Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1913-03-08


mingled with the flying fragments OF
steel and timber filled the air. These
fell ON the packed decks of the Atlantic
the dynamite exploding as it fell and
sweeping them as a charge of shrapnel
llevels charging troops.
Mems heads and limbs We're torn from
their bodies. From ships and launches
nearby were seen dismembered bodies
flung across and tumbled about the At
| lantics decks.
Capt. Van Dyke gave his life for his
| galantry. His body, with one arm sew
| cred, was among those recovered by
| the rescuers and was one of the first
| Identified when brought to this city.
With him died Joseph T. Hood, stew
edor, NircG Is s. - first had res
| eusd. md f'9bJ.t Digs. a member of
| his t.'.H, 40 food beside him when
| the t.o'-@ IL oceu"2ed.
Thu who escaped death in the eX
nlos.e brought vivid but disconnected
accounts of the explosion when they
| reached this city with the dead and
| wounded.
| Capt. j. r. Thompson, captain of the
new collier Jason, which, tomorrow,
had narrow escape, when hurled
boxes of dynamite crashed onto the
Jason's decks and exploded with death
dealing fury. He had seen the smoke
issuing from the Alum Chimes hold.
=, was warning my men of the dan
ger" said Capt. Thompson, tonight,
because | knew that the ship was
sure to blow up. had already gone be-
low and instructed the chief engineer
to set up steam and get under head
way at once. He was doing this while
| had other men at work pulling up
the anchor. / was standing near
ventilator when L was tossed into the
air fully six or seven feet. l turned
two or three somersaults. ! threw out
my arms and grabbed a railing. rms
kept me from going overheard.
In another instant a terrific snow
er of pieces of iron of all sizes, some
pieces as large as my fist and others
as big as my head, were flying straight
down from the air. | saw these pieces
go straight through our heavy plate.
The huge smokestacks of the collier
were filled full, of holes, and by the
conclusion alone were smashed almost
flat.
Around me on all sides were the
men who had been tossed into the air
and thrown back. Many men were
cut and injured by the pieces of iron.
Some were instantly killed. The dyna-
mite ship was an iron ship through
out and this made the damage to our
ship all the greater. The Alum Chine
was about 500 feet away, but the force
of the explosion was so great that GU,
ship was lifted high up on the waves.
Our firemen who were shovellng
! coal got the full force of the explosion
in their faces. Many of them were
burned l expected to have $50 men
in the crew by tonight, and about 100
were on board
Immediately after the first shock of
| the explosion came, the captain or
dered his men to make close in
spection of the entire ship. They
found many. holes in her side. Pieces
of iron went straight through het
plates which in spots was y to = oil
an inch thick. one hole was big
enough for a man to put his head
through This hole is eight feet above
| the water line. Other holes are near
| the water line.
J. G. Reese of Cardiff. Wales, first en-
gneer of the Alum Chine, gave a graphic
| description of the scramble for safety
| from the ship and the explosion that fol-
lowed.
81 was in the engine room when heard
a man on deck cry: The ship is afire
| looked around and saw smoke coming
from the hold in the bow and made a
dash for the stern. realizing that a dy-
Mantle explosion would follow. l did
| not jump fell into the launch Jerome,
and sailor after sailor followed me, some
| in the same fashion.
when we had all we could carry
aboard and no one seemed to be coming,
we put on fun speed. About five minutes
later when we were about 200 feet away.
| the explosion came. I can picture it now
1t seemed like great column of fire 80
| feet high and 20 feet across, topped by
another column of black smoke 200 or
| more feet high, came up from the sea,
completely enveloping the ship 1t was
| several minutes before the smoke cleared
away and the sea became calm, but when
| it did there was no sign of either the
| ship or the barge that was alongside OF
| it, They both seemed to have disap-
peared completely and not sign of life
was visible
I How the fire started in the coal
| bunkers of the Alum Chine is so far
a mystery. Some have ascribed it to
| spontaneous combustion, while one of
| the rescued declares he saw fellow
| stevedore stick a bale hook into a
| box of dynamite. This explanation
| appears improbable. Had such an in
| cident occurred there would have
| been an immediate explosion.
Conservative estimates place the ac-
| tual property damage in excess of
| 100000 In addition, there are innum-
cradle minor losses which are not
considered and cannot be estimated.
The chief losers are the owners of
| the Alum Chine, which cost in the
neiehborhood of 1875,
Upon the Maryland Steel Co.. build
ers of the collier Jason, evolves the
next greater loss. While a thorough
| survey may result in finding very
serious defects in her construction,
superficial examination of the collier
| indicates a damage of 100000. To
ha add the