Richmond planet., 1902-02-01
.RlCAM0Mn-
EXPLOSION IN TUNNEL
Six Killed and Many Injured in
New York Rapid Transit Subway.
SEVERAL BUILDINGS WRECKED

Shaft Of Tunnel ExpoIded. Wreck
Ing Two Hotels, Hospital and Tore
Great Hole In the Street.
New York, Jan. 2S.-The reserve
supply Of high explosives stored at
the Park avenue shaft of the Rapid
Transit tunnel. now in the course of
construction. blew up shortly after
noon. yesterday. The giant blast killed
six persons, injured hundred
others and seriously damaged all the
property reached by the flying debris
and the vibration of the shock
Those killed were:
CYRUS ADAMS, at the Murray Hill
Hotel.
JAMES CARR, go years old.
waiter employed at the Murray Hill
Hotel.
LAWRENCE HINE, 20 years old.
of Ansonia, Conn.
j. RODERlCK ROBERTSON. of
Nelson, B. c., guest at the Murray
Hill Hotel.
RALPH II. THOMPSON, assistan;
engineer.
THOMAS TUBBS, master mechanic
for Contractor Ira A. Shaler.
The irregular square formed by the
Murray Hill Hotel on the west, the
Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital and
the Grand Union Hotel on the east,
and the Grand Central Railroad sta.
tion on the north, was the scene of
the explosion. The buildings named
sustained the greatest damage. but
the area affected extended for several
blocks in the four directions from the
centre.
j. Roderick Robertson, of Nelson,
B. c., was killed by the debris. hurled
with the force OF artillery into his
room at the Murray Hill Hotel He
was general manager in Canada for
the British Columbia Gold Fields
Company, Limited.
The sunken approach to the street
railway tunnel used by the Madison
avenue line cuts through Park avenue,
and the shaft for the Rapid Transit
Subway was run down beside 1t at the
intersection OF East Forty-frst street
The street railway approach was
housed over with superstructure
used for the operating plant of the
Rapid Transit contractors. Temper
ary buildings for storage purposes
were thrown up against the super
structure at the mouth Of the shaft
and there the explosion occurred. 1t
tore "a great gorge in the street, de-
molished the temporary buildings and
part OF the superstructurs, and sent
mass OF earth, splintered timber
and twisted iron high in the air. Much
Of 1t went battering against the front
OF the Murray Hill Hotel, and al
though the walls and main structure
OF that building stood the shock,
nearly every room in the front of the
house was wrecked.
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 practi-
cally every front window in the Grand
Central Station was shattered. The
great clocks on its front towers we're
blown from their cases. Thousands
| OF windows. some of them seven
blocks from the tunnel shaft, fell in
! fragments. 1t was the shower of
broken glass and falling debris that
! Injured the greatest number. Tor
rents of water from broken mains
| poured into the tunnel shaft while
the wreckage was being cleared from
the street railway subway, and it
was feared that the street might
| cave in.
| The cause of the explosion and the
| quantity Of explosive that blew up
are not definitely known. Several
causes have been advanced. One was
that a fire started near the powder
room and that Master Mechanic Will
liam Tubbs lost his life in a despe-
rate attempt to quench it before 1t
reached the deadly fuel. Another was
that it started from spark produced
by stray current of electricity. A
third placed the balme upon blast
in the tunnel, 1t will probably take
an oficial investigation to reveal the
true cause Of the catastrophe.
District Attorney Jerome visited
the scene and made an investigation
to guide him in the oficial inquiry
and possible criminal prosecution that
will follow. Ira A. Shaler, the engi-
neer in charge of the work 1T Park
avenue; John Bracken, a foreman
and Martin McGrath, an assistan
foreman, were placed under arrest.
charged with homicide.
The damage may exceed $1,000, 900.
The first estimate on the Murray Hill
Hotel placed the loss at 500, 900, but
later the hotel was abandoned as un-
safe. Late last night investigation