Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1888-12-24
I'd EDITION.
--latest qGlGglaHS to The Star.
THE BOY WAS BLOWN TO ATOMS.
He Caused an Explosion which Wrecked
Houses n Mile Axxav

WHEELING, W. Va, Dec A-In the maga-
zine which exploded yesterday at Mt Pleasant,
Ohio, there were 210 kegs Of powder and ten
cases Of dynamite. fourteen-year-old boy,
Charles Gleck broke the lock of the magazine,
and with two other boys went in, smoking. The
other boys ran before the explosion, but Gleck
was literally blown TO atoms. The two other
boys are badly hurt. Seventeen men are badly
injured. Nearly every house within mile was
blown to pieces and those farther away were
seriously damaged. Fifty yards away we're
thirty tons of dynamite in a cave, which was
not exploded The injured men are largely
italian railroad laborers.
FURTHER ADvIcEs JUST RECEIVED
from Mount Pleasant report that none of the
wounded have yet died, though some are in .
critical condition. About 1000 pounds
Of os powder the exploded %ssszn The dynamite
hard. and it did not explode.
or the village would have been destroyed The
tunnel at which the terrible explosion occurred
is known as Long Run tunnel. the opening of
which is at the mouth of Long Run, a tribu-
about nine miles west Of Martins Ferry.
The tunnel is 800 feet in length, one-half Of
which is completed. Work was commenced on
it last August since which time over 100 men
have been working in it. The contractors are
Miller & McMann, Of New York. At the opening
feet distance was the magazine and so or 60
feet from this is the dynamite cave. Along
Short creek about 100 yards west of this pen
ing. stood four buildings. One Of these, meas
uring Is by 40 feet and two stories high, was
occupied by the colored laborers, Adjoining
this was another building, the same size, which
was occupied by the Italian laborers, and lit
tie further south was a still larger building,
known as the clearinghouse. in which the bet
ter class of the whites boarded. On the north
Of the building occupied by the colored men
stood large two-story building, which was
known as the commissary.
THE DESTROYED BUILDINGS.
The magazine, containing an immense
quantity of powder and dynamite, was blown
to atoms. as was also the blacksmith-shop, the
Italians building and the colored mems build
ing. The clearinghouse and the commissary
were partially wrecked.
One thousand yards from the general board
ing-house is the farmhouse of Mr.. Mulhorn,
every light of glass in which was broken and
the house partially wrecked.
The explosion occurred about 80 o'clock,
tearing up the ground under the magazine to
a depth Of 10 feet, 25 feet wide, and IS long,
TWISTING AND wBENcHrNa LARGE TREES
like pipe-stems, and filing the air
with debris of every description, and
not only killing one of the laborers
Nv.
not fatally, but creating panic among the re-
mainder Of the employees and intense excite
ment in the neighborhood. Charles Gleck
who was blown to atoms was nineteen years
old, and came from Charleston, w. Va, some
months ago.
SOME OF THE INJURED.
One Irishman, aged forty years, name not
known, had a cash three inches long cut in the
forehead, upper lip cut almost entirely of, and
Vas internally injured. Another Irishman had
his shoulder dislocated Another man, un-
known. had two ribs broken and was terribly cut
about face and body. One colored man. whose
name Is not known, was injured internally and
carried away unconscious. Four others were
cut about the head. face, and body, and others
sustained smaller injuries. Miss Munker, Nc
Mann's housekeeper, received a terrible blow
on the head, cutting q good-sized cash. John
Parrish, colored, had his foot crushed. Mccain,
one Of the contractors, was blown into the
creek, distance of about 80 feet, and strange
to say. escaped with slight injuries.
The shock broke many windows in
and around Mount Pleasant and Emerson
and knocked off considerable plastering. The
explosion was no doubt caused by Checks own
carelessness. Shortly before it occurred he
was seen breaking the lock on the magazine
door and entered with a lighted pipe in
his mouth. Two boys who were with
him say he was taking them in to
see how the dynamite was working, but on no
ticing him smoking, ran away, and were over a
hundred yards distant when the explosion oc-