Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-08-08

| Force of the Explosion Was Terrific
! Forty-elght Persons Who Sustained In
| juries Are Being Treated at Hospitals.
Philadelphia, Pa, Aug. 6.-Six
4 persons, all colored, are known to be
dead as result of the teri ible gasoline
explosion, last night, which tore to
atoms six buildings on Locust strest
between Tenth and Eleventh streets
and wrecked over o score of others. Az
to the number that yet remain in the
ruins of the wrecked buildings all is
mere speculation. Only one of the six
that perished has been identified. This
is ANNE Harris. a child foui years old,
who lived at No. 1013 locnst street,
on the opposite side of the street from
1 the building in which the explosion
occurred. The unidentified dead are
A child about two years of age, two
/ women, man at the Pennsy lvania
| Hospital and q man at the Jefferson
Hospital.
1t was Z O'Clock this morning before
the tiremen, after working hard all
night, had the smouldering ruins
sufficiently cooled off to enable them to
begin search for the bodies which
are supposed to be beneath the wrecked
buildings. Their attention was first
directed to No. 1913 Locust street, the
building occupied by Albert d. Noun
tain, grocer. In this building, at
the time of the explosion, there were
Robert and Dalton Mountain and
Lizzie Mountain, children o. the pro-
prietor of the store. None of them has
been accounted for. No. l0l6 Locust
street was occupied by Patrick Quigley
rs a grocery. Quigley, his wife, three
children and an unole we're in the
building when the explosion occurred.
The members of this family thus far
accounted for are Quigley and his
| uncle. At No. 1014 Locust street,
| George McClenny also conducted a
small grocery. It is here that the ex-
plosion IS thought to have occurred.
| The building was occupied by Mo
| Clenny, his wife, clerk and servant.
At the time of the disaster, Mrs. Mo.
Clenny was visiting in West Fhiladel.
| phia, and the others are thought to
have been in the building. Where the
| greatest number perished is at No. 1912
| Locust street. Here, William Jones,
| c1lored, conducted boardinghouse.
| He had score of boarders, but the
number in the building at the time
cannot he learned positively. The police
| officials say, however, that it is proba-
| BILE that half q dozen bodies will be
taken from the debris of til is building
alone. At No. 1910 Locust street, nj.
Rosenthal, wife and five children lived.
They escaped with broken limbs and
contusions, but the building was com.
pletely wrecked. In the Rosenthal
home was a bosrder named Frank
| Schmidt. He was seated at third
story window. reading, when the ex-
plosion occurred Schmidt was blown
through the window, and landed on
the top of stable 40 feet from the
wrecked buildings. He escaped with
few bruises. Forty eight persons,
all told, were taken to the two hospitals
close at hand. OF this number, six are
| probably fatally injured and 2S are
suffering from fractured limbs and
burns, while the injuries of the others
consist of slight cuts from flying debris.
The block where the explosion oc-
Cured is in section populated largely
by colored persons. The building in
which the explosion is supposed to
have occurred IS in the centre of the
group of houses situated between Alder
and Warnock streets, small thorough.
fares running parallel with Tenth
| street. In this space, ON the south side
of Locust street, the demolition is COM
plete, willis on the opposite side of the
street, not pane of glass nor door
remained intact. The force Of the ex.
Ilosion was terrific. Huge p!ateglass
windows in the building occupied by
the Western Saving Fund, which is
more than block from where the dis
aster occurred, were broken intu thou
sands of pieces, while scarcely house
or store within radius of block es-
capped broken windows or shattered
doors.
The scene at thes wrsck and at the
hospitals this morning was sickening.
Persons who had relatives and friends
living In the wrecked structures were
standing about, weeping and almost
distracted, hoping that their loved ones
may have escaped a terrible death, but
fearful of the worst.
The work of searching 10 the ruins
is necessarily slow. There IS steady
downpour of rain, which makes the
debris hard to handle.
The property loss will amount to
about S75, 600, on which there is small
insurance.
ANOTHER BODY FOUND.
One body, that Of colored man,
about 40 years of age, had been re-
covered from the debris up to noon.
The body was found in front of No.
1912 Locust street, the boardiDghouse
where, it is believed, several other
bodies will be found.
A II OF the Mountain family have been
accounted for with the exception of the
sister, whose body is undoubtedly in
the debris.
No additional deaths have occurred
at either of the hospitals. The known
dead now number seven.
Nickerson-H -Humphry Wedding.