The Dillon herald. [volume] (Dillon, S.C.) 1894-????, 1911-09-28
FRENCH BATTLESH|P BLOWS Up
KILLING 450 AND |NJURNG OTHERS
FORCE OF EXPLOSION BURSED VESSELS SIDES AND HURLED BODIES HROGH
THE AIR At TREMENDOUS RATE
SHIPS BUGLER THROWN ON DECK OF ANOTHER SHIP STILL LIVES
GREAIEsT BLOW EYER sUsTAINED BY FRENCH NAVY FIRE
DLSAsIER GREATER THAN sINkING OE

Toulon, France, Sept. 25. Be
tween $50 and 400 officers and men
were killed to-day, when the bat
tleship Liberte was torn apart and
totally destroyed by an explosion Of
| her magazines.
The battleship Republique was
! badly damaged and the battleshipS
Democratic and Verite also suffered
severely from the masses of twisted
/ iron and armOr plate that were
hurled upon their decks.
This is the greatest disaster that
has ever fallen upon the French
navy and in magnitude is almost
witnout preced- MT in the annals of
the worlds fighting ships. The
grief which proStrates the fleet and
nation is made more intense by
;he T. emery OF the recent reviaw
here, d notable display of Frances
laval greatness, in which the
doomed ship was one OF the finest
| figures.
Result OF Fire.
The explosion which wiped out
one C Frances newest and most
| powerful battleships, occurred at
5.53 o'clock in the morning. 1t was
preceded by and was the result of
an outbreak of fire. The flames
spread rapidly and in spite of all
efforts to master them and reached
the magazines before there was
time to flood them The maya
zines exploded with tremendous
violence, sowing death and de-
struction in every direction.
While the naval authorities es
innate the killed at over $50 it
is feared that the figure will be
| exceeded. II will be necessary to
go through the ships muster
rolls, a task of some days, before
full list of the victims can be
prepared. A number of men have al
ready been eXtricated alive from the
Enthusiastically torn and twisted mass
of wreckage, which once was the
Liberte, and the hope is strong
that there are others within the
broken hull which cannot be reach
ed.
Cause Not Known.
! Exactly from what cause or when
the fire broke ouL has not been es-
tablished, but it is believed that
it had smouldered for several hours.
OF the vessels full complement,
742, Capt Jaures, brother OF the
Socialist leader, and the second Of
Ger in command were both ashore on
leave, as well as 140 officers and
men. The command of the ship de-
veloped on the senior lieutenant,
who perished.
The fire was first discovered at
4 a. m and the bugles Immediate
| ly sounded the alarm. The crew
rushed to quarters and fought des-
peratelV- the spreading flames, but
it soon was evident that the fire
ha1 obtained a firm hold. Signals
of distress were flashed to the 9TH
er ships and these dispatched steam
pinnacles and launches at full
speed to assist in the work of ex-
tinguishing the flames and rescu-
| ing the men, but their services
were of little avail.
Each For Himself.
! The position of the fire made it
! impossible to flood the magazines;
nevertheless, efforts to do so were
made, and finally the commanding
officer, realizing that the ship was
doomed ordered the buglers to
him save himself who cam and
to the men to jump for their lives.
Then came the final terrific de-
tonation, which shattered the win
dows of the entire city and was
heard for a radius of many miles.
| The Liberte was torn asunder, her
bow was thrown high in the air
and then slowly settled down and
in nineteen minutes nothing was
visible but the top works.
Those still on deck were hurled
skyward amid a shower of iron
and steel. The boats of the rescur-
ers were sunk and serious damage
was done to the Republique, which
lay at anchor close by. Two of her
docks were stove in and one of the
Liberties armor plates was hurled
against her port side and demolish-
ed the cabin of an absent ensign.
Horrible Spectacle.
For a few minutes after the
final explosion an intense black
cloud of smoke hovered over the
harbor. When it shifted, horrible
spectacle met the eyes of the peo-
pie of luton, who, awakened by the
first explosions, had hurried to
shore. The twisted upper works OF
the battleship were protruding from
a mass of formless wreckage, among
which struggled the seamen from
rushing boats that had been sunk
by the flying debris or sucked down
in the maelstorm.
Late tonight the naval autbOri-
ties declared that the number OF
victims is greater than at first ap-
peared The official estimate is
now given as between $50 and 400
dead or missing.
The work of rescue was quickly
begun. An ambulance station was
installed in the arsenal and Ad-
mirable Marin-Darbel, maritime
perfect, went out to the wreck and
Superintended the work Of aXtricat-
ing those imprisoned under the
shattered steel. The first body re-
covered was that of an officer,
which .-nn hn..l.a g = l. -