Fairhaven herald. [volume] (Fairhaven, Wash.) 1890-????, 1892-05-24
A TERRIFIC EXPLOSION
A Powder Magazine at Dead
mans Point Blows up With
Appalling Force
Both Cities Shaken up and
Windows Fractured Two
Miles Away
Explosion Felt at Anacortes--
Narrow Escape of Po-
lice Officers

Nearly every inhabitant Of the
Bellingham bay cities was awakened
early yesterday morning by most
appalling explosion. So terrific was the
detonation that many were terrified
with the belief that such an awful dis
turbance must be caused by some
mighty upheaval of the earth's crust.
Immediately afterward there was a
phantom party ia every house on the
Bay, Ten thousand people sprang out
of bed and rushed TO the windows
Ghostly forms could be seen looking
apprehensively from every bedroom.
Those who looked in the direction of
Deadman's point saw "a mighty column
of dense smoke rising from beyond the
point ia the clear, still, morning
atmosphere to u height Of over IA
thousand feet. II was caused by the
explosion of lO2 fifty-pound cases of
No 2. giant powder stored in A. l..
Mccoy & Co.'s powder house, causing
u damage Of not less than 5000.
About $3.50 O'Clock yesterday morn
ing Officers Marshall and Sloan saw II
blaze rising over Deadman's point
Knowing that there was nothing there
to burn but few cheap shacks, it was
not thought worth while 10 sound "a
fire alarm. They Immediately started
for the fire. Remembering that there
had been powder house la that viciH-
ity they went first to Ocean dock to
inquire Of William Filing about it. He
was under the impression that the
powder had been removed and in
formed them that there was none there.
They then went around 10 the fire. 1t
originated in shack belong
ing to two japanese fishermen,
who went away Sunday. When the
Off ers arrived there this shack
was well nigh consumed, and the
flames had spread TO the adjacent
shack-McCoy's powder house. The
roof was all ablaze, and the end Of the
building had burned out. Marshall
and Sloan went up To the burning pow
der house and looked through the
cracks to see what there was i'm it.
They saw burning shingles falling down
upon the sleeping giant. While they
were thus engaged Filing had become
thoroughly awake and dressed, and
happened To think of McCoy's powder.
He called to the officers from the wharf
and asked IL there was paddock on
the door. They told him there was.
'"1hen get away from there, quick!
McCOy's powder is i'm there!"
They took his word for it, and flew
around the point and out toward the
end of the wharf, nearly TO the ware
house. Then commenced series Of
internal flashes, which lasted perhaps
half minute, and then one mighty
explosion like the crack of doom, rend-
ing heaven and earth, followed by ter
rifle reverberations from Lummi and
Orcas and Chuckanut. The explosion
was followed by hail storm Of sticks
and stones, falling for many seconds,
Gt seemed minutes TO the oflicers). Of
ficer Sloan says that he thought that
his diaphragm was being drawn out Of
his throat. The explosion, carrying
everything al0ft, created mighty
vacuum which drew the atmosphere
from all directions TO the Internal vOr-
tex. This vacuum sucked about 81, 1000
worth of glass out Of buildings in Fair
haven and New Whatoom. In the i'm
mediate vicinity Of the explosion the
beach was swept clean and everything
drawn up in the fiery cyclone. Two
shacks, one on each side, were demol-
ished, and not vestigc Of them re-
mains. This mighty air pump sucked
a window out Of the Hubbard block on
Thirteenth and ] streets, New What
com, over two miles away. The CORFU
gated iron siding of the Fairhaven
foundry was almost entirely removed
on the west side. The large sliding
doors Of the Ocean dock warehouse
were torn off, ~ were also the large
doors Of the Great Northern depot.
The doors Of the cold storage house
were splintered and torn from
the hinges. The windows of
the Monogram saloon and
the Northern hotel were torn out. sash
and all. The glass on both sides of
Harris avenue, as far up IA Twelfth
street, is almost entirely broken. The
entire front Of Bradley's restaurant was
pulled out, and much crockery inside
was fractured. In EnRberg q Darl-
ing's drug store S25 worth Of bottles on
shelves were thrown down and broken.
The most expensive break was the
breaking OF about 500 worth Of glass
In The Fairhaven hotel Three large
French plate windows I'm the dining
room, one in the First National bank,
large transom and several bedroom
windows were crashed. About $f00
worth was broken out Of the Thistle
block. A large plate window was
broken out Of g. w. Waldron's Tenth
street block. His bank building, how
ever containing the IarOest niafe oIaaa
on the Bay, went through the explo-
sion without tremor. The entire
double front Of the Hotel Vendome, on
Twelfth street, was destroyed. A front
was broken out Of the Montezuma.
The force Of the explosion seemed 10
reach out each way from Harris on
Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth
streets, demolishing nearly all the glass