New-York tribune., 1901-09-13
EXPLOSION KILLS FIVE.
TWO OF THE SCORES INJURED AT AN
OAKLAND POWDER PLANT WILL
PROBABLY DIE.

PROBABLY DIE
Paterson, N. j. Sept. Il (SpeciaD-Five men
were blown to pieces two were so severely in
jured that they expected to die, and scores
were hurt by combined boiler and powder ex-
posion at the American "E. c." and Schultze
Gun Powder Company's plant at Oakland. n. j.,
at 1:24 p. m yesterday.
THE DEAD.
CURRIE. Arthur. twenty-five years old, driver un-
dn's Hotel. leaves widowed mother
wdoW W@" an@ eight fF shdsn old an engineer leaves
VAN BIARCOM. twenty years old, a OF Oakland
wEYBI.E. Harrison. years Old driver. oak
THE INJURED.
BARNES. Bartholomew, twenty-two years old. burned
and children.
FARRELL John. thlrty-fve years old roofer bruised
back broken. and viii probably die: leaves widow
MMoNEE. Abram. forty years old carpenter. burned
ocoNYoR. John. thirtynye old roofer. burned
TITUS Frank. engineer brother Of dead man
TITUS Frederick. fifteen old badly
TITS5 St5aen 5ohn sixteen years old badly burned 's'
TITUS William burned on face and banda
TITUS William thirteen old badly burned bones
broken.
The cause of the explosion is a mystery. c. T..
Baldwin. who was in charge of the work at the
time of the explosion refused TO give ANY IN
formation. Captain Money. the American man
ager for the company, and Superintendent
Hawkins, were absent The workmen saw that
the boiler exploded first and that the concus-
sion from this started the explosions In the
storage room. mixing house and the magazine
About one thousand pounds OF the strongest
ind of
The workmen had gathered near the principal
group of buildings in the works tust after lunch
con. There about fifty Of them Had I,
been six minutes later they would have beeu
scattered over the works and only five or six
would have been near the scene of the explosion
The works cover many acres along the Ramapo
River. The boiler house the mixing house the
magazine 1nd the storage house form a erour
In the shape of a diamond. They are about
thlrty feet apart The men We're sitting or
ounging about when a noise was heard Before
any one could move this noise grew into a
terrific roar. The air became dark with hurtlinq
objects and columns of black dust and smoke
while the din deafened those who survived 60
that they could not hear anything for hours
william Titus. the engineer was standirc
near the boiler house lie was talking 70 var
Blarcom when the explosion rent the air Tn,
engineer was blown past the yourg man and
'N''"H Nioiehtly against brick wall, which
was crumbling. The man was instantly killed
van Blarcom and De Pont who were standing
near TITUS were blown against the boiler house
distance OF twenty feet Van Blarcom's body
was recovered, but only pieces OF De Pont's
body were found. Arthur Currie and Harrison
"eyble' the teamsters sitting near their
wagons. They were blown against the hoiler
mousse and instantly killed Their horses wore
also killed John Farrell and John OConno.
Ihe rooIefs were working at the time on the
how,
up INTO the air a distance they think ot
twenty or thirty feet. They landed with the
debris of mortar, bricks and wood much shaker
up and hardly conscious.
Villagers from Oakland soon gathered arounl
the works knowing from experience what haC
happened. Mr. Baldwin had closed the entranc,
10 the works except to number of a bile bodieC
men whom he employed to assist In extricatins
the wounded and tie dead from the debris DIR
Hamilton was the scene in less than ter
minutes after the explosion and he worked
hard in attending to the wounded
Especially pathetic the grief of Mrs Titu.
and her sons, three of whom were badly injured
while the lifeess body of the father lay inside
the works
John Weeple, a foreman of the works, denies
that the boiler exploded But he cannot explair
how the explosion occurred.
The boiler house was built of brick The fac
that the roof was blown out while the walls
were left more or less intact lends Credence tC
the theory that the explosion started in the
boiler house. The magazine was of brick while
the storage and mixing houses were of frame
Pieces of iron, timber brick and other debris
were blown thousands of feet around.
Frank Titus made brave rescue of Nellie
Iitterman, fourteen years Old who dis
covered under a mass of brick and ruins and
in danger Of being burned to death. The as
sistant engineer crawled along through the
pulling off the debris from 1he girl brought her
safely out.