Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-06-21
A BOMB IN THE CARGO.
Three Stevedores Killed in
Hold of Steamship.
WERE FILLED WITH SLUGS
Six Critically injured and Forty
More or Less Hurt.
SHIP SHAKEN BY THE SHOCK
Bodies Of Victims Looked as Though
Nails Had Been Fired Into Them
by Machine Gun.

| Special Dispatch to The Star.
| PHILADELPHIA. June 2O-Explosion
of bomb in the hold of the Hamburg
American line steamship Arcadia, at
Washington avenue wharf today caused
| the deaths of three men. critical injury
to six and varying damage to about forty
more. tore the interior Of the ship ter
rifically, set it on fire and finally caused
its sinking with all cargo on board.
Discharged employees in Hamburg are
believed by the police to be responsible
for the presence Of the explosive.
stevedore's pick. striking the bomb in
the cargo. discharged 1t. The men killed
| were r1ddled with slugs and nails. Frag-
| ments Of a brass-bound box. supposed to
be the remnants Of the Internal machine,
were found and turned over to Capt.
| Scharschmidt. The box was circular and
wires were attached to 1t. Coroner Jer-
mon will make formal demand upon the
| German consul. to whom the captain
gave the fragments. for its recovery to-
morrow
The dead are as follows: Lucius
Hubbard. Twenty-Five. No. 744 South 10th
No: sos South 18th street; william II.
Butler. twenty-seven. 10Th and Balm
bridge streets. All were stevedores.
The Arcadia was being unloaded, hav-
ing locked two hours previous. Three
gangs or longshoremen were at work
on deck and In the hold. There were
no high explosives on board. There were
some casks of potash and napthol
There were chemicals in casks aud ten
l. n nho1
| Cured. however, in hold No. that
contained nothing but cork.
Machines for dispelling the ship gas
| had been at work. and the hold was
cleared of all noxious vapors.
Drove Bale Hook Into Bomb.
William Butler vas working among
| the bales Of cork. He drove his bale
hook into a bundle. and at once a terri
fic explosion ensued. Twenty-Five men
were in the hold. Each was thrown and
badly injured. Butler was killed at
once. The vessel was shaken from stem
up. hatchways ripped from hinges and
blown high in the air. and the ship inn
mediately listed. Ohicers and crew fed
at first. Almost At once the vessel
IL hold The eeud
Tug boats and river craft ran to the
| boat. Captains and crews jumped on
board and plunged into the hold. They
brought up broken and burned men. Ed
into the pit and brought out all three
dead. He also took out the ten wounded
| men. His was only one instance Of many.
The three dead men were found to be filled
with slugs and iron nails. Some Of these
latter were driven into their bodies tight
| ly. az though hammered in. William Al
mond OF 1929 Lombard street, the under
| taker who took the bodies. said tonight
! that II was as though some one had fired
the nails into them from machine sup.
| the wounded.
Fragments Of Bomb Found.
What 10 supposed to be the fragments
OF the bomb were found by Capt. Walls
| of the tug boat r. A. Churchman. The
crew Of the Churchman Jumped on the
Arcadia almost as room as the explosion
had occurred. Walls suspicious were
aroused by the character Of the fire. Down
in hold he found the metal box. It
| was circular and had ends Of wires ad-
herring to 1t. He turned it over to the
captain Of the Arcadia. who appropriated
IT, He afterward turned it owe. to the
German consul.
TO give an idea Of the force Of the ex-
plosion 1t can be noted that the steel
| bulkheads that extend across the hold
were blown to pieces like paper. The
effects can only be compared to that of a
| torpedo.
Chief Onlcer Kreuger Of the Arcadia
was severely injured helping the wounded
out Of the hold. Many fremen were over
| come. Two inhaled names and Will die.
Deputy Coroner Mehring secured a
statement from an ofiicer Of the boat
that the Hamburg-American line had been
troubled by its men.
"A short time ago." runs this statement.
1.-THE line gave the strikers a slight in
| crease. Then two weeks ago the com
pany enraged the men further by dis
! charging seventy-fve INSPECTORS. who i'm
number Of deck hands. This enmity NAV
| have caused the explosion"
n0TTpr A. m CAyyom