Grand Rapids herald. [volume] (Grand Rapids, Mich.) 1892-1959, 1892-04-20
RUIN In IT'S WAKE
The Awful Work Of a Powder
Explosion
DAMAGE AND LOSS OF LIFE
In tina Explosion ct TIE American Foreit
Wosks-The Victims Torn %
Fragments.

MOUNT ARLINGTON. y. j., April 10
The works OF the American Forcite
Powder Company On the shores Of Lake
hopatcong, about . mile below here.
blew up at about s O'Clock Monday
afternoon and seven men were blown
TO atoms- The names of i've OF the
men killed are as follows:
j. d. Smith, superintendent OF the
works. married and leaves widow and
one child; Jacob Carlson. aged SIS; mar
ried and leaves i've children; William
Pierce, aged 2s, married and leaves a
widow and two children; James vagn.
aged 20, unmarried; A. Johnson, aged
80, unmarried: another body has been
recognized as that of Swede whose
name is unknown.
Two men were injured. One of them.
benjamin. Cashmere, is SO terribly
burned and mangled that he will prob
ably die.
Five Buildings shattered.
The explosion occurred few miu-
utes after 5 O'Clock. and five buildings
were shattered. What caused the ex-
plosion viii never be known. The
works of the company consisted of
number of small buildings. scat
tered at about distance Of
500 feet from each other. Most
of the buildings were used in the
mixing process, and only one man was
employed in each. The other build
ings, which stand farther away from
the lake on the side of the mountain,
are used for the storage of dynamite,
nitro-glycerine and detonators. The
works have frequently been the scenes
of explosions, but never to such an ex
tent as on this occasion.
Panic Among the workmen.
The explosion occurred while all the
men were At work and caused a panic.
The men working in buildings distant
from those blown up first heard a roar
and the buildings in which they were
working shook and trembled for fully
a MINUTE; then came an explo-
sion which sounded louder than
the simultaneous explosion of half
a dozen Of the largest cannon. The
startled men rushed from their work
and saw a cloud Of dust and smoke fly
ing through the air near the lower part
of the company's grounds. They knew
in a moment what had happened. and
fearing the conclusion might set OF
the explosives in the other buildings
they took to their heels and ran for the
mountain eide.
Flames in tho wrecksso.
After few moments, when they saw
that TO farther danger was imminent,
they cautiously advanced to the scene
of the explosion. The wreckage was
already ON fire and was burning
fercely. The men went to work at
once to overhaul the wreck in search
of the men who had been
in the ruined buildings. Within a
few minutes they succeeded in finding
two men, both of whom were badly in
jured. These were quickly removed to
the company's Office and doctor was
sent for. Meanwhile the company's
fire apparatus was run out and water
As soen as the flames were under con-
troll she roll of the cempany's EN-
ployes was called. and it was found that
seven were missing.
Search for the Dead.
A search for the bodies was then be-
gun. The searchcrs were mostly old
employees of the company, and knew
that in case like the present it was
useless to search among the ruins.
They found fragments of fcsh and
bones scattered over several acres of
ground. In fact, they found $50 pounds
of flesh and bone. which is all that re-
mains Of the bodies of the victims.
What could be found was gathered up
In boxes and will be buried by the CON-
pany.
Nothing to Show Cause.
A representative of the company who
was seen after the explosion said that
il would be impossible to ascertain
what caused the explosion. The COM
pany had never expected that such a
big explosion could occur. The build
ings being separate and each indie
pendent of the other, it was seldom
that more than one mans life
was in danger. All the ex-
plosions of tie past had been
In the houses used for mixing
the explosives and the store-rooms
had never before been affected. When
asked II an investigation would be made
he said IL was almost useless TO held
one. The explosion had left little Of
the buildings. 1t would be impossible
to ascertain how the explosion occurred
or even the simplest thing about it.
There was one man who. 1t Is possible,
might have been able to have told the
| story, but he was the man at whose
bench the first explosion happened and