The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1902-01-28
structure Of that building stood the
shock, nearly every room in the front
of the house was wrecked.

structure of that building stood the
shock, nearly every room in the front
of the house was wrecked.
The Manhattan Eye and Ear hospitl
on the east side of the avenue Jared
nearly as bad, and had to be abandon
ed by the management.
The Grand Union hotel lost all of its
windows and glass partitions and prac-
tically every front window in the
Grand Central station was shattered.
The great clocks on it's front towers
were blown from their cases. Thou
sands 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
greatest number.
General alarms brought firemen, po-
lice reserves and every available am
bulance of the department and the in
jured were speedily cared for. A ma
jority Of the injured were treated on
the spot and the white coated am
bulance surgeons worked for an hour
in the debris strewn streets Police
lines were thrown across either end
Of Park avenue and the intersecting
streets. Several times the police clear
ed the streets of people in front of
the Murray Hill hotel Torrents Of
water from broken mains poured into
the tunnel shaft. while the wreckage
was being cleared from the street rail
way subway and it was feared that
the street might cave in.
The cause Of the explosion ant 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 desperate
attempt to quench it before it reached
the deadly fuel. Another was that it
started from spark produced by a
stray current Of electricity. A third
placed the blame upon a blast in the
tunnel. Still another gave gas ex-
plosion from electrical contact in the
trolley conduit Of the street railway
subway.
1t will probably take an official in
vestigation to reveal the true explana-
ton. Several men who were close to
the shaft escaped, while others hun:
dreds of feet away were knocked down
and seriously injured.
District Attorney Jerome visited the
scene and made an investigation to
guide him in the official inquiry, and
possible criminal prosecution, that
will follow
Ira shaler, engineer in charge of
the work at Park avenue; John Brack-
en-, foreman, and Martin McGrath,
an assistant foreman. were placed un-
der arrest and charged with homicide.
William B. Parsons, chief engineer of
the Rapid Transit company, said that
Shaler was one of the most competent
and careful engineers he ever knew.
The damage may exceed S1,000,000.
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 ST.
100000. 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 one hundred or more other
buildings affected by the explosion
No estimate was made of losses sus-
tanned by the Rapid Transit contrac-
tors.