The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1888-05-07
DYNAMITE'S AWFUL FORCE
Seven Persons Killed and Twenty or
More Injured at Locust Gap, Pa.
Blocks of Buildings Leveled to the Ground
and Many Structures Consumed BY Fire
Cause Of the Terrible Accident.


che Philadelphia & Reading railroad Was passing
through Locust Gap. six miles from this place.
at III o'clock last night. when . car loaded with
dynamite exploded, killing seven people, wound
ing twenty. some seriously. burning eight
houses. levsling four more blocks to the ground.
and wrecking hundreds Of othsra The follow
ing are the names Of those killed:
JOHN QUINN, widower. aged forty
KATE QUINN his daughter aged eight.
WILLIE kAvANAUGH, aged fifteen.
MARY KAvANAUGH. aged nine.
ALICE BERWICK. aged four.
DANIEL BERWICK, aged six
Infant child of Simeon kerwick. born during the
afternoon.
Following is a list Of the wounded: Mrs Miles
Doueherty, leg broken; Mrs. Annie Matthew'S
mother Of Mrs. Doughsrty. also had leg
broken; two children Of MIRA Dougherty, Annie
and Agnes, badly injured; John Donlsnd. hand
seriously hurt; James Mead. struck about the
head and face. badly injured; Mrs. Patrick Mead
is so badly hurt that death is expected at
any moment; Andrew Mcclure and
wife, so BADLY hurt that no hopes
are entertained of their recovery; Mrs. Chris
McGill, injured by falling timbers not serious
ly; Jacob Hoeflich. badly cut about the head;
Frank McManus, hurt about the face and body;
bruised; Mrs. Alice Dormer. injured in the Leg
Mrs. Patrick Rafferty,, cut and bruised; Mrs.
Thomas Rafferty,. cut about the head Sim con
Kerwick, injured about the head and burned;
Dennis Reardon. badly cut shout the face and
body.
The engine. drawing seventy cars. was run
ming dow u the grade at rapid rate to make
siding one mile west of the gap. to allow the
Phiadelphia fast-line south the right of way
The engineer slowed up when in the gap, but
the cars had gained such a momentum that he
was obliged to run fast to keep the tank from
being bumped; the head Of steam was too much
for the couplings. and the seventh car from the
locomotive broke loose. The engine was
stopped to make q new coupling. when the
broken train met with shock sufficient to ex-
plode the dynamite. The force of the explosion
shook the ground for twenty miles round,
wrecking many houses in Mt. Carmel and the
neighborhood. The train men, aided by the
horror atrickeu inhabitants rushed to the rescue
and succeeded in saving many lives from the
burning buildings OF the dead nothing re-
mains but few charred chips OF bone found in
the ruins subscription list has been started
in Shamokn and neigh boring towns. A number
of the wounded have been taken to the Miners
Hospital
The Reading railroad track at the point of the
accident, just at the extreme weetern end of
the town. il about two hundred feet above the
level of the street. and runs alongside the
mountain at about this distance. Below the
road there Is q street containing one single
dwelling on the north side and three double ones
on the south. Or the seven. nothing now re-
MAINS they were completely torn down by the
explosion, and fire did the rest 1t was in these
that all the deaths occurred. Mr.. and
Mrs 'Kerwick, who lost their three
children. had an almost miraculous escape.
The man was blown out Of o window and only
slightly injured. He then got his sick wife out
Of t he burning building and afterwards rescued
several of the neighbors' children, which, in his
dazed condition, he believed his own. About
one hundred yards below these buildings there
is another row of four double houses these are
the promptness of the jewellers in extneuishing
the burning coal in the stoves. On the same
street. some 800 yards east, stand nine more
houses. q row Of double tenements and one
single. While not SO entirely demolished.
they. too. show plain evidence Of. the de.
structive force of the explosion. Boards
are torn out. roofs caved in. and the interiors
are simply masses of wrecked furniture So
great was the upward force or the exploding
power that car wheels and axles were thrown
distance of 200 yards. One axle fell through
the roof Of one of the houses the lower street.
On the hill above traces Of the debris may be
found quarter Of a mile away, while between
that distance and the wreck there are quantities
of the debris of the cars.
The wrecked train. in addition to the cars Of
powder and dynamite, contained cars of coal
glass, phosphate, oil, lumber, -four and sheet
iron. Within q radius Of sixty feet there is q
perfect litter of these goods, all broken and
mixed up Trees near the train were uprooted
and large one. was blown top Of q freight
car The lumber car was loaded with flooring
and where this was blown up the hill many Of
the long pieces stuck in the ground. Be-
meath the wrecked train is deep hole
fifteen feet in diameter the work of the dyna-
mite. None of the train hands the acc ident
were injured. although one is said to have been
blown q considerable distance. The engineer of
the locomotive, which very close at the
time Of the explosion, was stunned, but soon re-
covered. The sufferers were soon supplied with
all the help that willing hands could give, as
shortly after the explosion, numbers OF people
we're the scene. To-day all the roads leading
to the horrible wreck are lined with vehicles
going and returning
Locust GAP is . town Of about 1000 inhabi-
tants
Gray's Slaughter Of Mcdonald.
Labor Signal