Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-01-30

lrERRIBIEExpLosIoN ArBAvENswooD,
lang IsLAND-TWeNTY Or THuEYt
LIVES LOST.
The New York Herald Of yesterday
gives the full particulars of m swful
calamity that occurred at hench's ball
and cartridge mandatory. On Saturday
afternoon, at two O'Clock, ON Long Island,
at place called Lower RayeIfswood.
The Herald says the building blew up
with an explosion that shook the houses
in the neighborhood for two miles around,
and breaking the windows of all those
! buildings which were within six hundred
or eight hundred feet of the, place. 1t
was rented BY Mr.. French. who, together
with his son, are generally engaged in
the building, bat being at the moment
otherwise occupied, happily escaped
serious injury, though Mr. French, Sen,
is suffering severely from cOntusions.
The number of persons employed was
generally about thirty, being for the most
part girls of the ages of ten to eighteen
but some men and youths also find work
in the factory. The exact number of
lives lost is now not known, for, being
the afternoon Of Saturday, q greater or
less number than usual might have been
there, according to circumstances.
The lowest estimate made by Mr..
French is twenty-four, and the highest
made by friends Of the deceased is about
. thirty. One family-the father of which
is Mr.. Rhine, q worthy man. and garden
er to gentleman in the place-lost three
girls and scarcely a laboring family re.
sides near the place that is not now wall
ing for the loss of some mem Der of it.
Our reporter was on the spot half an
hour after it occurred, and the sight of
, such sickening scene he hopes to be
spared again. The site of the building
and the surrounding lots were covered
D with the debris of the building, human
q limbs, and fragments Of machinery; here
!. trunkless head, there an arm, and all
round blood and entrails, and shreds OF
B clothing, all blackened and burnt so that
!. identification is impossible. We saw q
man draw from the mass the head Of O
little girl which he knew was that of his
: daughter by bit of ribbon fastened to
!. the hair; but any other portion of the
II body he would never find, or if he found
} it he would never be able to say it was
the body of his child. The house of Mr.
e Moses is white house, about four hun.
&c bred feet distant, and against the rear O.
l. this a human arm from the shoulder down
Is was carried with force, and has left it,
% exact imprint in blood and charcoal OF
l. the angle. The windows of this house
: those also of the Rev. Mr.. Waite, thu
d Episcopal minister of Rsvenswood, which
Is is next, and those of Mr.. French, adjoin
h ing, have net a whole pane Of glass left il
.. them. .aaa@ 80
u Most terrible of all it was to see wo
~ men wailing on the ground, or gropins
;. among the human fragments for some
thing which they could identify and mourn
over; but lime barrels, filled with dis
~ gushing mass of human remains, blacl
ia and bloody, was, in most cases, all the,
of could indulge their frantic grief upon
in About ten corpses were fitted together
SO either wholly or partially, and carrie
Up away on boards, followed by groups {
s. inconsolable mourners.
,g The dwelling houses within circuit {
H. a mile were more or less injured, havin
s. the glass entirely broken out, and j
:. several instances the walls were damaged
Mr.. French s house, which is about thirt
rods from the factory, was very niue
3 damaged; the windows and portion
al the furniture having been destroyed, an
C. a second story front room was the onl
It one which the family could occupy los
m night.
d, At the time of the accident MIR. Frenc
d. was engaged at work in small buildin
1t, some fifteen rods distant, and narrowl
al escaped with his life. A furnace nes
where he was standing was broken t
pieces, and his hat was carried away an
could not be found; he also received sever:
O. slight bruises about the face and bod
DC from missiles, which were hurled in a
IT. directions.
u Mr.. French, the proprietor of the man,
to factory, is said to be in the employ {
ng Messrs. Hitchcock & Co., a New Yor
BY firm, dealing in munitions Of war. Hi
r. establishment has long been eonsidere
ed dangerous to the neighborhood, though
of course, no such fearful catastrophe a
this was ever anticipated. We are il
formed, however, that no less than thre
r explosions had already taken place, i
e. one Of which he was personally injured
r. We are told that had the magazine
Sc which was situated at short distanc
~ from the main building, became ignited
f. the consequences would have been sti
IN more disastrous. Themagazine containe
tn between two and three tons of powder
,e Persons who were in the City Hall q
of Williamsburg felt the shock, and it wa
the general impression that it was coca
stoned by an earthquake.
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