The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1891-05-20
BLOWN LIMB FROM LIMB.
TWENTY ITALIANS KILLED AND
MANY INJURED.

AhS OSd0 du0 AuJAIo0 1mp1Oy6u dS
Laborers on the Railroad-The Dy.
Mantle Exploded by Blaze Started
by Spark.
TARRYTowN, n. ", May IA gang Of
Italians were working here preparing tracks
and making some improvements on the
road. A freight car containing a large
quantity Of dynamite stood upon side
track not far from the depot. The Italians
were working upon the track. Suddenly an
explosion was heard that shook the ground
like an earthquake and tore up everything
about. The air was filed with flying debris
and fragments Of human bodies, which soon
came down like a patter of hailstones.
People a block Off were thrown to the
ground by the concussion. Glass was
broken in the windows Of houses 200 or
800 yards away.
\ sICKENING SPECTACLE.
When the smoke cleared away there was
a sickening spectacle. Thirty-one men,
principally Italians, lay upon the ground
The car was nowhere to be seen. Portions
of the trucks we're thrown 100 feet away.
Not even the heavy iron wheels remained
road-bed were blown away and great hole
was dug in the ground As soon as it was
known that the danger was over thousand
people rushed to the scene. When they saw
these prostrate bodies they supposed that all
the men had boen killed, aud wild
rumor was started that thirty men had been
killed by the explosion. Doctors came hur-
rying from all parts of the town.
SIX KILLED.
1t was found that only twenty had
been killed ana many wounded.
Nearly all the dead and wounded are Ital-
ians. The crowd devoted itself to moving
the dead and wounded to the depot, where
they were laid in rows. Those who were
killed were horribly mutilated. They
were literally blown to pieces. The
wounded men were shockingly
injured. Some were minus their
arms, others had their legs blown away.
and still others were dismembered in an
equally horrible manner. A number Of the
wounded will probably die. Most of them
could speak little or no English. The Italian
laborers who worked on the road were gem
orally known by numbers. They are hired
by contractors who rarely know their
names when they hire them.
MORE DOCTORS SUMMONED.
Word was telegraphed to Yonkers and
number of physicians hurried at once to the
spot. Among them were Police Surgeon
Swift and Drs. Mehett, Sherman and Miles,
The intention was TO carry the wounded TO
Yonkers and take them to st. Johns and
st. Joseph's hospitals, but the doctors could
get no further than Dobb's Ferry The
track was blocked beyond that point
Hospital ambulances are waiting at the
Yonkers depot for the return of the doctors
with the wounded.
CAUSE OF THE EXPLOSION.
The explosion occurred midway between
IrvIngton and Tarrytown. The Italians
were employed in extending the roadbed.
They had removed the dynamite from the
car and placed it alongside of the
track. They set a blast and the conclusion
of the blast exploded the dynamite. The
explosion tore everything to pieces and to-
tally wrecked the track. Travel is entirely
blockaded between Tarrytown and Irving
ton. All trains have been forced Co come
to a standstill on each side Of the accident.
Surgeons and doctors are attending the
wounded on the spot. The widest excite
ment prevails
TWENTY DEAD.
TARRYTowN, n. Y, May 19, o A. M
The total number Of deaths from the acci-
dent is now placed at twenty. Three have
died since the explosion, ten bodies were
picked up along the track, five were taken
out of the swamp which skirted the
track, and two Italians in a state of
frightened bawilderment were seen to run
to the river and jump in and have not since
been found. Others of the wounded are
likely to die, and it is also probable that the
bodies have not all been found, as an eye
witness says he saw bodies blown from the
car into the river and in every other direc-
ton.
The correct story of the accident is prob
ably the one now told. The engine and one
fiat car we're conveying load Of Italians
and twenty-four cases of dynamite, each
containing fifty pounds. The Italians we're
being taken to a section Of the road where
third track was being laid. A coil Of rope
lay on the front truck of the engine.
FIRED BY A SPARK.
Just as the train was passing Holmes
Point, midway between 1arrytown and
Irvington, a spark from locomotive ig-
nited the coil of rope. The moving train
| famed the flames, and before the Italians
realized their danger one of the packages of
dynamite exploded. One man on the train,
! who saw the danger, jumpe1 from the car
aud fell under the wheels and was killed.
A few Others tufnbled off and saved
their lives, but all were injured. The next
| moment there was a rumbling noise, a
dense cloud Of smoke, and flying mass
shot up into the air Some Of the killed and
| injured were train men aud not Italians.
| They included brakemen, timekespers, con-
ductor, engineer and fireman. Some Of the
Injured were then taken to hospitals In
| Yonkers and others TO New York city. The
| locomotive and fiat car were blown to
pieces. the only parts of the engine left
! being the trucks and tender.
AN EXPRESS TRAINS NARROW ESCAPE.
About three minutes before the explosion
occurred, the Chicago limited express, hav-
Ing on board many passengers, passed this
| point. The force of the explosion was
| heard and felt as far down the river as
Yonkers and Spuy ten Devil and uD the river
as far as Peekskill. Windows we're broken
in Irvington. Dobb's Ferry and the villages
surrounding Tarrytown. The force of the
| explosion was also felt across the river at
| Nyack, where buildings were shaken and
windows broken. La Tarrytown and Dobb's
| Ferry many clocks in public and private
buildings were stopped.
A PANIC IN A SCHOOL.
In the high school at Tarrytown q portion
Of the ceiling was knocked down and a
panic ensued among the pupils. The school
building was shaken violently and the
scholars thought that an earthquake hal
occurred. The pupils began 10 run out Of
their class rooms. and the teachers with diff
| fculty prevented a stampede. The scene OF
the accident Is ono OF the most beautiful
points on the banks OF the Hudson. IL ls di-
rectly In front Of the house OF Richard Hoe,
the printing press inventor. while tho house
Of Elliott +. Shepherd and the residence Of
Millionaire Rockefeller are not far away.
/