New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1913-03-08
LIKE VOLCANIC ERUPTION
Vessel Shoots Upward, witt
Boxes Of Bombs Exploding,
and Disappears as if by
Magic in a Ball
of Fire.
HER01sM SACRIFICES LIFE
Tug Captain Bushes to Aid of I'm
perilled Seamen, and His Craft,
Swept by the Hail of Ex-
plosive, Goes Down--Roar
Is Heard for Miles,

40 AAVoAu iOl 1ll4Co'
Baltimore. March Three hundred
tons Of dynamite. which were being
loaded into the British tramp steamer
Alum Chine, in the lower harbor, OF
Fort Carroll, exploded about 1920
O'Clock this morning, instantly killing
from forty to fifty men, wounding
threescore more, some of whom may
die, and destroying property valued a1
SjOGeO0.
The Alum Chine and a loading scow
alongside her were blown 10 atoms: the
tug Atlantic. which twice went to the
rescue of the imperilled seamen, was
set on fire and later sank: the United
States collier Jason, just completed
and ready for trial, was raked to hoc
deck and her armor riddled, and build.
ings in Baltimore and cities and towns
many miles away were rocked by the
force of the explosion.
The cause Of the disaster is unknown,
tonight. but federal authorities have
instituted thorough investigation tot
place the blame. Excited survivors,
told conflicting stories, some insisting
! that a negro stevedore caused the exc
plosion by jamming a pike into a case
Of dynamite. This is denied by eyes
witnesses, who declare that smoke was
seen pouring from the Alum Chine'aa
hold several minutes before the explosi
sion occurred.
Twenty Bodies in Morsues.
At late hour tonight the bodies Of
| twenty dead had been brought to
morgues in this city and sixty injured!
were in .ospitals. C'he estimates OF the
dead include thirty stevedores and
checkers Of the Joseph r. Foard COM
pany, employed in transferring dyna-
mite from barge to the Alum Chine.
which was bound for Panama; eight
members Of the crew Of the Alum
Chine. six men on the collier Jason
and the captain and several members
OF the crew Of the tug Atlantic. Many
covered from the icy waters.
OF the injured a score are frightfully
manned, their skulls fractured, arms
and legs torn off. and their bodies ter.
ribly lacerated. At least fifteen are ex. {
pected to die.
Tonight nine of the dead had been
Identified as follows:
Captain William r. Van Dyke. Balt,.l
more. Of the tug Atlantic.
Robert w. Diggs. first mate Of the
tug Atlantic. Baltimore.
Edward Waters, chief officer OF the
Alum Chine.
Joseph p. Lennon, Baltimore. of the
Atlantic's crew.
John Mackral, Frank Doyle, Edward
Cassell. Andrew Garotski and Joseph
T. Hood. stevedores, all of Baltimore.
Steamer Lesped from Water.
Seamen in scores of small craft and
Captain Van Dyke Of the Atlantic saw
smoke coming from the dynamite laden
Alum Chine a few minutes before the
explosion, and the launch Jerome was
alongside the ship. rescuing many
members of the crew and rushing them
to safety. The witnesses say that when
the explosion came the steamer jumped
from the water as IL torpedo had
struck her from below and then fell TO
fragments. in which were mingled the
torn bodies of the dead.
The transport company's scow had
been tightly tied TO the big steamer.
and the conclusion from the ships hold
blew up the tons of dynamite still
aboard the barge in an echoing ex-
plosion that increased the carnage ana
destruction. Several small craft in the
harbor are believed to have been blown
to pieces.
The tug Atlantic. which twice had
rushed to the rescue before the crash.
WAS racing away when It was Caught in
tho rain of charred wood and red hot
steel that fell in shower for quarter
of q mile around, killing some OF the
crew outright and setting fire to the
vessel.
Coming up the river at the time was
the tug Britannia, and she rushed to
the aid of the Atlantic. picking np
many OF the wounded who had leaped
into the water. Some Of them are said
to have perished before the Britannia
could get to them.
The Britannia ran line to the ourns
ing tug and started up the river with
her. but the vessel sank before the
Lazaretto lighthouse was reached.
Revenue Cutter Safe.
For time it was feared the revenue
Glitter Guthrie had shared the fate Ok
the Alum Chine. Peter }. Curran. the
boarding officer assigned to the Ill
fated vessel had left on the Guthrie