New-York tribune., 1901-03-22
GEO. C.FLINT Co.
A3.4s AND ~ WEST 239sT.
NEAR BROADWAY.
FACTORY: ISLAND I56 WEST 9"srResL
EXPLOSION IN TUNNEL.
AIR COMPRESSORS SAVE LIVES OF SIXTY
MEN-FOUR INJURED.

Thrty-sx sticks of dynamite, each weighing
| over IL pound. exploded in the rapid transit
tunnel at One-hund red md eighty -first-st. and
/ Broadway soon after 1 O'Clock yesterday after
| noon. injuring foIr men and knocking apart all
the framework in the tunnel The lives of about
sixty were saved by n pipe from the North
River at One-hundred- md sixty -fifth-st.. which
kept four compressors at work in the tunnel,
clearing out the dirt dust and smoke sufficiently
to give them air enough. The men were in the
tunnel half hour The injured were:
J ysnff S chef G sr he head a5d
body cut. die
one d1s2 zs sioreP S RI badly % cut,
LEFTwICH. William. colored address unknown cut and
NEARY wIL1I,M forty-dve years old. hundred
and seventy hfth-st. and Eleventh ave- seriously
They were taken to the !. Hood Wright Hos
pital.
L. r. McCabe & Bro. OF One-hundred- and
eighty-first-st. and Broadway. have the con-
tract for that part OF the tunnel work They
dug shaft 123 feet deep and then ran heads"
north and south. The heads were fitted with
framework to prevent falling rocks. Each
head ran about hundred feet from the
shaft. At l o'clock sixty men went into the
tunnel in charge of Thomas Hayes. Half went
into the south head"
head" was a box of dynamite sticks, weighing
fifty pounds and some exploders or caps were
with it. \ torch was left near the box. and is
supposed 10 have set the box aire. Butler saw
the box burning
Get out Of here every ono OF you"' he
shouted. he started for the shaft.
Every in the south head" for the
shaft. They were nearing It when the explosion
came. II shook dishes off shelves I'm houses
blocks away and ratified windows in every house
anywhere near. The men who were not thrown
down threw themselves fiat 10 escape suffoca-
tion flying rocks and tmbcrs
Framework was torn out as II Il spider
web and rock flew like shot from a shell. The
| head was hNed with dirt and smoke, and the
north head" was in the same condition. the
men there having either been thrown down by
the explosion fallen of their own accord.
The explosion ripped off the plankine on the
tower at the top Of the shaft. sending planks
fifty feet away. The heavy car resting in the
cage was flung twenty feet away.
As the echoes died away there came the cries
q men shouting for help. hundred and TWEEN
| ty-thTee feet down We're the sixty men.
Crowds made their way TO the scene They
could hear the cries Of the workmen below. and
all felt that many were dead or wounded and
| dying. TWO ambulanCeS were called from the
J. Hood Wright Hospital The reserves Of the
West One hundred and fifty second-st. police
station were called out Among the women in
the crowd were wives Of Some Of the working
men in the tunnel The Workmen managed 10
| repair the car mechanism. and volunteers to 20
down into the shaft called for. James s.
Byers. James Loren Michael Sullivan and Pat
rick MCGOWAN responded
The car containing these four men began "a
descend with smoke and dust still coming from
,he shaft, and the spectators thought they were
taking their lives into their hands The car soon
reappeared 1t was loaded with the four
wounded men. They were quickly taken off and
Byers reported that they We're the only ones
hurt. The crowd broke into a cheer. The car
made half dozen trips and brought up the
other workmen. 4 few have slight bruises.
Ihey told how they had been saved by the air
pumped into the tunnel
The contractors went down into the tunnel
afterward. They found the framework blown
apart but this was the only constructive work
in the tunnel
The injured We're reported 10 he doing nicely
last night