The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1913-03-13
A DYNAMITE SHIP
BLOWN TO PIECES
Tons Of Explosive Let Go in Bal
timore Harbor.
FIFTY DEAD AND SIXTY INJURED
The Alum Chine, British Vessel,
Was Loading With Cargo Destined
for the Panama Canai-other
Ships Wrecked.

Baltimore, Mar. 8.-Three hundred
tons of dynamite being loaded in the
British tramp steamer Alum Chine in
the lower harbor, off Fort Carroll, ex-
ploded about 1890 o'clock in the
morning, instantly killing from forty
to fifty men, wounding and manning
three score more, some of whom may
die, and destroying half million dol.
lars worth of property.
The Alum Chine and loading scow
alongside here were annihilated; the
! tug Atlantic, which twice went to the
rescue of imperiled seamen, was set
on fire and later sank; the United
States collier Jason, just completed
and ready for trial, was raked to her
deck and her armor riddled, and build
Il ngs in Baltimore and cities and towns
many miles away were rocked by the
force of the terrific explosion.
The cause of the disaster is un.
known and federal authorities have
instituted thorough investigation.
Excited survivors told conflicting
stories, some insisting that negro
stevedore caused the explosion by
jamming pike into a case of dyna-
mite. This is denied by eye witnesses
who dclare that smoke was seen pour
.ng from the Alum Chimes hold sew
eral minutes before the explosion oc.
Cured
Twenty Bodies Recovered,
At a late hour twenty bodies had
been brought to this city and sixty
injured were in the hospitals. The es-
Inmates of the dead included thirty
sevedores and checkers of the Jos.
eph R. Foard company employed in
dynamite 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 men, members of the crew of
the tug Atlantic. Many bodies, it is
believed, never will be recovered.
OF the injured a score are fright
fully manned, their skulls fractured
arms and legs torn off and their
bodies terribly lacerated. At least fif-
teen are expected to die.
Seamen in scores of small crafts
and Captain Van Dyke, of the Allan.
tic, saw smoke coming from the
dynamite laden Alum Chine a few
minutes before the explosion and the |
aunch Jerome was alongside the
ship, rescuing many of the crew and |
'ushing them to safety. Witnesses
ay that when the explosion came the
taamer jumped from the water as if
torpedo had struck her and then
ell to fragments in which were min
led the torn bodies of the dead.
Small Craft Blown Up.
The transport company's scow had
een tightly tied to the big steamer.
nd the conclusion from the ships
old blew up the tons of dynamite
till aboard the barge in an echoing
xplosion that increased the carnage
nd destruction. Several small craft
n the harbor are believed to have
cen blown to pieces.
The tug Atlantic which had twice
ushed in to the rescue before this
rash, was racing away when it was
aught in the rain of charred wood
nd redhot steel which fell for a quar-
n of mile around, killing some of
re crew and setting fire to the YES
Ell.
Coming up the river was the tug
ritannia and she rushed to the aid
f the Atlantic, picking up many
ounded who had leaped into the
alter. Some of them are said to have
erished before the Britannia could
ct to them.