The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1897-03-27
THREE BLOWN
TO ATOMS !
Terrific Explosion of NitrOglycerin Near
Philadelphia.
THE COECUSSION FELT FOR MILES
The Mutilated Remains Of the victims
Gathered UP in Two Buckets-Ten Per-
sons Injured But Not Seriously.
More Serious Loss Of Life
Narrowly Averted.

Philadelphia, March 21.-Three men
were blown to atoms and ten persons.
including two women, injured by an
explosion of nitroglycerin at the Re
pauno Chemical works, near this city,
yesterday. The dead are: James Ham
lltou, aged 80 years; Charles Wright.
aged 25, and j. T. Stiles, aged rs. All
were married.
The injured are John Langford will
lam Gardiner, William Tussey, John
jefferson, Peter Fellman, John Will
Jams, Joseph Donnelly, Charles Ma
deira, Lizzie McGinnis and Emma
Bates, The injuries were sustained
mainly from the force Of the concus-
sion or from broken glass. They are
not serious.
The works are situated on the New
Jersey side of the Delaware river one
and one-half miles from Gibbstown.
The dead men belonged in Paulsboro,
and the injured live I'm Gibbstown. All
were employed in the works, the wo-
men in the casting house. The ex-
plosion occurred in either the weigh
ing or the separating house both Of
which were blown to splinters. 1t was
at 1924 o'clock, when the workmen
were returning from dinner. Most Of
them had not yet reached their posts,
or the loss of life would probably have
been greater
The concussion was felt for miles
around, and a plasterer at work on
a scaffolding not far from the ground,
three quarters of a mile away, was
thrown off. The windows in nearly
every house on the conpany's grounds
were broken. After the excitement had
to some extent subsided guards We're
dispatched to all parts of the grounds,
and outsiders were excluded from the
company's territory. Meanwhile a
corps Of men was put to work among
the ruins of the two buildings to ascer-
tain the extent of the disaster. After
much search the mutilated remains of
| the three victims We're gathered into
/ two buckets Wright was identified by
/ a ring on one of the fingers. and Stiles
] by a pair of broad shoulders, from
/ which the head as well as the lower
/ part of the body had been torn.
The explosion was of such terrific
force that, besides destroying the two
houses, it bore a hole fully so feet long
and 25 feet wide in the ground upon
which they had stood.
Information of the details Of the ac-
cident. was refused by everybody con
learned. however, that stiles was ir
the separating house and Hamilton in
the Weighing house when the explosion
occurred. Wrghts duties kept him
going from one to the other Of the
buildings, and he may have been in
either The cause is assigned to eX-
cessively high temperature in one OF
the houses, quantities of the explosive
being IN both at times.
The company is engaged in the man
ufacture of dynamite, which necessi-
tates the handling of nitroglycerin
wood pulp and nitrate of soda. Its
plant covers about 600 acres, and, in
consequence of the character of the
work carried on is almost completely
isolated from any habitaton. Tn,
plant comprises about 10 separate small
frame and iron buildings, most o
them one story in height Each is use'
for a distinct department of the works
on March "a, 1884, an explosion oc
Cured by which nearly the entire plan
was destroyed and six men were killed
That explosion was caused by tn
generation Of nitric acid Of eXcessiv
heat The killed were Lamont Dupont
then president of the company; Waite
N Hill, superintendent; Edward Nor
cross, compounder of nitric acid; A.
Ackerman. of st. Louis, a travelling
representative of the company ant
two worlmen. Mr., Dupont was of tn
third generation of a family famou
since the beginning of the presen
r century for the manufacture of eXplo
sives He was the second Of the fam
ily to meet death at the works, tn
first being Irene Dupont, who was kill
I ed 25 years ago.