Los Cerrillos rustler. (Cerrillos, N.M.) 188?-1891, 1890-10-17
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION.
Destruction OF the Dupont Powder
Works az Wilmington. Del
a Fearful La. u IAis Il~~psrt~d-Two VIZ
lssss nis~n 10 Atsms Many Families
Made msmsl-.s-narrs~laE
sr~nsa.

wmmxoroN. Del. Oct s-Several
startling explosions In quick succession
some counted Eve. others
s80 o'clock yesterday afternoon an
nounccd 70 Wilmington = disaster a.
The Dupont powder works on Tho
Brandywine. A rush was made for tel
ephoneS but nothing could be learned
beyond vague reports u damage
As soon a. horsemcn from here could
reach the works il was found that the
whole section Of the works known as
.'uppcr yard" was a complete wreck.
and AZ least twelve persons were killed
and twenty wounded, while Bockland
vas a complete wreck, none OF It's
houses being left standing.
Rockland Is a village on the brandy
wine fully a mile above the scene OF tho
explosion. IL has a large paper mill
owned by the Jessup & Moore Company,
about hfty dwellings. In which chiefly
reside the mill employees Its popula-
tion is about BOO
There were several reports resembling
the booming Of cannon and about a sec
ond apart. The first thought was hat
tNtfN nAA Nf'h M 'AEA9HAeh ~ 80 -"
der works, but the reports seeming so
near and not being characterized by the
usual rumbling and there being no
smoke visible in the direction Of the
mills, Il was imagined that the explo-
sion had occurred in the city. The hazy
atmosphere hid the smoke and caused
che reports TO sound d .ferently from
those OF preceding explosions.
Physic ans summoned by telephone
and hurrying toward the powder manu-
factory was the first indication the pub
tic had Of the exact location OF the
catastrophe. Immediately thereafter
thousands OF people went TO the scene
OF the disaster.
The Office OF the Dupont Company Is
"A complete wreck and six mills are In
ruins. Several members OF the Dupont
firm wore injured by falling walls and
broken glass, but none Of them serious
ly Among the slightly injured are:
Eugene Dupont the head Of the firm;
Francis G. Dupont and Charles l. Du-
pont They and several clerks in tho
Office were cut by fragments OF broken
glass but zone of thom seriously.
The dead were all employees of tho
company and were in and about tho
mills that exploded
Several workmen are missing and are
believed to have beer blown into trag'
mcnts. The wounded received their in
juries among the walls Of their falling
houses and by broken glass and flying
debris.
The first explosion occurred In one OF
the packing mills, whore a workman
named Grau was soldering a can OF
%hexagonal powder to be shipped for the
use Of the United States Government
In some way a spark communicated to
the can and blew 1t up Instantly the
packing mill exploded, and the other
mills in the upper yards, seven or eight
in number, followed at intervals OF less
than one second. All these. except one,
were rolling mills" in which the in
gredionts OF %gunpowder are pulverized
by the action Of vertical rollers OF stone
turning slowly around a central post
The whole machinery is driven by water
power.
Immediately after the explosion q
large building known as the refinery, '
located near the center OF the village,
took fire. Ii was a matter of life and
death to the whole population that this
fire should DO ~extinguished before II
communicated with the powder the
building contained The Dupont fire
brigade valiantly fought the flames
which had caught the roof and succeed
cd in extinguishing them. Had th,
roof fallen In 1t is doubtful IL any man
woman or child in the vicinity would
have escaped death or serious injury
About fifty families are rendered home
less by the disaster.
At Mount Salem Methodist Church
more than one-half of the window sashe!
OF the large building were blown out
and OF those that remained the glasI
was broken.
At the scene of the disaster womeI
and children, wives and sons and daugh
ters of men employed in the powdet
mandatory, were madly rushing herr
and there seeking information about thu
safety OF their loved ones The yard IL
which tho mills stood was Uttered with
debris of fallen buildings and at SOM
places where buildings had been thu
only trace left was empty cellars and
few foundation stones,
The little village OF Dupont's Banks
immediately outside the powder yard
presented u most pltiable appearance
a hundred dwellings we're either de
molished or badly damaged. Building
were unroofed and fronts of house
were blown out and wrecked. Insid'
tho dwellings the devastation was com
plete. The rooms on the ground foo
were strewn with broken crockery
crushed stoves and remnants of tables