Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1902-01-30
SIX PEOPLE PERISH
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION IN HEART
OF NEW YORK CITY.

Magnincent Murray Hill Hotel and
Manhattan Eye and Ear Hospital
Are Wrecked--Debris Flies lin All
Directions.
New York, Jan. 28.-Tha reserve
supply OF high explosives stored at
the Park avenue shaft of the Rapid
Transit tunnel, now in course of con-
struction, blew up shortly after noon
yesterday The giant blast killed
six persons, injured many 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, the Manhattan eye and ear hos
pital, the Grand Union hotel and the
Grand Central station, 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 center.
The dead Roderick ]. Robertson.
Cyrus Adams. Ralph Thompson,
Thomas Tubbs. L. Hine, James Carr.
Guest Killed in Murray Hill Hotel.
]. Roderick 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 gen
eral manager in Canada for the British
Columbia Gold Fields company.
The explosion tore great gorge in
the street, demolished the temporary
buildings and part of the superstruct-
ure at the mouth of the shaft and sent
mass of earth, splintered timber
and twisted iron high in the air.
Much of it went battering against the
front of the Murray Hill hotel and
nearly every room in the front of the
house was wrecked. The Manhattan
hospital Jared nearly as bad and had
to be abandoned. The Grand Union
hotel lost all of it's windows and glass
partitions and practically every front
window in the Grand Central station
was shattered. Thousands of windows
some of them seven blocks from the
tunnel shaft, fell in fragments. It
was the shower of broken glass and
| falling debris that injured the great
| est number.
Fortunately the explosion occurred
at the noon hour. Not more than 100
persons were in the main waiting
room of the Grand Central station.
Some of these were slightly injured
| by bits of glass. Four ticket sallers
| were cut about the heads and arms
| with the flying debris.
The clerical force in the executive
Offices of the New York, New Haven
and Hartford railroad, which orrupy
| the floors above the first, in the east
ern wing Of the depot, were til own
about by the shock. Chief Dispatcher
G. n. Wilson and his four assistants
who were directing the trains of the
New Haven lines. having several hun
dred trains to look out for, were
scratched with flying glass, but did
not leave their chairs even when they
could not see their instruments on ac-
count of smoke.
The station presented somewhat
the appearance of a dismantled castle,
with the windows only ragged holes.
| General alarms brought firemen, po.
lice reserves and every available am
bulance to the district. A majority of
the injured were treated on the spot
! and the white coated ambulance sur
| geons worked for an hour in the debris
strewD streets.
Cause Of Explosion.
Moses Epps, powder man in
charge of the shanty in which the ex-
| plosion occurred, is at the Flower hos
pital. suffering from contusions and
shock. He said that on going to the
shanty about noon, he found a candle
which he had left lighted on shelf
lying on the floor and some paper
which was about it was on fire Close
to this burning paper We're 13 boxes
of dynamite cartridges, each box con-
tanning from go to rs cartridges.
Epps threw a pail of water over the
fire and ran to get another one. On
coming back he saw that the flames
were close to the dynamite, and drop
ping his pail he tried to get away.
/ Then came the explosion and the next
he knew he was in the hospital.
Ira A. Shaler engineer in charge Of
the work at Park avenue; John
Bracken, foreman, and Martin Nc
Grath. an assistant foreman, were
arrested, charged with homicide
The damage may exceed $1,000 900.
The first estimate on the Murray Hill
hotel placed the loss at 100000, but
later the hotel was abandoned as un-
safe. If the building is condemned
the loss on it alone will approach
$1,000,000. The damage to the Grand
Union was estimated at $4,000 and
that to the Manhattan hospital at $685.
900. The loss at the Grand Central
station was entirely in glass, as was
that of the hundred or more other
buildings affected by the explosion.
DOUBLE TRAGEDY IN HOTEL.
Man is Killed and WoHan Fatally
Wounded by Pistol.
Chicago. Jan. 2S.-Dr. Harry j.
u