| Show U Iw NUMBER OF LIVES LIE LOST LT BY FIE FIBA AT I J British Steamer Burns and Twenty or Thirty Men Leap Into the Water for for Theft Lives NEW YORK March 19 No No estimate estimate could be made today of the loss of life in the fire tire that started last night on the Phoenix line pier in Hoboken and It was thought the numb number r of de dead d never would be known knon It was learned today that Fireman T Thomas omas Cooney of the fire boat Davi Davil i A. A Boody fell off his boat la last t night and was drowned Patrick Hussey a a. longsh longshoreman reman who was burned while trying to escape from the pier died to today today to to- d day y from the effects of his injuries Chief Engineer Scott of the steamer British Queen who was supposed to have perished in the fire walked Int into a a. Hoboken hotel today He was w-as badly burned about the face facet land and said h he had had a dreadful experience Dr Heifer Helfer the health officer of Hoboken Hoboken Ho Ho- boken says that all the men of the British Queen have been accounted for Besides Hussey four longshoremen were ere taken to St. St Marys Mary's hospital and andare andare andare are now under treatment there All were more or less burned Many Jumped in Water 4 Some of the longshoremen who saved themselves by bv swimming ashore say they w twenty or thirty men leap Into in into In- In to the river Although some of those who jumped into the water were picked up by tugs it is feared that a number sank before they could be reached by the rescuers Many of the longshoremen are single sing men and have no relatives who could report them if missing The police say that no one except Engineer Scott had been re reported reported re re- ported to them as missing The British Queen has hed off Communipaw paw in the upper bay Those seriously hurt in the fire are John Jphn Jensen Sen who Jumped from the burning pier and struck his head against a beam and Peter Carroll who was wa badly burned Arrested The who fled from the steamship when that vessel vessel ves yes sel was endangered by flames and who were captured by United States customs customs customs cus cus- toms officers were returned to their ship today The were ar arrested arrested arrested ar- ar rested in order ordel to prevent a possible violation of the Chinese exclusion act Loss Less Over a Milli Million n. n Superintendent la l Mason on o of the Phoenix line s said id that it would be impossible to toJa Ja 31 the ll loss by by th fire in inless les less than two t weekS He w was vas s asked if h h thought tho t Would bover over and andI I i he h replies ti that he did not think it I would The British QUeen was worth Orth orth and end there was vas as a great quantity of valuable merchandise on the vessel on the piers Viers and on lighters that were destroyed This included cotton hides Pu oil grains grains and a quantity of f harvest machinery Not Incendiary There was a rumor today that the lire fire was of incendiary origin but Mr Mason said he heas was as positive there wa was sas sasno 3 no truth in it He said he thought the blaze blase started in a quantity of Belgian Wicker baskets on the Phoenix pier Ch Charles Chrles rles who was at work on the lighter which was ly forward off the dock said the flames seemed to burst forth from froma a a. pile of wicker baskets that had been unloaded from front the British Queen on Monday He said the first spread in an incredibly short time over the outer end of t the e pier Leaped for Life The British Queen was soon ablaze and the men on board beard had to leap into the water rater to have their lives The lines by w which the vessel was rn moored red to the tha pier were burned away and It was then feared reared that she might float against s some me of the docks lower down the river and set them afire In spite of the intense heat given out by the burning steamer a tug ran under her stern and made a line lne fast t to her rud der del Lines were then pas passed ed from several several sev say eral ether tugs to the first one and in that way the big steamship was hauled hauled- out into the stream The ruins of the pier were still smoldering today i |
