The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-10-31
AN ENQUIRY In PROGRESS
Investigation of the New York
Explosion Begun.
Official List of the Missing Now In
eIudes Twenty-efght Names-OnIy
the Fragments OF Two Bodies Thus
Far Recovered-SpeeuIati as to
Cause of the Drus House Disaster.

NEW YORK, Oct. 31.-An enquiry into
the cause of the disastrous explosion at
Tarrant- Drug Plant was begun at FIRE
headquarters today.
The investigation is being conducted by
Fire Marshal Seery. Several witnesses who
had been subpoenaed were on hand as ear
ly as $50 o'clock. Alexander E. Phillips,
engineer of the Tarrant Building. was net
among those present at II o'clock. At least
dozen witnesses in all had been sum
moned- Il was said that Phillips would
probably be present later, also Mr.. Main,
President Of the Tarrant Company: Secre-
tary Allen. and several of his employees.
The hearing was conducted in the fire
marshal's private room, and the public was
not admitted. Chief Croker of the fire
department said this morning that he had
sent out a number of men to inspect all
the drug houses in the city TO see whether
or not they collected more explosives than
was allowed under their licenses. He ad-
mitted that report had come to him that
one large drug house contained even more
explosive material than was stored in the
The official list of missing now contains
twenty-six names.
President Main. of Tarrant & Co, said
this morning: i know that there was a
stock of general drugs in the building and
know that in drug house fires explo-
sions OF some sort invariably take place
/ am not aware that any Of the firms
storing in the building was violating the
law. am positive that there was moth
ing like enough perfumery OF alcohol to
have caused the explosion We are as
| anxious as any ore to know the cause
of the disaster. and are giving all the help
we can in the investigation going on TO-
day at police headquarters"
Only the fragments OF two bodies have
been found by the wreckers On the fire
ruins along Warren Street and these dis
coyeries were made shortly before and
shortly after midnight. The list of miss
ing is less than thirty and further tota!
redGstion is expected before night II was
thought that new names might be added,
but il was believed that for every new
name put on The list. two might be taken
off. as was the case yesterday.
The scores OF iaborers engaged in clear
ing away the piles OF debris. seemed TO
have made little effective impression on the
ruins. Seven streams Of water were to-
day playing On the places which still smok-
ed. Policemen swarmed in the streets.
about the centre OF the area that attracted
deal OF morbid interest and justiiable
curiosity.
f! Hundreds OF laborers. wearing the brass
| tags Of contractors. got ii the way OF the
: oEnparatively few workers whose ranks
/ they were waiting for = chance to join,
! and whose work they hindered SO fre-
1 quently that the police had to drive them
/ back
| There was preponderance Of belief to-
! day in the theory that the quantities of
| chlorate OF potash stored IN upper floors
| of the Tarrant Building had been so af-
! i
under certain conditions which were pos
! sible in the fire with the quantities OF
other drugs and chemicals in the place.
The theory that the explosions were di-
rectIy attributable to alcohol, which Tar
rant & Co used in preparing perfumes and
| in other work as manufacturing chemists,
| found favor also.
| A statement made yesterday by Treas
urer Allen, of Tarrant & Co., was COM
mented upon appFovingly. He said that
no one could tell what would happen when
| a dTugshOp and a chemical storehouse
| took fire. Many compounds. he said. harm
| less in themselves might be SO affected
| by the flames and heat as TO produce re-
suits unguessed by chemists and possibly
incapable Of determination
! Chief Murray, of the Bureau of Com
| bustibIes, says that chlorate of potash is
i regarded as highly explosive. Chemists
| explain that heat frees oxygen from
| chlofate OF potash, leaving potaSS un
! chloride, and. il d fluid containing hydro
gen, comes into contact with potassium
! chloride, the chloride which is one part
| of the potassium chloride, comb nss with
| the hydrogen, which expiodss on coming
| into contact with oxygen. Water alone,
| chemists say, needed only 10 have sup
| piled its hydrogen 10 the potassium
| chloride found in the Tarrant ire to have
| furnished ali that was lacking for explo-
| sions
Every officer of the Tarrant firm who
| mas been seen has declared that the per-
! nit to keep combustibles had not been
| violated. The explosives the firm had on
| hand, it is asserted, were in legal quan>i-
| ties, and stored in authorized places
! Partial ignorance as 10 what other drug
5! firms had on store in the upper floors of
the building has been professed by the
| Tarrant officers pending an examination OF
the books in the safe. McKesson & Rob-
bins had forty-five kegs OF chlorate of pot
ash, and Rogers & Pyatt had large guam
tity OF the same stuff in the building
Harshaw. Fuller & Gordon had nearly a ton
of sulphur The TarraDt chemists say that
neither sulphur nor chiorate Of potash is,
il itself explosive.
The debris viii not be cleared away for
| weeks and no one could be found today
who was willing to estimate the length of
time it would take TO open Warren Street
for traffic. Between Greenwich and War
ren Streets there was on Warren today
a dense mass OF building material higher
| than what had been the fist stories of the
structure which they had composed Half
the block TO the north OF Warren Street
was one steaming. smoking level waste.