Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1890-10-08
FATAL EXPLOSION.
4gs DUPONT PoWDEH-MIlLs AND
FIFTY or MORE HOUSES IN RUINS.
A po,en worhncn Killed and Many In
iured--A Lifo-and- Death struggle
Tho SHOCK Felt Great Distance.



Wu,uN0roN. DBL. October 7. The Office
and SIX mills Of tho Dupont Powder
works. near here. are in minis Fifty or
mono houses Of the workmen at Upper
yard" are wrecked; dozen. perhaps
more. workmcn are dead, and a score or
more of others are injured, rs the result OF
series OF powdc- Nplosions st $3.50 o'clock
fH.s afternoon az the Dupont works. which
f,veli known throughout the country and
re the largest powder-mills ~ the United
S.atcs The mills extend along the banks
o The Brandywiue. chiefly on the west
Nlc. for about two miles. they ere ~,
y.dcl into Upper " Ilaeley,' ana
Lower" wards. The frst-named where
tue Office of the company Is located. ~
about three miles, and The last-named
about five miles from Wilmington.
cAUsg or rHE ACCIDENT.
A workman named Gran in one Of The
v1ckiuc-mitls connected with the upper
Yards was receiving q can OF hexaronal
/. WIDER o. be shipped FOR the Use Of the
tinted States NogernW ent. when ia some
way ozark communicated 20 the can ana
if blow up Instantly the packne-miil ex-
IlodcI aud the other mills ma the upper
wards. ven or eight in number followed
o. intervals ~ less then one second from
conclusion. All II these except ono were
tue rolling mills 81 in which the ingfo-
o.ont. oi gln-powdc ere pulvcrzed oE
tle action Of ycrucal rolieIs OF stone
turning slowly around @ central post. Inc
whole machinery 81 driven by wa'er-po"eT'
Tho Odd one was % 90 mixing mill
rHE SHOOK FlLr IN PHILADELPHIA.
Tho shock wa. simpIv terrific ana WIS
f.'t oven in Philadelphia thirty ave mites
fN4y. and M New Jerscy and clseEhcre.
20 .ho upper yards whore the explosion
occurred. are some htty houses inhabited
D., The employees of the poWd f-nllls
clustered here. and they are al wrecked.
OH, Office of the Dupont company IS
complete wreck and SIX nuls are ~ runs
II Oh. buildings within % radius OF hhil
1II. orc damaged ami tho conclusion even
broke windows lu some parts OF WHINING
t.u, four or five milo- away.
r1ourNc FOR -um LIVES.
immediately after the explosions a large
building known ~ the Ienncy, ioc"'Iu
Yt.r ilc centre of tho village TOOK IRE. III
,.- 20 matter If lite and death 70 the
whole population that this FIRE should Toe
s,tneu.shed before 10 commune lted WIN
I'll. tOWdcr the lu ldiug contained. taxing
f..r lives iu their hands the Dupont hrG
Irrade fought the flames when had
caught the roof 10 was tOuch-aud-go he-
tram,n won. liud the roof fallen 10 IT is
olnhtfu. If any man. woman, or enid ln
f.l vicinity would have escaped death %!
serious injury. About fifty families are
rendered homeless by the disaster ana
many ot them were so dazed hy the trIri-
OIL" events Of those few seconds as to seem
hardly conscious az where they we're or
what they were doing.
CARING FoR TIE INJURED.
The injured are being gathered into the
hospital building apuertmuug TO me
,..rl4. and arc receiving such surgical aud
other md as they need. Owing 10 the
rocky and wooden character of the locality
Iut little can be- done iu theway OF search
lug for the mis- ing or a-crrtuWh@ the eA-
tent of the damage done 10 tho property
until daylight.
rr-r or rHg EILLTD AND wCUN ID,
The following Is % partial LIST of the KILL
cd. Martin D0lau. James Doiln, Nhllaui
NcGmvey. John Hartican, William Den
rI-on John bIDtI, John iiurlke, Iatiich
Dmeherfv, William Green, John NeWal,
and "A woman named Rose bougherty.
Several others are mi sing. The moro Sc
riou-lv Injured So far as learned, are:
Daniel fIarkns. William Logan tWiii pro
Inblv dieI. Anne aud Marie Dolan
daughter, OF James Dolan. who is
among the killed; james Ward, leg
picked up unconscious. injuries uh-
known. John Mcdowell head badly hurt :
Mfs. William Mcdowell, ear cut on ana
head very badly cut; her two-year-ola
daughter seriously injured; Lyd Andcr-
son. arm broken and badly bruised. Among
the slightly injured are Eugene Dupont;
thclj of thc firm. Francis q. Dupont aud
Charles ]. Dupont They and several
clerk. in the Office were cut 10y the irag-
Mcuts of broken glass, but none seriously.
soNr Blows TO FRAGMENTS.
The dead were oil employees of the COM
pane and were i'm and about the mills that
exploded. Several wOlbmen are missing
and are believed % have been blown To
FRAGMENTS. The wounded received their
injuries among the walls of their ialhng
houses aud by broken glass and flying
d,fyrs. Had there not been general and
instant exodus from their houses a. the
first shock the deHth-ll~t would have been
much heavier, as many would nave beeh
crushed IN the ruins OF their dwellings.
The first explosion occurred IN one OF the
packing-mlls. Undertakes have gone out
from Wilmington 20 give ther services IN
preparing the dead for burial, while VII
mnEtOu surgeons were prompt 10 hurry
TO the spot and tender aid.
AT tho office Of the Dupont magazine
one OF tho members of the firm stated the
loss IN IN" hllll Wda az ioilNN7t DiA-ibNN''
one magazine, paChlug-hOu- e., separating
house. and corning mil. Structures par
italy destroyed are glaZug-rOOm and
Tress-room. No exact figures IN regard to
the quantity OF powder lost can be given,
but the estimates run all the way from ten
tons % forty. The Duponts were buslly
engaged at the time IN filling extern
siye contracts for the United States Gov
eminent for small arms, and also for pris-
matte cannon-powder. I'm addition they
have heavy contracts IN hand for the
Union Metalhc-Cartridge Company. OF
the killed three bodies only have been re-
covered. Mrs. Rose Dougherty was found
dead in her attic. The body of William
McGaryey WAS found with ms head CON-
pletely blown of, and the body of Green
was found lying near the magazine, where
boz had been engaged soldering powder
key At O'Clock this evening the other
bodies had not been seen OF heard of.
II IS estimated that the total loss cannot
bo less than $4,000.