The Topeka state journal., 1898-12-23
GAS TANK DISASTER.
Constructor After Examination Says
It Was q Dynamite Explosion.

1t Was a Dynamite Explosion
New York. Dec. s-Mr. William Stacey
of Cincinnati. the well known constructor
of gas tanks. today inspected the ruins of
the immense tank that burst inEeW York
last week, causing the loss Of a number of
lives and enormous damage to property.
This tank contained SO0O,00O gallons of
water and was being tested hydrostatie-
ally when it let go. The cause of the
bursting of the tank has been mystery.
After inspecting the ruins of the big re-
CeptaCle today Mr.. Stacey gave 1t his
opinion that the tank had not burst from
any cause that might be laid to faulty
construction Instead. in his opinion, the
tank had been exploded and dynamite had
been used to accomplish its wreck If
dynamite was not used. MI Stacey is sat
ished that some equally powerful expIOs-
i've was. OF course. the Cincinnati con-
structOr is not prepared to state why the
tank was pUrposely exploded, but it was
stated today that the contractors who
built the tank for the Consolidated Gas
company had been employing what is
Mr.. Stacey built for a Chicago gas com
pany a tank equally as large and of about
tank in this city which let go. The Chi
cagO tank is in a position where lake and
very often ii has TO stand wind of We
loctty Of between so and 50 miles an hour
He said today that the Chicago tank is
good now as it was on the day that he
turned it over to the management of Chi
ruins OF the New York gas tank on his
own account. He was in the city on
other gas business and took advantage OF
an opportunity afforded him to look the
ruins over After several hours spent in
eNamlning the ruins from every point of
view Mr. Stacey enphatically stated that
the tank was blown up He said;
The workmanship the tank was first
class So far as the material used in its
construction is concerned I would not say
positively without some experimental test
that Il was of the best. but everything
leads me to believe that it was The tank
was l1s feet in diameter and 40 feet deep.
II contained four lifts of gas holder of
about the same depth. The tank was of
steel an inch and half thick at the
At the top In building these tanks it is
irSt calculated the amount of strain they
viii have to stand. That learned. usually
tnere Is added for safety from three and
one-half TO four times the required
strength The tank. the ruins of which
class, was about three and one-half times
the needed strength to stand the strain
imposed It was on pile foundation
ABOUT a 1eet below the level of the street.
] found that it bore every evidence of
having been exploded from the bottom.
The tounda ton was all blown out, spread
IN every directiOn, just as was the Maine
IN Havana harbOr. as I have learned from
pictures and descriptions. The great mass
OF steel plates and standards and girders
all fell toward the inside center of the
ruins There IS mass of scrap iron
there five stories high. It did not blow
out and scatter. as would have been the
case had il burst. but there appears to
have been an upheaVal and the wreck is a
compact one The plates on the street
paper instead of steel, and fell instead Of
scattering