Show I SIXTEEN WREfCHES 11 ROASTED ALIVE I Steamship Leona Meets With a j Horrible Disaster I STEERAGE BECAME A FIERY FURNACE ALL AVENUES OF ESCAPE WERE CUT OFF BY FLAMES I I Thirteen Passengers and Three oJ the Crew Were Cremated A Scene of Terror and Confusion Stokers Rushed For the Boats anc Were Threatened With Death Bravery of the Captain New York May 9The Mallory line steamer Leona which left her pier or Saturday bound for Galveston tool I fire at sea put back and arrived in port tonight with 16 corpses on board The dead were 13 steerage passengers and three members of the crew who succumbed suc-cumbed to a terrible fire which oc curied off the Delaware capes at an 1 early hour this morning I The horror of the story can hardly be told tonight Those who are dead I were penned up below decks and although I al-though frantic efforts were made by the officers of the vessel to save them the fire had gained such terrific headway head-way before toe danger was discovered that all escape was cut off The steamer carried in her cargo man bales of cotton tonI ton-I is not certain how the fire originated origin-ated but when i was discovered it I burst forth with such fury that it wa impossiole to reach the steerage Even then the steerage passengers apparently were unmindiul of the danger I dan-ger else the smoke and flames had not reached them The saloon passengers I were rirst aroused and in such a manner man-ner as to occasion little alarm When It became apparent that the fire had cut oft the steerage the captain cap-tain and his men poured great Quantities Quan-tities of water down the ventilators and the most frantic efforts were made frntc for the escape of those penned up In this way eight of the steerage passengers I passen-gers made their escape The dead are Steerage Passengers Bridget Sullivan I van R Catine Mrs C Guzza Miss Guzza Miss Hannah Solomanson Mrs I Valcicks Miss Valcicks Sophie Schwatilz Maria Wades two unknown I children two unidentified I The Crew Alfred Hardy waiter 41 years of age New York Alfred Lang I waiter 19 years of age New York H Hartmann butcher 1 years of age New York I STORY OF THE DISASTER The Mallory line steamer i Leans Jeft r here Saturday at Z pm bound for Galveston with eleven saloon passengers passen-gers She carried a general cargo of merchandise Captain Wilder was In I command with First Mate Wallace and Second Mate Sweeney assisting I The chief engineer was Taylor with I three assistants and a crew of 75 men including firemen and deck hands Among the passengers were S V I Winslow of Rutherford N J On his return to this city late tonight Mr Winslow told the following graphic i story of the fire I We left the pier at 3 oclock yesterday I yester-day afternoon with clear skies and beautiful weather We passed througn making excellent time the chief engineer en-gineer congratulating himself that al was well and making the remark tOne i one of his assistants that he could not believe this luck could continue for the trip had started under such favorable favor-able auspices I Sandy Hook was passed and the lights of Jersey shore were still visible when we went to bed By the time we passed Barnegat light at 10 oclock all I the passengers were in bed The passengers I pas-sengers In the steerage had also retired re-tired to their bunks The watch going j oft at 12 oclock reported everything J well There was no suspicion of any fire or any other trouble The sea was I very smooth and there was no wind The moon was shining brightly FLAMES BURST FORTH I First Mate Wallace was passing the bridge about 2 a m when he thought he smelled smoke coming from I the forecastle He went forward to the companionway and opened the door to the steerage The moment he did this there was a burst of flame j which burned his face Wallace turned and ran on deck and I cried the alarm of fire to the forward wateh telling him to wake the steward and have all the passengers aroused as quickly as possible without creating I any excitement The steward did this in a quiet manner going to each stateroom state-room and waiting the occupants He said in i calm tones that there was a slight fire in the forward part I of the ship and it might be advisable for the passengers to get their things I together I might be possible he I added that the ship would eventually have to be abandoned I There was no excitement among the I saloon passengers Most of them packed their luggage and carried it from their staterooms into the main I saloon They gathered in the saloon and remained there and after the officers of-ficers assured them that there was no immediate danger they took matters quietly The steward made frequent trips and came back with the reports of the progress of the flames He said that the fire was confined below decks and as the flames did notrise very high I the passengers did not fully realize the I extent of their peril I WORK OF RESCUE Captain Wilder rushed on deck at I the first alarm and only in an undershirt under-shirt and trousers He assumed command com-mand and at once ordered the crew to rescue the steerage passengers On the same deck as the steerage on the portside port-side of the ship a large quantity of otton bagging was stored separated from the steerage passengers by aboard I a-board partition The main deck was almost completely f com-pletely filled with freight cutting off al exit from the steerage to the after part of the ship The only way out from the steerage was up thi forward Companionway The crew on the captains orders ushed to the companionway and at r empted to descend They were driven bacK by dense volumes of smoke and t lames quickly followed The smoke I and flames also came up through the ventilators and i was apparent to all rho were on decks that below decks was a roaring furnace I THE CAPTAINS BRAVERY Then it dawned on the officers andre > and-re that the unfortunates In the steer ige were probably burning to death Captain Wilder saw his crew driven f J i IH < 1 9 i I back from the companionway and the I comvpnionway realization of the horror below made him aesperate He rushed to the stairs I and boldly attempted to go below He did not get down more than half a dozen steps when the increasing clouds 1 of smoke and flames shooting up around him drove Him back on deck He stepped back to Mhe shelter of the pilot house His Jace was scorched His eyebrows were burned off He stood there dazed amid overcome for a moment then he exclaimed My God no man a go through that and come out alive > alve f When the steward aroused me I jumped up hastily and dressed I ran forward to see how extensive the fire was The captain jyas just coming out I of the companlonwayj afterhis fruitless I effort to go below J stood by and tried I tolook down the hole but theheat and I smoke were so great that r was driven I back I BURNING TO DEATH I When I looked into i the horrible hole I I the thought came oVer me like it had i over the captain and crew that there I were helpless people down below who I were probably burning tod ath I I tried to peer through the smoke to I see If the steer aiSei ers were I runnig around belojy ana > I hoped that we would be able to reach them in I I some way I I listened fo sounds but could hear nothing save the fear of the flames I as they grew seal in volume below I I and rolled round andround in the narrow nar-row quarters There was not a scream I nor a shriek no sighs of life below On deck there was only the hoarse i shouts of the captain and the hurry I and bustle of the crew as they rushed I about laying lines of hose and pouring I I streams of water down the companionway I companion-way and through the open ventilators I Only a slight wind was blowing from i I the southward that carried the volumes I of smoke the full l length iof the ship and enveloped herin a shroud of choking chok-ing black until the captain gave orders or-ders to change the onrse completely i so that the smoke tfolild be blown over the bow The speed of the ship was first slackened then the order was I given to keep up bare steerage way I stood In the lee of the pilot house wat < hing the officers an < lcrew making futile efforts to reach th steerage I The horror of the situation was at I first paralyzing Jtseemed as though the men and wonienI had seen go into i the steerage the daj befqre were being cremated beneathlTny feet II 1Y The deck was gettlngblistering hot The flames began creeping higher and I higher through every outlet from beneath be-neath the deck The pourIng of water i down the companionwayand the ventilators ven-tilators had no effect save to send up I the smoke in great puffs and cause I angry spurts of fire to dart menacingly I into the faces of the crew STOKERS DESERTED STOKER j When the news ofithe fire reached the lower depthsx the ship where the stokers were feeding the boilers they deserted their tjjpsts and rushed I to the deck 18 ofthjjm in all They clambored into the second boat on the I I port side and began cutting it away j First Officer Wallace and Chief Engineer En-gineer Taylor were after them In a I moment Get out of that boat thundered Wallace The stokers refused to obey and went on cutting away the lashings of the boat Come out > of that befit reechoed TayJcr Then ho jfasHSd forwardt r reaching with his hand fon hiS re I volver I will shoot the man who I cuts away the boat I The Spaniards Icoked at the chief engineer and then sullenly obeyed i EIGHT ESCAPE I During the excitement of the first hour we did not know that anyone had gotten out cf the steerage alive but later we found in the cabin that eight I of them had managed to getout Their bunks had been nearest to the companionway I com-panionway and they had been awakened awak-ened by the cretin rushing out of the I forecastle The fire crept up through I cracks about the pilot house and then into the house itself The quartermaster I quartermas-ter stuck to the wheel until the flames almost enveloped him Captain Wilder i ordered signal lights of distress burned I and in a very few minutes there flashed upon the darkness to the north an answering I swering signal I came from the City of Augusta of the Savannah line which II came alongside about daybreak In the meantime the deck forward of I the pilot house was burned away leaving leav-ing the Iron crossbeams bare and red hot The iron plating of the ships side I glowed redhot The passengers were all transferred I to the City Augusta in safety and the work of fighting the fire was continued I con-tinued About 9 oclock in the morning the flames were under control and the I steamer out of danger The passengers were sent back to the Leona and the City of Augusta continued on her way I to Savannah The Leona put about and returned to port under her own steam I The Leona is a schoonerrigged steel i screw steamer of 3329 tons gross and 2331 tons net register She was built in 1889 at Chester Pa Her dimensions are Length 314 feet breadth 462 feet and depth of hold 203 feet She has three decks and six bulkheads She was last surveyed in September 1896 |