The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1902-12-12
FATAL EXPLOSION
lContinued from Page u

II there was nobody in the room With the
man at the time. The exact cause ut
the fuse becoming ignited will never
be known. Kekaha was smoking pipe
at the time he was at work with the
J giant powder and it is not improbable |
that some ashes fell and lighted the
fuse. In any event those in the other !
portion of the house heard the sputter-
ing of a burning fuse. Mrs. Kalapoe- |
poe went to the door of the mans room
to ascertain the reason of the fuse be-
J ing lighted. She saw Kekaha in the
act of walking with the box Of giant |
powder sticks in his arms TOWARD Che
door with the evident intention Of |
) throwing it out of the place. She saw
. him but an instant. Before he had
. reached the outside the flame had eaten
) along the fuse, and uploosened the Ia
. tent volcano. With an explosion that
. shook the country for miles around the
J box of giant powder sticks was dis
= charged
. The effect was of the most startling
description. Evidently all of the stuff
. exploded at once Kekaha was close to
> it and he was literally blown into
atoms. His skull and brain and por-
tions of his body and limbs were scat
= tered over an area of half an acre, and
? the mangled remains of a portion CO
his body were thrown clean through
: of the children on the Eva side of the
? house were blown out of the building
by the force of the explosion, old Ke-
: kula was pinned down by the falling
: roof and timbers, while Mrs. kaiapoe-
2 pee was unable to eXtricate herself
from the portions of the house and roof
that fell upon her and pinned her
y down.
= Scarcely a stick in the house was left
! unbroken, the sides were blown out,
4 portions of the roof sent whirling hum
= dreds of feet, the walls and floor blown
4 down and wrecked and the utmost de-
= vastation spread about the place. Por-
= tions of the house were found over
? quarter of a mile away. Had not the
? place been surrounded by trees the ev
! idence of the wreck would have been
i blown much further.
The explosion occurred about 4 min
utes after o'clock this morning. The
I. noise walked nearly everybody in the
p Kalihi district. Many sprang from
their beds thinking that there was an
+ earthquake, as the ground had been
shaken by the force of the explosion.
D Btu few people learned for long time
e the real cause of the noise and shock,
j. as the scene of the havoc was hidden
from the road.
Samuel Kalimahana was the first
= man to reach the scene of disaster. He
d and his family reside about 40 yards
makaizof the Kaiapoepoe premises. The
: explosion aroused Kalmahana from
D.. sleep. He took a lantern and went out
G. to see the cause of the noise.
when l came out" said Kalimaha-
-, ma, there was a quantity of smoke
90 rising from the Kaiapoepoe place.
- thought at first that it was due to q
to fire. Presently / heard the old man
~ Kekula calling for help He was pin
in, hi s
IA own room on the Eva side of the
- house. 1 helped him out of the place
-, When l reached that side of the ruins
{, "a the children were all sitting or lyint
~ on the ground, one of them, Kalehua
=, being badly hurt. l asked Samm!
vi; where was his father. oh my fathe
,''i ran away replied the boy. My fathe
=, has gone away. 1 looked around tn
u yard but could find nothing of Kekaha
,ii l did not know what had become o.
~ him, but pretty soon Kaamoku, an OLE
~ woman, called that the body was GU
~ in front of the house, and l went ant
'rt found what little there is of it lyini
ne where she pointed"
ne ne Word was sent Immediately to tn
ne police apprising them of the occur
's renee. Deputy High Sheriff Chilling
worth and Captain Parker impanelled
coroner's jury and in charge of the dep
uty, the jury was driven to the seen
les of death. While at the place Deput
nd High Sheriff Chillingworth talked wit
ui- Kaiapoepoe. The latter was still bad
le- ly intoxicated and seemed to have n
lie. realization of the extent of the disas
ter. Kaiapoepoe was taken to the pc
lice station in order that he could b
sobered up and a lucid statement b
. secured from him.
~ When the news of the explosion wa
first brought to the authorities, it wa
III said q ayn1nSinn ~ ~
ed by some one who sought revenge
No very definite theory as to the reaso
for desiring this revenge was given tt
police. Investigations go to prov
however, that the affair was due er
tirely to Kekaha's careless and recl
less method of handling the explC
sive stuff. There seems little reaso
for attaching suspicion of any descriI
ton to the husband, Kaiapoepoe H
was absent from the house all of la!
night, he was too intoxicated to G
about, and slept at the home of rels
tives. He was at their house at I'll
time the explosion was heard and whe
he left there and returned to his HON
he had no idea evidently of the di!
aster that had come to his place.
All of the injured people were remoN
ed to the Queens Hospital and attend
ed by Dr. GUSTS, the resident phys
clan. This afternoon DR. Curtis eS
pressed the opinion that with the pos
sibe exception of Kalehua the injurit
of none of the victims would prove ia
tai, Kalehua is believed to have bee
in proximity to the explosion and HI
injuries were directly caused by tn
explosion, as his face and head wei
badly powder-burned, while the otht
victims were hurt more by pieces
flying woods and glass or falling tim
bers. 1t is thought that none of tn
others have sustained even internal in
juries save perhaps some bruises
minor character. The little girl, Aka
hele, the granddaughter of Kekuli
who lived in the house with the res
escaped without injury beyond a fe,
scratches. She was released from IN