The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-22

came running out, terror-strlckeh, some of them slightly injured, many or them fainted in the street. The croWu surged around them. and it was With difficulty that the fainting girls ana women were taken out of the surglhs mass and carried to the grass across the street, where they were resusciat- ed.
 No. 2's engine was the first fire en- zine to arrive upon the scene and was soon followed by others. Th' enslnas were not needed, however, as the flames were extinguished by the workmen and firemen by buckets and small hose pipes. .f
 The police acted promptly after being informed of the explosion, and the Grand avenue patrol wagon dashed across town picking up officers Wher- ever they could be found. Within a half hour after the explosion forty po- licemen were on the scene and soon had the crowd under control so far as was possible in great excitement and confusion. Officers were stationed at every gate leading into the cartridge department, and as gently as possible they turned away and kept out the agontzed parents and other relatives seeking news of those who worked in the shop, and who, they feared, were among the killed or wounded.
 The police and hospital ambulances arrived on the scene almost simultane- ously soon after the explosion. Tn the room in which the explosion occurred an awful scene met the gaze of the am- a r1n a nit ctr on the floor, lay six dead bodies, black ened and burned almost beyond recog- nition while near by were the injured ones, some writhing in their death ago. nies. Men with blackened faces and blood streaming from slight flesh wounds which they had received in the explosion were rushing about, some Of them In dazed condition and others seeking to alleviate the suffering of the injured and to extricate the dead. On the floor, beside the dead and wounded, lay several girls who had. tainted from the terrible shock. Thick black smoke lowered over the scene, and altogether the horror of the surroundings can be better imagined than told
 When the ambulances came out with
 their glrastly loads the crowds surged up close to them, and the anxious ones
 sought to recognize the forms of the
 dead. This they were unable to do,
 even if the bodies were unrecogniza-
 ble, as they were covered with canvas
 sheets. Previous to being, loaded into
 the ambulances the bodies, all terribly
 mutilated, were taken from the build-
 ing on improvised stretchers and laid
 beside brick building just across the
 driveway from the loading room, so
 that they would not hinder the work
 of rescuing others. z Physicians had al-
 ready been summoned from all quar-
 ters and were prompt to respond, Dr.
 J. F.. Stetson, Dr. Baldwin, Dr. Gaynor,
 Dr. Cook and Dr. Hotchkiss soon arriv- ing.
 The six bodies of those already dead
 were soon recovered, but the search
 among the debris for others went on
 for some time, as rumors were flying
 about that several others had been
 killed
 The two most seriously injured
 were Edward Bardoff and his brother
 George. The former was terribly
 burned and mangled a large hole being
 torn in his side and large piece of flesh being torn off his hip. He was found by fireman, and as he was raised he stood up for a. moment and said, q guess I am done for" He then sank down unconscious. The phy- sicians after examining him saw that he could not live. He was taken to the hospital, where he expired at 1:15 yes- terday afternoon.
 George Bardoff suffered fracture of the left forearm and one of his eyes was blown out He was also badly
 bruised and burned, but will probably
 recover. He was resting quite com fortably at the hospital last night. The father of the two boys is Angus Bar doff, a tailor, who is employed at Cor
 bins tailoring establishment on Chapel street.
 The building in which the explosion
 occurred in a considerable distance from the priming department and the | mixing room, where previous explosions have occurred. Loading machines of the type of the one which exploded
 have been used in the factory for twen- ty years, with improvements from time to time. In the room are machines to load rifle cartridges and shot cartridges and It was one of the latter which ex- ploded. About 150 persons were work | ing in the room at the time the explo- l sion occurred, and of that number about 100 were girls and women. The most | remarkable fact about the explosion was that it's force was confined to q very small area, in all not exceeding thirty feet, while machines next to the one which exploded were unlnjured and persons standing only two or three feet from those instantly killed were not | harmed. The force of the concussion seems to have spread towards the side l of the building, as the south wall, back
 of the machine which exploded, was blown out and also large portion of the north wall twenty feet away. There is in the room an automatic contrivance by means of which, when | ever an explosion occurs, water is al once turned into the powder flnnels of the other machines, and to this is prob ably due the fact that other machines | were not exploded by the concussion | It is not probable that the explosion | was caused by any clogging of the l powder in the machine, as each machine | Is cleaned every half hour, and also i every night after having been shut down for the day. Each machine has | a large funnel made of half inch iron and in this funnel, which has an open