The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-10-08
A BLAST OF DEATH
Powder MiIbEzpIode With
Terrible Results.
SCORES OF DEAD And DYING.

Six Mills OF the Dupont Powder Com
many Blown Up-Houses Of Work
men Wrecked by the Concussion-
The Number of Men Killed Not
Known-Partial List of the Dead and
Iuiured-The Shock Felt Thirty-five
Miles Awav-The scene Frightful
One.
WILMINGTON, DEL, Oct. THE Office
and six mills of the Dupont powder works,
near here. are in ruins. Fifty or more
houses of workmen at the upper yard" are
wrecked; dozen, perhaps more, workmen
are dead and a score or more others are in
iured as the result of a series of powder ex-
plosions at $3.50 o'clock this afternoon.
The DUPONT works, which are well
known throughout the country, are the
largest powder mills in the United States.
The mills extend along the banks of the
Brandy wine, chiefly on the west side, for
about two miles. They are divided into the
Upper" "Hagley" and Lower" yards.
The first named, where the office of the
company is located, is about three miles
and the last named about five miles from
Wilmington.
HOW THE EXPLOSION OCCURRED,
workman named Tran, in one of the
packing mills connected with the upper"
yards was receiving a can of hexagonal
powder to be shipped for use by the United
States government, when in some way
spark communicated to the can, aud it blew
up. Instantly the packing mill exploded.
and the other mills in the upper yards,
seven or eight in number, followed at inter
yals Of less than one second, from concus-
sion. All these except one were
rolling mills,' in which the in
gradients of gun powder are pulverized by
the action of vertical rollers of stone turn
ing slowly around central post The
whole machinery is driven by water power.
The odd one was the linking mill"
FELT THIRTY-FIvE MILES AWAY.
The shock was simply terrific, and was
telt even in Philadelphia, thirty-five miles
away, and in New Jersey and elsewhere.
AT the upper yards" where the explo-
sion occurred, are some fifty houses in.
haolted by employees Of the powder mills
clustered here and there. They are all
wrecked.
The office Of the Dupont company is G
complete wreck, and the six mills are tr
RUNS All buildings within radius Of
half mile are damaged, aud the ooncus-
sion even broke windows in some parts OF
81 wilmington, four or five miles away.
FIGHTING FIRE FOR THEIR LIVES.
Immediately after the explosion the LARGE
building known as the refinery" located
near The center of the village, took fire. ID
was matter of life and death to tha whole
population that this fire should be uuepched
before 1t communicated with the powder
he building contained. Taking their live,
IN tnelr hands, the Dupont fire company
lougnt the flames, which had caught The
ooI' IL was touch and go between succes,
auu destruction, but the firemen won. Had
sue roof fallen in, it is doubtful if any man
woman or child in the vicinity would have
escaped death or serious injury.
FIFTY FAMILIES HOMELESS.
ABOUT nifty ia miles are rendered homeles
Cle disaster, and many of them were AZ
aaAeu Dy the terrible events of those fau
conas as to seem hardly conscious n,
'1Sre I3 they are or what they are doing.
oisl ne 10 ured are being gathered into the
oSpital building apper tanning TO the yvorL,
iu ;9 are receiving such surgical and othe,
'a a. .hey need. Owing to the rocky anc
wy CS9eu I character of the locality but little
aa oe done In the way Of searching for tn,
TaSa ,S'ing or ascertaining the extent of tn,
11aRe dohe to property until day light.
PARTIAL LIST OF THE KILLED.
TTt9howing is partial list of the killed.
MARTIN DoLAN.
JAMES DOLAN.
WILLIAM MCCARTNEY.
JOHN HARRIGAN.
WILLIAM DENIsoN.
JOHN DEITz.
JOHN HURLIKE.
IELRlCK AIRlCK DoUGHERTY.
WILLIAM GREEN.
JOHN NEwArI.
= woman named ROSE DoUGHERTY.
'0Feral others are missing.
~ THE SERIOUSLY INJURED.
erned are: 'N' % ~ A"i O.
T1rANIEL ~ HARKINs.
,rLLiAM rLI4 LOGAN will probably die.)
ny ~ ana MARIE DOLAN, daughters OF
IVs Vs. Doian who is among the killed.
nan- H%Es WARD, leg broken and hurt in
area 1riaa FERRY, picked up unconscious
W. EN MMCDowELL, head badly hurt.
~ So.y WILLIAM MCDOWELL, ear cut of
,bt bead very badly cut. Her 2-year-old
Sng. SrCeF was injured seriously.
saj DiA ANDERSON, arm broken and badly
SLIGHTLY INJURED.
non. ng the slightly injured are Eugene
Yas, sud mead of the firm, Francis G. Du
e-ai Iu u Charles l. Dupont. They anc
IT. ~ &c clerks in the Office were cut by frag
ba Sa u VI broken glass. but none seriously.
oaI ueao were all employees of the com
ioS ana were in and about the mills tina
LED Several workmen are missip,
on me believed to have been blown &
Nr BY THEIR FALLING HOMES.
ne wounded received their iniurie
brso,r sne walls of their falling houses ant
rs ioSen ro. glass and flying debris. Ha.
wv oeen general and instant exodu