Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1913-03-08

Jasons decks and exploded with
death-dealing fury. he had seen the
smoke issuing from the Alum chimes
hold.
~ was warning my men of the dam
gcr,' said captain Thompson tonight.
Because ! knew that the ship WINS
sure Go blow up. ! already had gone
below and instructed the chief engi-
necr to get up steam and get under
hcadway at once. Vie was thus en-
gagged while ! ordered the anchor up.
! was standing near a Ncntilatur when
] was tossed into the air fully six or
seven feet. turned two or three
sumersaults A railing kept me from
going overheard In another instant
"a terrific shower of pieces Of iron Of
an Sizes some pieces as large as my
fist and others as big as my head.
We're dying down from the air. ! saw
these pieces go straight through our
heavy plate. The huge smoke stacks
of the collier We're riddled and were
smashed almost fiat hy the concussion.
Around me on all sides were the
men who had been tossed into the air
and thrown back. Many were cut
and injured hy the pieces of iron.
Some were killed Instantly. The dy-
Mantle ship was an iron ship through
out. and this made the damage 10 our
ship all the greater The Alum Chine
was about 500 feet away, hut the force
OF the explosion was so great that our
ship was lifted almost out OF the wa
ter.
"Our hremen who We're shovclng
coal got the fun force Of the cNplo-
sion IN their faces. Many Of them
were burned | had about 100 men
of the crew aboard.
How the fire started in the coal
hunkers of the Alum Chine still Is a
mystery Some attribute IL TO spon-
taneous combustion.
j. G.. Reese. of Cardiff Wales. chief
engineer OF the Alum Chine. gave a.
graphic description Of the scramble
for safety from the ship and the ex-
ploslon that followed.
II was in the engine room when I
heard "A man on deck cry. the ship Is
afre" / looked around and saw
smoke coming from the hole In the
bow and made a dash for the stern
realizing that a dynamite explosion
would follow, ] didn't jump. ! fell into
the launch jerome and sailor after
sailor followed me. When We had
all We could carry aboard, and no
one seemed 60 be coming we put on
fun speed. About i've minutes later
when we were about 200 feet away
the explosion came.
1T seemed like a great column Of
fire fifty feet high and twenty feet
across. topped by another of black
smoke gao feet higher, which came up
from the sen, completely enveloping
the ship. Il was several minutes be-
fore the smoke cleared away and the
sea became calm, but when II did
there was no sign of either the ship
or the barge that was alongside of IT,
Roth seemed to have disappeared
completely Conservative estimates
place the actual property damage In
excess of $500. 000. In addition, there
are innumerable minor losses which
cannot be estimated The chief loss
Is that OF the owners of the Alum
Chine, which cost In the neghbor-
hood of S375.000. Upon the Mary
land Steel company, builders OF the
collier Jason. evolves the next great
est loss while thorough survey may
result IN finding very serious defects
In her construction, superficial eX-
'amiration Of the collier Jason indi-
Gates damnge Of 500 600.
To this amount may be added the
expense of getting the collier ready
for her official test. The cargo Of the
Alum Chine has not been entirely ae-
counted for. but from figures given
out by the interested shippers, this
loss will entail nearly S100. 600. The
dynamite on board was valued ut S70.-
500. In an effort to render assistance
10 the boats that are searching the
waters for the bodies OF those killed
by the explosion and to ascertain
the number of casualties. Mayor Pres
ton left for the scene of the accident
on the city tug late today after spe-
cia meeting of the board OF esti-
mates