Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1900-11-01
INDIAN HEAD EXPLOSION.
The Flash and Rumble Noticed at
Washington, Wednesday
Night, Explained.
EXPLOSIONS AT THE PROVING STATION.
Several Tons of Powder Gone Up in
Flashes and Some FIimsy Build
ings Destroyed, But No Loss of
Life or m Injury-The Cause
is Not Yet known.

Washington, Oct. 26.-Admiral
O'Neill of the ordnance department
of the navy department received a
telephone message from the proving
ground at Indian Head, reporting
that about ten o'clock Wednesday,, a
fire and several explosions occurred
in one of the filling houses and maya
zines. The of the explosion is
unknown at present, but an inFesti-
CATION is in progress. No other dam
age was done and no one was IN
jured.
Message From Lieut.. FuIIinwider.
Inis message was received by adj
miral ONeill from Lieut.. Fullln-
wider, who is second in command at
Indian Head. AT the time he sent it
Lieut.. Strauss, the commandant at
the proving ground, was on his way
to Washington on the proving ground
dispatch boat Santa Barbara, to make
his report of the occurrence directly
to headquarters here. AS soon as it
became known officially that no one
had been injured, great relief was ex-
~perienced at h navy department..
"here the Explosion began.
The building where the first ex-
plosion occurred is technically known
as Cartridges" being a place where
the brass shells which are used in the
small caliber rapid-fire guns are hlled
with powder. 1t is distant about half
q mile from the wharf where the
boats land, and from the point where
the armor plate test occurs. Within
n hundred feet on one side, and about
300 feet on the other are two other
buildings, one designated on h Off
cial map Magazine" and the other
marked Ozark"
Used for Powder Storage.
These buildings are used for pow
der storage, and it is not yet posi-
lively known whether they have all
been destroyed or not. If they have,
the loss, as far as buildings is con-
cerned, is slight. They were con-
structed lightly, with a view to avoid
ing confinement of the powder con-
tents, in case of fire. Within the
three buildings were stored about Is
tons OF brown powder and 10 tons of
smokeless powder. The latter, when
not closely confined under pressure,
is not explosive, but creates a vast
fame, and Admiral O'Neill thinks it
was the fire blaze from the burning
smokcless powder which gave rise to
the belief hat a great accident had
occurred.
Not more than a thousand feet dis
tant from the powder houses stand
the residences Of half a dozen en-
ployes at the proving grounds and
their families. None of these people
was injured, a fact accounted for by
the prudence which located the maya
zines in ravines, ~affording the protec-
ton of the encompassing hills to resi-
dences in the vicinity.
Powder Factory Not Endangered.
The big powder factory, represent
ing a large expenditure of govern
ment money, was never in danger
from the fire and explosion. 1t is be-
tween two and three miles distant in
a straight line from the scene of the
disaster with hills lying between.
Admiral O'Neill was about to order
an investigation, when he ascer-
tanned that this already had COM
menced at Indian Head.