
The One Explosion Did Damage.
AS the ship was built of STEEL the
fire was nearly all below the deck.
ing about 400 barrels of oil in all, and
despite the efforts of the fire depart
ment, this continued to burn fiercely
for hours after the explosion.
Several minor explosions, due to the
flames going from tank to tank, oc-
Cured at short intervals, but all the
injury and loss of life caused by the
first one
One popularity of the explosion was
that several men who were on the 9TH
er side of the bulkhead from where il
occurred were uninjured, while others
further away were badly hurt. Several
men in the yards were injured by flying
debris.
The loss to the Fulton company by
the Wrecking of the building and the
burning of the wharf will exceed $40
900. 1t is estimated that the Progresc
was worth about $4,000.
The explosion shook all the build
tngs at Harbor View, and the shock
was felt a mile away. In a few in
stances windows were broken several
blocks away,
James Spiers, Jr., general manager OF
the Fulton Iron Works, is positive that
the explosion was due to the oil and
not to the bursting of the boiler. His
theory is that gas was generated in
one of the oil tanks.
1T was certainly the explosion of a
tank" he said. "If it had been boil
er explosion a cloud of steam would
have arisen, but there was no steam
Instead, it was black smoke from the
oil There was only a small pressure
of steam at the time"