Newspaper Page Text
The Banner Will Give Yon All
The News of Conyera and Rock
dale County.
VOL XXV.
RY GOODS COMPANY
Is the place to spend your cash; they believe in small profits and quick sales-
something ail who go there appreciate. Go. and see for yourself, then tell
your friends and they will tell others, showing each one what our Cash House
is doing. Patterns given away for the next thirty days. . .
TTl
Steamships and Piers at Hoboken
Wiped Out by Great Fire.
A LOSS OF TEN MILLIONS
Flames Originated Among Cotton
Bales and Were Soon Beyond
Control—Ffteen Thousand
Lives Were Imperiled.
A New York special says: Almost
810,000,000 worth of property was de¬
stroyed, many lives were lest, many
persons were injured and at least 1,500
lives wero imperilod by a fire that
started among cotton bales under pier
3 of the North German Lloyd Steam¬
ship Company in Hoboken, N. J., at
4 o’clock Saturday afternoon.
In less than fifteen minutes the
flames covered an area a quarter of a
mile long, extending outward from the
actual shore line to the bulkheads,
from 600 to 1,000 feet away, and had
ignited four great ocean liners aud a
dozen or more smaller harbor craft in
its grasp.
Stories in regard to the loss of life
immediately after the tiro were cou
Actiug, the number being variously
estimated from fifty to two hundred.
Up to midnight Saturday night ten
todies bad been recovered, but they
were so badly burned that identification
was impossible.
The hospitals in New York, Hobo¬
ken and Jersey City are crowded with
the injured.
From what can be learned the flames
started among a large pile of cotton
bales on pier 2 of the North German
Lloyd Steamship company aud spread
with such rapidity that iu fifteen min¬
utes the entire property of the com¬
pany, covering over a mile of water
front and consisting of three great
piers, was completely enveloped in
flames.
The people on the piers and on the
numerous vessels docked were unable
to reach the street. There were great
gangs of workmen on the piers and
these, together with a number of peo¬
ple who were at the docks on business
and visiting the ships, scattered in all
directions. As all means of exit were
cut off by tbe flames, they were forced
to jump overboard, and it is believed
a great number were drowned.
At the docks of the North German
Lloyd were the Saale, a single screw
passenger the ship of 4,965 gross tons;
Bremen, a twin screw freight and
passenger ship of 10,526 tons, and the
Main, a twin screw freight apd passen¬
ger all ship of 10,200 gross tons. They
caught fire and were burned to the
wafer’s der edge. Tlie Kaiser Wilhelm
Grossp, which had just coiqe in,
'yas sels the pniy one of the four big ves
The a) the docks that escaped- tflese
loss of the crews of yes
Bp]s js said tp reach one hundred.
The steamship Saalp had been towed
down the river until it was just off
Fort Liberty, where she had gathered
about her a ring of fireboats and tugs,
all fighting to save at least her hull.
At varying distances about the burn¬
ing ship lay coal and cotton baTges, all
ablaze, each with one or more tugs
playing barges water upon it. Some of these
and lighters were loaded with
v cry inflammable stuff, and the flames
leaped high in the air, while the heat
to was so terrific that it was not possible
use the small hose of the tugs.
Along the Jersey shore small fires
were from blazing, started by the wreckage
the great ships.
Dn the New York side of tbe river
the fire caused the greatest excitemont
the drifting steamships floated,
aflame, ti^e to the shore and brushed
^gainst piers from Canal tp Mur¬
ray streets. The fire department was
palled out at various points, and the
apectaple w$s presented of the fire
ffien op shore trying tp fight fires
ftt every pjinute changing their situa¬
tion.
There were hundreds of men on each
°f the destroyed steamships and a few
women. Crowds of dock laborers and
also employees of the companies were
all the piers. Men, women and
children were on the cabal boats, and
I *
The Rockdale Banner,
men on the barges and lighters, and
when the fire made its quick descent
upon them escape was cut off before
they realized their awful position.
The people on the piers jumped in
the water to save themselves, and
scores of men huddled under the
piers, clinging to the supports, only
to be sufl'oeated by the flames or to
drop back in the water from exhaus¬
tion. The greatest loss of life ap¬
pears to have been on the Saale.
Up to 11 o’clock Sunday night only
eighteen bodies had been recovered.
Eleven of these were placed in a row
at the morgue in New York city aud
numbered, this being the only means
of obtaining any sort of identity over
the corpses.
The only way the steamship officials
have of approximating the loss of life
is by comparing the list of those re¬
ported safe with the list of the em¬
ployes of the steamships. Late Sun¬
day night Gustav Schwab, general
agent of the North German Lloyd line,
gave out a list showing what men on
each vessel had been missing up to
that hour. On the Saale 255 men
were employed aud 127 of these had
only been accounted for up to 11
o’clock, leaving 128 men actually em¬
ployed as officers, sailors, engineers,
coal passers, oilers and trimmers to be
accounted for.
The Bremen had 204 men on board,
but only 127 of these have been found.
The Main had only 137 on her at the
time and of these 76 have been re
ported safe.
The North German Lloyd officials
deny that any passenger was lost, and
declare that few, if any, visitors per
ished, and that the loss of life was al
most entirely among the employes of
the company.
The loss on the steamship proper
ties aud to other compies is estimated,
approximately as follows:
The steamship Main, of the North
German !S ofStr^fiEgand Llovd line cost SI 500,000
stores.
The loss is placed at $1,200,000 for
the vessel and about $400,000 for the
cargo fittings and stores that were
aboard of her.
The steamship Bremen, of the North
German Lloyd line, cost $1,200,000
and her fittings and cargo were valued
at $300,000. The cargo and stores
W ere entirely consumed and the loss
to the vessel proper will amount to at
her machinery. which will
The Saale, the steamship
have the most horrible story of death
to unfold when the divers go down in
her, cost tbe North German Lloyd
company $1,250,000, and the fittings
and the cargo were valued at $300,000.
The Saale is beached at Ellis island.
SodTt TT.P ,1 Sou?*C to the vessel proper 1 " is
V 00 , 00 a
The damage done to the Kaiser Wil
Le, m der Groe.e i« e.. im0 .ed .t HO,.
Thn three docks of the North Ger
men man Lovd T nvd line line which which burned burned to to the tne
water’s edge are estimated to have cost
' 3 Tt’o°d'octB The docks were were well well filled niled with
merchandise ju^i received from a roa
and valued at $3o0,000.
T he waT’ vlhled
tirely .. , 00 consumed, nsnmed was value - 9 ,
000 counting the stores which were
on '.'
The Hamburg-Amencan tt v. a line u„- do k
which had just been comp'ete
extension to then ? rea P >
which was destroyed in o 1 _
vent the spread of the Hime., s
damaged to the extent of $0 QOU
This was the "ontrarv
as the steamer Phonemcia, contra y
to reports, was not even scorched.
Qf the warehouses of Paluxer Qamp
bqll f houses E, P, Q and 11 were
burned. Mr. Campbell saul that he
cpuld npt give a definite estimate qi
bis losses just nQW t but the damage to
buildings alone would amount to at
least $ 50 000 , and the contents $l,2o0,
, occurred at
000. Had the fire any ;
other time of the year, he said, the
loss would have been much greater, as
just at the present time the imports
are very light aud the houses not well
filled.
CONYERS. GA.. WEDNESDAY, JULY 4, 1900.
CHAFFEE IS ASSIGNED
To Command Our Troops In the
Calestial Empire,
COES WITH SIXTH CAVALRY
News That Ninth Infantry Goes at Once
to Taka Greatly 1‘leases the Offi¬
cials at Washington.
President McKinley has assigned
General Adna R. Chaffee to the com¬
mand of the American military forces
operating in China. The plans of the
war department were somewhat clear¬
ed up by the announcement.
General Chaffee was at the war de
partment Tuesday receiving instruc
tions and will leave for San Francisco
in time to sail with the sixth cavalry,
This detachment sails on the Grant,
which has been ordered to touch at
Nagasaki for further orders It L
probable that the ship will then sad
direct for Che Poo, with General Chaf
fee and the sixth cavalry
General MacArthor. at Manila, was
cabled an order directing the com
mending officer of the Ninth infantry
and such other forces as may be oper
ahng in China by the time of
the Grant’s to report to General Chaf
fee on his arrival. Unless present
plans change headquarters will be es
tab lsed at C io 00 .
The news that the Ninth infantry
sails at once from Manila for laku
was received with pleasure at the war
department. Gen. Corbin said lie reg
iment will compare favorably with any
similar organization sent by any o
the other foreign governments in
The Ninth . ... has been rearnited , to . Rb ...
fulle . ?* possible hunt of 1,170 anc is
5 r ?T ,c e wi an amp e PI y field
faeld guns.tents and cofeplet>
for ‘fi 1 - P“ e • serv goes c ® a “ o d * P_ ^hlv ® ./
equipped in . the matter of f transporta
tlon and 8ab81staaco supplies for a
, lon 6 Cflm P a - 1 S n - 1 18 '
manded by Colonel Liscum one of the
J,he army. Ihe tup “from from Manila Ma to
Wl11 b £ made on the ranspor s
Logan and Port Albert, the latter c
1 £ 1 ng trans P or4atlon outht and ma ~
.
cmue guns
MOBILE FLOODED.
_
n 0ver a Foot p f of * w Water tpp p Fel1 .« ,n | n * the 1 ,
Space of Nine Hoars In
Alabama City.
°‘ tb© w 9 at her bqreau of this country
was experienced at Mohile, Ala., Tpes
day, when 12.57 inches of rain was
[t vrecivitated S iu the locaT immediate section
f“wvmles morelv a rain extending direc®
o n lva %uho?ih nalmostevery
Soad anSounoed the Mob le and Ohio
f a l lroa d announced that tnat they in^ey had nau rain ram
S 8
began about V.,w°, 4 0 . c l oe k, and
bo1ir a of 0 and 7 tbe r8C0ld for » J. ie
’
two bours A 6 1118 five 1I ^ C ^ e 8 ‘ rbe
t of the fal , i was recorded between , .
? aud 2 0 , c , ocki the entire fall of 12 . 57
i ncbes bein S n ' Be bour ®*
onc0 before m this country has this
rcoord been j equalled Donaldsonville, when on
September 3, 1893, in
La there WaS r f orded a fali ° f 21 ‘ 7 °
’
i nc hes iu thirty hours.
The damage done by thp faU cannot
be eBkimated. The crpps are ry^inocl
entirely, aud bridges in all seettons of
the country are either washed away or
eeyerely damaged. AU of the country
roads are impassable. All of the rail
roads experienced washouts and there
. g heavy dftmag0i as the road beds are
weakened to a great exteqt ’
ion has . before ,
The S 0 C t never ex
perienoed £ such a protracted period of
rainfalis, and there is no way
^ estimating the total amount of
djwage doaet
farmers, according to well in
f ormed cotton factors and commission
mei ^ aro we ,j nigk ru j ned> and there
j 8 n0 hope for them to recover their I
’
logses The cotton is gone to grass to
_
a gr ea t extent, while the other farm
p roduc t s are receiving no attention
wka£eyer pwing to tho impossibili^ of
work i ng the fields in the sain, j
WAR STATUS IN
SOUTH AFRICA
Roberts Reports Two Small En¬
gagements With Enemy.
IN BOTH BOERS WERE BEATEN
Within the Last Few Days British
Have Captured 5,000 Rifles
Belonging to Burghers.
Lord Roberts bas sent bulletins to
London of two small fights occurring
on June 26th and June 27th in which
the Boers were discomfited. Iu a dis
patch from Pretoria dated Thursday
be Ba y S .
,« A small force of mounte d troops,
. monnted uu8f commanded by
Lieutenaut Colonel Dreiper was at
tacked by the enemy \ under Prefers
anJ ’ the morQ of June 2 6 tb,
fleyen m iks uortll o{ Sonekal . They
beatofftll0 e / and burned their
, a « 0ur ca ua iti e8 were three
wo uded and ten killed .
.. Hunter * temporarily l £ commanding
Iau Hftmilt on . g made marck yester
dfty frQm Hoidelberg toward Frankfort
without meeting any opposition.
„ The en attacked our Eoodeval
^ ruit § st on tbe railway yesterday,
( hurB )f bnt were ensily beaten off
b de t ac hment of the Derbyshire
ht infftntry> t he West Australian
m 0 unted, a fifteen pounder and an ar
moured train .
“Baden-Powell reports the capture
of ^ influential Boer named Ray, who
wa9 endeavoring to raise a commando
in the Rnstinburg district. A patrol
brought iu over a hundred rifles,
More than 4,000 rifles and 1,000 infe
rior pieties have been taken during the
)ast few days .
<<fi e s t a tes that thirty Boers have
arrived at Rustenburg, going to their
homes from Delareys commando. Thej
wouId have Ieft before if <hey had seen
the J proclamation which was carefully
witl h6ld by the Bo er authority.”
Lord Roberts says that Wednesday,
June 27th, was a record market day
in Pretoria for Boer farmers selling
Parties of Boers are still hanging on
General Buffer's flanks. F. R. Burn
ham, the American scout, is invalided,
On June 2Qth the war office cabled
Lerd Inerts that disquieting reports
regarding the hospital were nccumu
jporo nurses were needed.
On June 23th Lord Roberts replied,
saying that he did not wish to shirk
responsibility ° r to screen the short
oom,ng8 ? f l ' he medlcal corps : and 1 ; e
B^g^teda committee of f inquiry. He T
said hat t iere hftd b " en a “ a ’ Dor T a
nu “ bcr of sl ck , at B'flemfonton due
to tbe exhausting t t nature of the march
tb ' oondition
of , the , camP &t m / f®
where the river was crowded with de
composing ? animals aud also with (
^Tch V wounded after tho fi"hl on
°
10 th
To improvise accommodations at
f t ein for such a number
whieh baJ beoome 2<0 00 before ho left
Bloemfontein Roberts! was no easy task Raid
Lord No tents were carried,
a0d efinfo tbe Dub hospiSs ij c buildings ifthree had to be
J months
^ befe bad been 6,3flfl admissions to the
Uospitals * o£ patients suffering from
01lt ric fever , w hile the deaths num
bered a bout 1,370-about 21 per cent,
Lord Roberts observed that he did not
kuow whether this would be an ab
uormal rate in oivil hospitals in peace
times, hut if the rate was abnormal it
wag du0 to the exhausted state of the
men ’ and not to the neglect of the
med ica , 0O
-
RUSSIA MAKES PREPARATIONS,
All Military and Civil Authorities Secretly
ordered to Get Ready,
The Vorwearts (German newspaper)
says: “From an absolutely reliablu
source we hear the Russian war min
ister has sent to all military and civil
authorities in Russia secret orders to
prepare everything for mobilization.”
1.}. omom Has Orgn Largest «nouns Gin-11th! Ca.- h 1
‘
The County.
V > .
OREGON ON A ROCK
Our Big Battleship Meets With
/Accident Ou Chinese Coast.
THE NAVY DEPARTMENT IS ADVISED
Vessel Was Hurrying To Chee Foo and
Struck Flnnaclo Kork During a Dense
Fog—May Yet lie Saved.
The following dispatches were re¬
ceived at the navy department Satur¬
day morning relative to the grounding
of the battleship Oregon:
“Che Foo, June 29.—Secretary of
the Navy: Anchored yesterday, dense
fog in seventeen fathoms, three miles
south of How Ke Light, gulf of Po
Chile. Sent out two boats aud sound¬
ed—least water five and half fathoms.
Weather clear. Got under way and
struck Piuuacle rock. Much water in
the forward compartment. Perfectly
smooth. Shall charter a steamer if
possible at Chee Foo aud lighteu ship.
Rock through side of ship above
double bottom about frame 19. Small
holes also through bottom of ship.
“Wilde.’’
“Che Foo, June 29.—Secretary
Navy: Iris gone to assistance of tho
Oregon. Raymond Rogeks,
“Commanding Nashville.”
“Hong Kong, June 29.—Secretary
of the Navy, Washington: Princeton
arrived. Brooklyn leaves for Nagasaki.
The Zallro, at Che Foo, has been seut
to assist Oregon, reported by Rogers
on a rock south of How Ke light. Iris
going to her assistance. Remey.”
Captain Wilde’s statement of tho
injury sustained by the Oregon is not
sufficient for the department to form a
definite opinion as to the prospects of
saving the famous ship. They say,
however, that the ship probably can
be saved, if the weather does not be¬
come rough, but unfortunately this is
the season of storms in Chinese wa¬
ters. The point where the Oregon
grounded is fifty miles west northwest
of Che Foo. Taku is 150 miles west
of Pinnacle rock, where she struck.
At the request of the secretary of
the navy, the state department sent a
message to the Russian government at
St. Petersburg asking permission to
brrng the Oregon to Port Arthur to bo
docked there in the event the ship can
be floated. At that point is the nearest
dock of sufficient size to dock tho
ship, and it is part of the navy yard
possessions of tho Russian govern¬
ment.
Secretary Long will spare no reason¬
able expense iu the effort to save the
Oregon. Her total cost was $5,575,
032. Ou this total the hull aud ma¬
chinery represeuted $3,222,810.
The Oregan made herself the most
famous ship in the American navy,
and the best known ship in the navies
of the world by her remarkable raco
from San Francisco around Cape Horn
to join the fleet at Key West just be¬
fore tho Avar Avith Spain was declared.
It Avas a feat unequaled in the an¬
nals of naval history, aud au unprece¬
dented test of the capabilities and
powor of a modern Avarship. The
'Oregon, nuder command of Captain
Charles E. Clark, began her long race
of 14,000 miles against time from San
Francisco on March 19th, 1898. She
arrived at Jupiter Inlet, Fla., on May
24th and oommunieated with the navy
officials at Washington.
Secretary Long ordered Captain
Clark to report to the Norfolk navy
yard if his ship needed overhauling; if
not, he was to go directly to Key West.
Two days later, or on May 20tb, the
Oregon joined the fleet at Key West.
She bad steamed the 14,700 miles at
racing speed without the slightest im¬
pairment of her delicate machinery, or
a break of any kind. Tbe civilized
world rang with praises of the magnif¬
icent performance of the ship and her
heroic crew.
The Oregon participated in the at¬
tack on Santiago and Avith the Brook¬
lyn prevented the escape of the Colon
in tho memorable sea fight of July 4 th.
During the chase of the Colon the
Oregon developed a speed of eighteen
knots under forced draft.
When peace was declared with Spain
the Oregon Avas sent to Manila. Some
days ago the vessel was ordered to
China, and had nearly reached her
destination when the accident oc¬
curred.
NO.
SNEU PAYS PENALTY
Former Georgian Hanged at the
National Capital.
KILLED A THIRTEEN-YEAR OLD GIRL
Owing: to Snell’a Heavy Weight, the Hope
Cut Through and Almost Decap¬
itated Him,
Benjamin II. Snell, formerly of
Georgia, paid the death penalty on the
scaffold in the district jail at Wash¬
ington Friday for one of the most
fiendish murders ever committed
within the confines of the District of
Columbia.
His victim was Lizzie Weiseuberger,
a little white girl, thirteen years old.
Suell was a clerk in tho pension office,
a giant in size, measuring six feet six
inches and weighing nearly 200 pounds.
The drop fell at 12:07 and his neok
Avas broken by the fall of 5 feet, and
the rope cut through to the spinal col¬
umn, almost decapitating him.
There were only a few present at
tho execution, but among them was
Karl WieBenberger, the father of the
murdered girl.
The crime for which Snell paid the
penalty was committed August 6 th,
1899, at the residence of the victim’s
parents. The evidence on the part of
the prosecution tended to show that
Snell went to the house of Karl Weis
enberger, father of little Lizzie, that
morning and asked for a drink of water.
There being no water in the house,
Mr. Weiseuberger Avent to a hydrant,
some distance away, to procure some.
Thereupon Snell pasted through the
house aud entered the kitchen, where
Mrs. Mary Weisenberger, the wife of
Karl and mother of Lizzie, was pre¬
paring the morning meal. Snell greet¬
ed her in his usual manner, to which
she responded by ordering him out of
the house and accusing him of having
seduced her daughter Lizzie.
Suell thereupon went from the kitch¬
en into the adjoining room, where Liz¬
zie Weisenberger was sleeping, drew a
razor from his pocket and cut her
throat, inflicting five wounds and
nearly severing her head from her
body. When the mother, hearing the
cries of her child, rushed into the bed¬
room to protect her, Snell assaulted
the mother, cutting her twice.
Snell knocked the woman down and
made a break for liberty and was
chased several blocks before being
captured and disarmed. He at once
feigned insanity, and made that liia
pica in the trials that followed.
SEYMOUR’S CASUALTY LIST.
Allied Troops Killed In Battles With
Boxers sand Chines# Soldiers.
According to a message from Ad¬
miral Seymour, casualties in the bat¬
tles with Boxers and Chinese troops
up to last Friday were as follows:
“British killed 27, wounded 75.
Americans killed 4, wounded 25.
French killed 1, wounded 10. Ger¬
mans killed 12, wounded 62. Italians
killed 5, wounded 3. Japanese killed
2 , wounded 3. Austrians killed 1,
wounded 1 . Russians killed 10,
wounded 27.”
AS AN OBJECT LESSON
1.1 Hung Chang Orders Over a Hundred
lMraten and Boxer* Beheaded.
The Canton correspondent of The
London Daily Telegraph, iu a dispatch
dated Thursday, says:
“One hundred and thirty pirates
and boxers were beheaded yesterday
by Li’s orders to terrorize law break
ers. The United States steamship
Princeton has been ordered to Can¬
ton.”
BATTLESHIP OREGON AGROUND.
BIb Naval Vessel Deported Ashore Fifty
Miles From Che Foo.
It is reported in Shanghai that the
United States battleship Oregon is on
shore on the island of Hoo Kie, in the
Miao Tao group, fifty miles north of
Che Foo, aud that a steamer of the In
do China Steam Navigation company
has gone to her assistance.
(Queensland Is Patriotic.
The government of Queensland has
offered the British admiralty a gun¬
boat for service iu Chinese waters. ;