Norwich bulletin., 1920-11-11
Fuel Tank Exp|oded
 in Steamer at Dock
Then Followed a Spectacular Race to Beach the Fl Mon do on Flats Near Ellis lsl- and.

New York, Nov 1o.-(By The A. P.) | After a spectacular race against time |, down the Hudson river, surrounded by ! pulling tugs and fireboats and with the |, flames licking about her forward decks, ! Mundo tonight lay beached on the Com munipaw flats near Ellis Island, out of the way of harbor traffic.
 Thousands of spectators lined the New York and Jersey shores and watched the heroic fight of the tiny tugs to drag the burning freighter out of the river, as she was threatening to sink and block the shipping channel
 Flames which started from an expio- sion in her forward fuel oil tanks shortly after three o'clock continued to burn briskly, sweeping the freighter from bow to stern despite the efforts of swarm of fire fighters to hold them in control The ship a craft of 19,000 tons, is almost complete wreck with her sides torn by blasts and her forward superstructure carried away by the fire.
 All members of the crew of the ill., fated vessel, which arrived here from 1 Galveston last Monday with a general cargo, have been accounted for. police of- 1 fcials said tonight Eight of the deck l hands were reported seriously, burned i one prob@ hiy fatalIy-Michael Bertulcit, 9 water \ CT. whose clothes were burn :; ed from h.- body.
 More than 8 score of longshoremen and members of the crew were unloading 1 the vessel at the Southern Pacific Lins pier, when the fuel tank containing sev-
 eral thousand gallons of oil blew mp without warming hurling men in all di- l rections and carrying away a section of i the deck. Plates on the pert <s-S' also were torn out and the ship iintneG lately began to list. Sprayed by burning oil. | many workers on the pier had narrow escapes from being burned to death. Sey- erai also had the clothes blown from their bodies by the force of the blast
 which shook the waterfront for blocks. Police reserves and iirefnen rushed to the scene in answer to several alarms removed the injured but were unable to penetrate the forward part of the shir which was wrapped in smoke and flames As three other big oil tanks were threat
 ened, and fire officials, fearing anothei
 explosion, issued orders clearing oas~piei
 of workers and newspaper men. Fire
 men also were ordered off the blazing
 freighter, which. began to list danger
 ously on the port side.
 | Several tugs were pulling the steamer
 into the middle of the river when an
 other explosion occurred and hame'
 leaped up the forward mast, sweepin: the deck superstructure. She gave an
 other heavy list and threatened to siHl in mid-channel, blocking river traffic More than dozen tugs came to the res cue and after valiant fight sueceede
 in dragging the burning ship two mile
 downstream with the hope of gettin her into the outer harbor.- A short dis
 tance north of Ellis Island, however tn 7i freighter began to sink rapidly and l
 was found advisable to drag her on tn
 Communipaw mud flats of the Jerse shore.
 The thrilling rASe of tugs downstrear , with their blazing tows, their siren shrekins a warning to other craft {
 keep out of. danger, was witnessed b
 thousands of commuters on ferryboat l plying between New Jersey and Manha; | tan. They joined with the thousands 0 shore in cheering the firemen and the lii 2 tie tugs which at times were conpletel
 lost from view, concealed behind grea
 clouds of smoke from the burning shll p whose steel plates showed red he
 l through the evening dusk.
 During the trip fireboats Elided alons side and swept the Fl Mundo forwar
 and aft with streams of wafer, but the
 effect on the burning oil was almost ne; h lig!ble. No ore, however, attempted board the blazing ship because of tf Il danger of additional explosions.
 Police officials said tonight that u
 origin of the explosion had not bee learned and could offer no theory as r. what ignited the oil tanks which wel 2 filled with B supply to take the ship baC yt to Galveston. > The ship was In command of Capta
 H. F. Parker of Jersey City and carrie
 q crew of 4s men. The greater part s- her cargo of fruit and rice had been II IS loaded at the Southern Pacific doci s, when the explosion occurred l. A preliminary examination of the a
 cident. said Marine Superintendent; Ju - gen of the Morgan Lire tonight. disclos m that the two forward fuel oil boilers l. the port side had caught fire when the ar was no fire under either.
 al 4 thorough investigation will be ma
 as soon as possible.
 MT. Jungen e1timated the dana nt caused by the accident at $20o, 0eo.