Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1902-01-31
DEADLY EXPLOSION.
Rapid Transit Tunnel in New York
Scene of a Disaster.
si1 Men Are Killed and One Hundred
Injured Murray Hi1l Hotel
and other buildings
Damaged.

New York, Jan. 2S.-The reserve sup
ply of high explosives stored at the
Parke avenue shaft of the Rapid Tran
sit tunnel, now in course of construc-
tion, blew up shortly after noon Mon
day. The giant blast killed six per-
sons, injured hundred others and
seriously damaged all the property
reached by the flying debris and the
vibration of the shock. The irregular
square formed by the Murray Hill ho-
tel on the west, the Manhattan eye
and ear hospital and the Grand Union
hotel on the east, and the Grand Cen
trail railroad station on the north, was
the scene of the explosion. The build
ingspamed sustained the greatest dam
age, but the area affected extended
for several blocks in the four direc-
tions from the center.
The victims.
Following is n list of the dead:
Cyrus Adams, cigar man at the Murray
Hill hotel.
James Carr. 32 years, a waiter employed
al the Murray Hill hotel.
Lawrence Hine, aged 20, of Ansona. Conn.
]. Roderick Robinson. of Nelson, b. c.,
n guest at the Murray Hill hotel
Ralpn thompson, usSlStant tHBlHSci
Gall outside reports seem to agree as to his
death. but his body is not reported by the
police or by the hospitals).
Thomas Tubbs, master mechanic for
Contractor Ira A. Shaler.
Killed in the Hotel.
j. Rcderick Robertson, of Nelson, B.
c., was killed by debris hurled with the
force of artillery into Ms room a the
Murray Hill hotel. He was general
manager in Canada for the British CO.
lumbia Gold Fields company. limited,
and a prominent citizen in the COM
munity where he lived. He was
Scotchman. and leaves widow and
four children. He was said to have
been quite wealthy.
The Explosion.
The sunken approach to the street
railway tunnel used by the Madison
avenue line cuts through Park ave-
nue.. and the shaft for the Rapid
Transit subway was run down beside
it at the intersection of East Forty
first street. The street railway APP
proach was housed over with n SUI
perstructure used for the operating
plant OF the Rapid Transit contrac-
tors. Temporary buildings for stor-
age purposes were thrown up against
the superstructure at the mouth of
the shaft. and there the explosion oc-
CURED. 1t tore n great gorge in the
street, demolished the temporary
buildings and part of the superstruc-
ture, and sent mass of earth, splin-
tered timber and twisted iron high in
the air Much of it went battering
against the front of the Murray Hill
hotel. and although the walls and
main structure of that building
stood the shock, nearly every room
in the front of the house was
wrecked. The hotel has been aban-
doned as unsafe.
Other buildings Damaged.
The Manhattan eye and ear hos
pital, on the east side of the avenue,
Jared nearly as bad, and had to be
abandoned by the management. The
Grand Union hotel lost all of its win
dows and glass partitions, and prac-
tically every front window in the
Grand Central station was shattered.
Several Causes Given.
The cause of the explosion and the
quantity of explosives that blew up
are not definitely known. Several
causes have been advanced. One was
that fire started near the powder
room and that Master Mechanic Will
liam Tubbs lost his life in a desper-
ate attempt to quench it before it
reached the deadly fuel. Another
was that ii started from spark
produced by stray current of elec-
tricity. A third placed the blame up
on blast in the tunnel. Still anoth-
er gave gas explosion from elec-
trical contact in the trolley conduit
of the street railway subway. 1t
will probably take an official investi.
cation to reveal the true explanation
Ira A. Shaler, engineer in charge OF
the work at Park avenue; John
Bracken, a foreman, and Martin Nc.
Grath, an assistant foreman, were
placed under arrest and charged with
homicide. William Barclay Parsons
chief engineer of the rapid transit
commission, said that Shaler was one
of the most competent and careful
engineers he ever knew.
Loss May lie Over S1,OOO,0OO.
The damage may exceed $1,000,000
The first estimate on the Murray
Hill hotel placed the loss at 100000
but later the hotel was abandoned as
unsafe. If the building is condemend
the loss on it alone will approach ST.,
100000. The damage to the Grand
Union was estimated at 100000, ani
that to the Manhattan hospital al
$4,000. The loss at the Grand Cen
tral station was entirely in glass, a:
was that of the 100 or more other
buildings affected by the explosion
No estimate was made of the losses
sustained by the Rapid Transit con
tractors.
Executive Session.
Washington, Jan. 2S.-The senate
Monday in executive session received