The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1902-01-28
SIX PEOPLE ARE KILLED AND
A HUNDRED INJURED BY AN
EXPLOSION
BLASTING MATERIAL WENT OFF
Murray Hiu Hotel, Grand Central
Railroad Station and an Hospital
Almost Totally Wrecked by
COncuSsiOm.
GREAT GORGE TORN IN STREET

NEW YORK, Jan. 27-The reserve sup
ply of high explosives stored at the Park
avenue shaft of the rapid transit tEnne!
row in course of construction, blew up
shortly after noon today The giant blast
killed six persons, injured a 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 hotel on the west the Man
haitian Eye and Ear hospital and the
Grand Union hotel on the east, and the
Grand Central railroad station on the
north, was the scene Of the explosion
The buildings named sustained the great
est damage, but the area affected extend
ed for several blocks in the four direc-
tions from the center.
The Killed-Adams, Cyrus, cigar man
at the Murray Hill hotel; Carr, James,
thirty-two years, waiter, employed at
the Murray Hill hotel; Hine, T., twenty
eight, of Ansonia, Conn; Robertson, j.
Roderick, of Nelson, B. C., a guest at
the Murray Hill hotel; Thompson, r. H..
assistant engineer tall outside reports
seem TO agree as to his death, but his
body is not reported by the police or by
/ the hospitals); Tubbs, Thomas, master
| mechanic for Contractor Ira A Shaler.
The list Of injured is an exceedingly
long one, but most of those in it have
only cuts caused by flying glass.
]. Roderck Robertson of Nelson, B. c.,
was killed by debris hurled with the
force of artillery into his room at the
Murray Hill hotel. He was general man
ager in Canada for the British Columbia
Gold Fields company, limited, and a
prominent citizen in the community where
he lived. He was a Scotchman, and leaves
a widow and four children.
Big Blast Created Havoc.
Temporary buildings for storage pur-
! poses 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, demolished the
temporary buildings and part of the su-
perstructure, and sent a mass OF earth,
splinteIed timber and twisted iron high
in the air. Much of IL 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 frcnt of
the house was wrecked.
The Manhattan Eye and Ear hospital
| Jared nearly as bad, and had to be aban-
doned by the management. The Grand
Union hotel lost gil Of its windows and
glass partitions, and practically every
front window in the Grand Central sta
ton was shattered. The great clocks on
its front towers were blown from their
cases. Thousands Of windows, some OF
| fell in fragments. 1t was the shower OF
| broken glass and falling debris that in
| jured the greatest number.
Station Looks Like a Ruin.
| Fortunately the explosion occurred at
| the noon hour. Not more than 100 per-
sons were in the main waiting room Of
| the Grand Central station, though in
| the smoking room at the southwest
| corner a number of men were lounging.
Some Of these were slightly injured by
| bits of glass. Four ticket sellers were
! injured They were all cut about the
heads and arms with the flying slivers
The clerical force in the executive Of
fee Of the New York, New Haven &
Hartford railroad, which occupies the
! floors above the first in the eastern wing
of the depot, were thrown about by the
shock. A. T. Turner. a record clerk in
| Supt. Shepard's Office, was thrown from
| his chair and his hands were bay
lacerated.
In the next room TO Turner's, Chief
Dispatcher G. H. Wilson and his four
assistants. who were directing the trains