The Wilmington daily Republican., 1891-05-20
HURLED TO DEATH.
Fearful Explosion Of Gunpowder
near Tarrytown, N. Y.
woRKMEH TERRIBLY ,MANaLED.'

the wounded Cannot Recover.
Window Glass Broken in Tarry-
town, Mile and Half Away.
The Scene Reminded old Soldiers
of a Battle Field.
TARRYTowN, N. Y, May 20.-Yes-
terday a work train on the Hudson
River railroad was blown 10 atoms one
mile and half below Tarrytown by an
explosion Of dynamite in transportation
for blasting purposes in TRACK construc-
tion. There were probably fifty men,
including italian laborers and trainmen,
on board. OF these eighteen were in
stantly killed and fifteen terribly torn
. and wounded. Many of the dead were
blown into the river, and five bodies
still remain there. The train was torn
30 atoms, the railroad tracks ripped
from their bed, and great hole many
feet deep dug out of the earth. totally
blocking traffic for several hours, The
train was in charge Of Com luctor Con-
nors, and the gang Of men was under
Jerome Disston as boss. The dynamite
wns ali stored in the first Of four fiat
cars composing the train.
Over Half Ton of Dynamite.
1t consisted Of four cases, and each
each case containing 300 pounds, making
. total of 200 pounds of the terrible
explosive. The force of the explosion
was terrific The ground trembled as
though an earthquake had occurred.
The walls of several houses in Tarry-
town were shaken and cracked and in
the Tarrytown streets the window glass
fell in showers to the sidewalk. Scores
of clocks stopped, and in this way al
most the exact hour of the explosion
u1.20)is fixed. A spark from passing
engine is believed to have caused the
explosion.
A Terrible Sight.
The train was demolished, and eve
witnesses say the air was filled with
splinters and debris, while the bodies of
the 1uckless crew were hurled, some of
them torn limb from limb, in every di-
rection. A terrible sight presented itself
TO those who hurried to the Scene. The
ground as far as could I'D seen was
covered with debris. The track was
torn up for a space of COO feet, and the
rails were bent in all kinds of shapes.
Dead faces and mutilated bodies looked
at one from all directions. The engine
was blown ont of all semblhnce of an
engine, and the tender was blown half
way into the river. The flat cars were
blown into particles. .u.5.
Limbs Torn from Their Bodies,
Then began the awful work of bring
ing in the dead and wounded. Men were
found dead hundred yards away from
Che track, while others were found in
The excavation made by the deadly ex-
piosive. The wounded were suffering
from horrible mutilations, ih many in
stances arms and legs being torn of,
heads bruised and bodies bleeding The
sccne remined old soldiers Of scenes after
. bloody battle during the civil war.
The dead and injured were conveyed to
the Tarrytown depot, where the injuries
of the wounded were looked after by q
force of physicians. who had been hur-
riedly summoned from all directions
The injured were afteryards taken to
different hospitals, five of the most Sc
verely injured being taken tb Bellevue
Hospital in New York. The dead were
also conveyed to the depot, but later re-
moved to Vanderbilt's morgue at Tarry-
town.
The Dead May Be Twenty.
Ten of those killed were picked up
along the track, while five were taken
from the river. Three of the injured
conveyed to the depot died shortly after
reaching there. II is believed that there
nxe still two bodies in the river, and this
would bring the total number Of killed
mp to twenty. Following is a partial
list of the dead and wounded, whose
dead mangled bodies have BEEN recov-
cred.
The Dead and Wounded.
Killed-John Mccarthy. time keeper,
Of North Tarrytown. Frank Moirissey,
who had charge Of the dynamite, OF
Reekskill. Brakeman John Smith. Fiji
eeen Italians, names unknown.
Injured-George Herrick, engineer, OF
Etattsburg; Leo Pau. fireman, Of Stats
burg; Conductor Connor, East Albany;
brakeman, name unknown; Ed Finne-
gan, Peekskill; Brakeman Fisher, Gro
ton; Michael Mccormick, blacksmith
Thomas Finnegan, blacksmith's helper
slso dozen or more Italians The
kames 'of these, SO far as known, are:
Joseph Nargi, 90 years old, Peelrskill
Frank Debarco, 45 years, N ew York;
James Giverer, 80, Peekskill Bernard
Anton, TaTytown; Victorio It,iliano, 26
New York. :
One man taken to Bellevue hospital,
New York, has been unconscious since
the accident and has not been identified.
The latter and Giverer it is thought will
Gle.
School Children Panic Stricken.
A panic occurred in the high schoo
of Tarrytown among the pupils The
gchOoi DpllunB WAS Nluleh1y ShaEeh
and the scholars and teachers thought
that an earthquake had occurred. The
children ran out Of their class rooms
into the street, but fortunately wer'
not injured in the wild rush.
The scene of the accident of one of tn,
beautiful points of the banks of tn,
Hudson. The sexplosion occurred IL
front of the handsome residence O
Richard Hoe, ths printing press manu-
facturer, while the mansions OF Elliot
r. Shepard and of John Rockefeller ar
close by.
Hunkards, IIoye Eensa