The Star And Newark Advertiser

FOUR MEN DIE IN DESTRUCTION OF HUDSON STEAMER

NEWBURGH, N. Y., Oct. 21.--Four men of the crew of the Albany Day Line steamer New York were burned to death on board the boat early to-day, and the steamer itself was totally destroyed. One of the men, a negro waiter, lost his life in a hatch aboard the blazing vessel, from which he had once been rescued, in an effort to save $200 he had left in his bunk.

The fire started from an exploding lamp. Forty-three men, including Captain A. H. Harcourt, were asleep when the fire started, soon after midnight.

Many of the men escaped wholly unclad. Many were rescued from the water. The dead are:

Joseph Matthews, Frank Simmons, J. Jenkins and H. J. Smith. Their bodies were recovered.

The entire crew of the boat was aflame when Captain Harcourt came on deck and gave the alarm to the sleeping crew.

Five thousand persons gathered at the pier and watched the progress of the blaze. When the last man reached safety a count of the survivors revealed the fact that four men were missing. David Bray, who escaped through a wall of fire and smoke, said that three of the missing men had been close behind when he started to leave the waiters' quarters astern. They were unable to keep the pace and did not reach the deck. The flames were between the stern of the vessel and the hatchway and all port-holes were closed, thus trapping lagging ones.

The loss to the day line is estimated at $750,000.