The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1895-10-03
FIREWORKS BLOW Up
Mysterious Explosion at
DetWiller & Streets
Greenvil1e Fac
tory.
B0MARDED WITH ROMAN CANDLES
Men and Boys Blinded By Smoke
Rush Madly About the Burn
ing Building --Firemen's
Hard Work.

A disastrous fire broke out at a quar-
ter to three o'clock yesterday afternoon
at the plant of the Consolidated Fire
works Company at Fulton and west
Side avenues Greenville. adding another
chapter to the already long list OF fatal-
tiles that have marked the place. Be
| fore the fireworks trust was consum-
mated, the plant was owned by Oct
willer & Street, the senior member OIL
the firm being Finance COMMISSIONS
Detwiller. who still retains the manage
ment. The plant covers several acres
of sandy hill land bordering on the MOI
| ris canal and consists of over a score
of detached one and two story frame
buildings. All sorts of pyrotechnlc
wonders are manufactured there, poWaer
and other dangerous explosives heces-
sarily entering into their manufacture.
A large number of people. many of
them young boys and girls, are employed
in the works. Shop No. IT, where yester-
days blaze started. was situated near
| the canal bank. -Four men and four
bows were employed there filling Roman
candles with powder and balls. In filling
| the candles a machine is employed to
ram down the charges of powder. One
of the men operates this machine. The
| employees were busy at work yesterday
| afternoon when suddenly there was g
| ash of flame in the vicinity of the ma
| chine and in less than ten seconds the
entire building was ablaze. The flames
| sprang up so quickly that the employ
| es did not have time to reach the door
way.
BLINDED BY SMOKE.
Blinded and almost suffocated by the
| smoke they CROPPED about for an exit
The Roman candles becoming ignited,
sent blazing balls in every dlrecUlon, ano
| many of these hit the panic stricken en-
ployes, burning them severely. Three OF
the men. including the operator OF the
machine, managed to escape before the
Roman candles began their deadly work.
The other man, Cornelius Laibold, OF
No. AZ Grand avenue, together with the
four boys, was imprisoned for some
time, but Laibold finally managed to
find the door. and calling to the boys to
follow him, rushed out of the burning
building. As soon as he reached the
outside he fell to the ground exhausted.
The boys staggered out one by n
They all dropped to the ground as
they regained the air. All were horri-
bly, burned. and screamed with pain as
IllCy IL oSOAys
The Roman candles in the meantime
were shooting out of the collapsed build
ing in volleys. The fiery balls struck
the shop at the rear, known as the
mixing shop, where Philip Sanders and
George Herns were employed. The ex-
p~losives in this building were soon ig-
nited and the building reduced to
ashes. A shop over one hundred feet
from shop No.. II, where stars for flower
pots were manufactured. was also fired,
and burned to the ground. Joseph Bauer
and John Meyer, who were employed in
this shop. beat a nasty retreat, and es.
capped with their lives. Sanders and
he-as also escaped from the mixing snop
A LOUD EXPLOSION.
Shortly after the flames communicated
to these buildings there was a loud ex-
plosion which shattered the burning
woodwork in every direction. Althougn
there was considerable explosive materIai
stored in the buildings no explosion oc-
Cured until the flames had eaten through
the walls. To avoid accidents the conf
pany never allowed any great quantity
of powder in the buildings. Nh powder
was left in large cans, which We're hung
on the outside of the building. Whenever
powder was needed the employees would
go to these cans and take a small
quantity. 1t was these cans that caused
the explosions. At the cry Of fire the
employees rushed out of the other budld-
| ings. The girls beat a retreat to a safe
distance, wrung their hands and cried
for brothers or friends whom they pc
lieved TO be imprisoned in the burning
ruins.
Mr.. Clarence Detwiller. son of Com
missioner Detwiller. who was at work in
the office, never gave a thought to
sending in an alarm, but with
able zeal FASTENED to the relief of those
who had been burned. He secured lin
sistance of a number of his worknen
did much to alleviate the sufferings Of
the u~nfortunates; While ne vas q at TINS snS
Mackey. of the Fifth PRECINCT, arrived
upon the scene. and while Shaw FASTENED
to the station house to summon an am
sent in an alarm from box No. g.. This
was half an hour after the fire broke
out. Engines Nos. 3 and 9 and trucks
Nos. 4 and S responded.
TIES.
The -fremen encountered much difficulty
in reaching the plant on account of the
sandy roads. and when the finally ar
rived at the building there was little for
good time and the surgeons found that
all the injured. with the exception of
Laibold, would have to be removes to
not seriously, burned about the face and
body.
William Bechel. fifteen years old, of
burned that he died at Christ Hospital
at one o'clock his morning.
There was not a square IN inch OF
his body that was not burned The halr
was burned off his head and his eye
brows and eye Iashes were also gone.
The other lads We're seriously burned
about the face, hands and body, but
it is believed that they will all recover.
They are:Clifford Mount, Is years old, Of
No. 4s Bergen avenue: Carl Fake, Is
ernest Nelson, IS wears old. of East
Forty-sixth street. New York.
Mr.. Detwiller was unable to assign a
cause for the fire. It is believed that the
| weight Of the machine used in the load
ing Of Roman candle struck the iron
frame and produced a spark. Mr.. Det-
wirlor ~osa 1~et ~i~ht that he was unable
to estimate his LOIS.