Arizona republican., 1911-09-26

TOULON, Sept 25.-More than 300 officers and men of the French battle ship Liberte lost their lives today when the vessel was torn apart and literally destroyed in the harbor here by an explosion of her magazines. The battleship Republique was badly damaged and the battleships Demo- cratic and Vertie suffered heavily from heavy armOr plates and wreck age which were hurled upon their decks
 This is the greatest disaster that ever befell the French navy, and is almost without precedent in the an- nals of the worlds fighting ships The explosion occurred at 5:35 this morn ing and resulted from fire aboard the ship which spread rapidly in spite of all efforts to extinguish it. and reached the magazine before the crew were able to flood it. The ex- plOsiOn was of tremendous violence, and bodies and other wreckage were hurled in every direction. While the naval authorities estimate the num- Der killed at 300 it is feared this will be exceeded It will be necessary to canvass the ships muster roll be- fore the full list of victims will be obtainable Several men already have been taken alive from the twisted ruins. and it is hoped others may be reached
 The cause of the fire is not exactly known. It is believed it smouldered for hours. Captain Jaures. a broth CT of the socialist leader, and 140 men were ashore on leave at the Six hundred and two men were aboard The fire was discovered at m. and the crew rushed to quarters and fought desperately. Sig nals of distress were flashed to other ships. The position of the fire made it impossible to flood the magazine rapidly and realizing the danger, the second lieutenant, temporarily com manding the ship. ordered "Suave Qui Puet" Oet him save himself who can). The first explosion occurred at 5:35. Three others followed at intervals of a minute. The final ter rife detOnation shattered the win dows of the entire city. The vessel was thrown high. settled down and in 19 minutes nothing but the top works were visible.
 Tonight the naval authorities said more were killed than first reported. It is officially estimated that between $50 and 400 met their death. Work of rescue began quickly An ambulance station was installed at the arsenal. Admiral Marin Darbel. the maritime prefect, boarded the wreck and super intended of the rescuers. The first body recovered was that of an officer which was hauled under an awning. Forty more were recovered up to this evening and 94 injured have been transferred to the hospital
 Electric shears .o cut through the plates and a powerful floating crane tO lift the masSe of twisted steel are used in conjunction with divers who explored the interior of the hull This afternoon the bows appeared to be doubled back over the Liberte's stern. The men buried in that portion of the wreck above the water screamed and groaned. while rescuers, in many cas- es. were pOwerless to reach them.
  hole in the hull A bugler of the Liberte was hurled through the air and landed on the deck of the Repub- lique nearby. still clasping the bugle through which he had been sounding the alarm. He will probably die. All the small boats surrounding the Liber- te were engulfed in whirlpOOls follow ing the vessels sinking. An officer the gunnery on a school ship. anchoresd 1.S6 miles distant. was struck by a flying fragment and killed.
 TOULON, France, Sept. 25-The death loss is variously estimated at from $50 to 500 or more, including of ficers and men of the Liberte, and many from nearby warships who went to their assistance.
 The first alarm of fire was sounded shortly after o'clock this morning, closely followed by four successive ex- plosions of increasing intensity as the