The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-10-01
DYNAMITE.
Terrific Explosion in West
chester County, N. Y.
THE DEMANDS OF BULGARIA.
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES BulgariaWill
Do-A Supposed Earthquake
An AppOintment-Etc.
Dynamite Shocks.

NEW YORK, September 30.-It is said
that shocks were felt in Westchester
County and portions of Eastern Con-
necticut this morning due to the ex-
plosion of dynamite at Bay Chester.
Westchester County, New York.
BARTON-oN SOUND. n. Y, September
30.-A terrific explosion occurred at
Ditmer Power Worps, BayiChester, on
the Harlem River branch of the New
York & New Haven Railway, at
10 o'clock this morning, resulting
in the instantaneous death Of
four men employed in the factory.
The explosion occurred in the packing
house, a one-story frame building
twenty by thirty feet, in the centre Of
the grounds, and about 200 yards from
the main factory, a large building near
the water where the bulk of the giant
powder and nitro-glycerine for the new
aqueduct works is manufactured. The
men were hard at work putting up and
packing cartridges, when suddenly and
without warming the explosion occurred,
shattering the building to splinters, and
blowing four men into fragments. the
exploding powder, of which there was
large quantity shot up into the air as
high as fifty feet, and splinters of the
building were blown over a mile distant.
The names of the men killed are as fol-
lows: Ernest Drain John Rusch, Max
Shafbolt, Mr.. Reinbart. Nothing is left
of them exceptfragments of their bodies.
Their hands, legs, feet, arms, and pieces
of skulls, back-boneS, and charred bits
of flesh were scattered in every direction
from 500 to 600 feet from the packing
house. Max Cruger, fireman of the
works, says the explosion was caused by
two men shooting into the building; he
was in the packing house at the time,
and coming out found two men
who said they were shooting squirrels.
He says he threatened them with arrest
when they became impudent; and when
the explosion occurred the men were
seen hurrying away. r. II. Stansfeld,
superintendent of the ThOrite Powder
Company near by, picked up box full
of the fragments Of the dead men;
others assisted in the work and the re-
mains were all put in a heap to await
the corOner's arrival. One of the dead
men leaves a family in Germany; the
others were single men. Their clothing
was burned to shreds. The main fac
tory of the Ditmer works was nearly
wrecked.
After the explosion the lower timbers
of the building took fire and burned
fercely. a large tree was nearly torn
up by the roots and the branches of
other trees were blown away. The
ground around for half a mile is
strewn with fragments of the dead,
splinters, packing paper, etc. The
violence of the explosion shook the
houses across the creek from Bay
Chester. Many windows in the hotel at
Pelham Bridge, over a mile away, were
shattered. At West Chester the windows
in many houses were broken. This is
the second explosion that has occurred
in these works this year. One last win
ter blew a man into fragments. Many
persons living miles away drove hur-
riedly to the scene, and some of them
helped to gather together the fragments
of the dead men. The windows, sashes
and doors in the railroad station stand
ing at Bay Chester, not far from the
powder works, were blown to frag-
ments, and the windows in other
houses we're damaged, bnt no one out
side the factory is hurt.