The San Francisco call., 1897-10-19

Twenty Fourth street and Treat
avenue.
INJURED.
Amelia Hamilton of 5S12 Mis-.
sion street, badly burned and cut
about the hands and face.
Blanche Barber of 1902 Dolores
street, slightly injured on right
shoulder by piece of flying timber.
Emma Steffens, Ninth street, be-
tween Bryant and Brannan, hand
burned.
Annie Flanagan, all cut up, Sc.
we're cut across the nose and hair
singed.
Nora Murphy of Ocean View,
injured internally.
Mary Amsler of Ocean View,
right elbow dislocated, hands
burned and hair singed.
William Tregay, Ocean View,
bone in ankle broken and badly
shaken up.
William Baldwin, badly burned
about the hands.
Louis, Chinese boss, badly burned
about the hands and face.
Four other Chinese slightly in
jured.
The California Fuse Works, located on
the San lose road. between Ocean View
and Colma, in San Mateo County, blew
UP yesterday afternoon at $40 O'Clock,
killing one girl, Mary Beck, and seriously
injuring thirteen other people.
The buildings and contents, estimated
to be worth 100000, were totally de-
stroyed. The damage was caused by the
dropping of hot incandescent bulb on
some loose powder.
The plant OF the California Fuse Works
consisted of SIX buildings, which stood
short distance from the San Mateo electric
road.
The main building, where the fuses were
manufactured. was 120 by 100 feet. It was
a two-story affair. the lower part being oc-
cupied by the machinery, shafting, steam
pipes for drying. etc. At the rear end
and separated from it by partition
was the boiler-room. The engine-room
was above this latter and on the
main floor. In front of this building was
a one-story structure, which contained
four rooms and was used as an office and
dressing-rooms for the girls employed at
r.
where the fuses were packed, and short
distance behind the warehouse was the
Chinese bunkhouse.
A short distance TO the right was large
coalhouse containing about seventy-fve
tons of coal. The other building was a
powder magazine, and held between four
ana five tons of black powder. 1t was
dug-out, and was the only building of the
entire plant that was saved. 1t was To-
Gated about seventy five yards to the rear,
its distance adding to its safety.
At the time of the explosion there were
in the spinning-room of the main build
ing, which ran the length of it, Mary
Beck, James Eva one of the proprietors,
and i've Cinnamon. 1t was in this room
that the explosion took place. 1t was
here that the powder was placed in the
tape and rolled into fuse. There was
more or less powder spilled on the floor,
and it was this powder igniting The rest
that was the cause of the ex plosion.
There were three rooms leading off from
the spinning-room. One of these was
what is called the iape1oom. and is the
place where the tape was wound On the
spools AT the time OF the disaster there
were six girls at work in the taperoom.
They were: Amelia Hamilton, Blanche
Barber, Emma Steffeas, Annie Flanagan,
Nora Murphy and Mary Amsler.
Next to the taperoom was the tarroom,
and in this room the Chinese were at
work. The other room was known as the
whiteroom and was unoccupied when the
building blew up.
Katie Foy, Lizzie Beck, Mary and Mag.
gle Callahan and an Italian girl known
as Virginia were in the warehouse, and
they esca ped without injury.
The buildings were ali of wood and were
completed last March, when the plant
from the old factory at Eleventh and