Evening star., 1902-02-04
The Superintendent Of Oerberite
Works Instantly Killed.
Two WORKMEN SLIGHTLY INJURED
Coroner to Hold an Inquest This.
Afternoon.
ESTIMATE OF THE LOSS

Speciil Dispatch to The Evening Star.
ARDWICK, Md, February "A terrific
explosion occurred this morning in the
nitro-glycerine house of the Cerberite Man
ufacturing Company, which resulted in the
killing Of Richard ]. Martin, the superin-
tendent Of the works. Lemuel Hamlet,
Raymond Watts and Frank Watts, who
were at work in another building were
slightly cut and bruised. They were not
dangerously wounded.
Mr.. Martin was the only person in the
building where the explosion occurred, and
the cause of the disaster cannot, therefore,
be definitely stated. So great was the force
of the explosion that the glass in the win
dows of houses nearly half mile distant
We're shattered, and pictures were knocked
from walls.
Intense excitement was caused by the ex-
plosion account Of the exaggerated re-
ports, and many persons visited the scene
during the day. The house in which the
explosion occurred was a three-story frame
structure located about quarter of a mile
from the station This large building was
completely demolished, and a mass of splin-
tered timber is all that remains of it. Mr..
Martins body was blown to pieces.
The largest part found was piece of
the backbone, which was picked up on
the snow several hundred yards from the
scene of the wreck.
The fragments of his body were placed
In small box and kept in the main Office
to await the arrival of Justice Arthur
Carr, who had been notified, to hold an in
quest Constable Vincent of Hyattsville
has charge of the remains.
Several buildings on the property of the
1na Uynr dom rod hJy ip,l, Prov
the nitro-glycerine building.
The cerberite magazine, in which hun
dreds of boxes of the new explosive were
stored, was badly wrecked, and the con-
tents of the boxes stood the test well. Not
an explosion occurred in this building, al
though the stock was tossed about like
they were cornstalks Martin who was
formerly employed by the Ditman powder
works, leaves a widow and six children.
Justice Carr will hold an inquest this at,
ternoon.
The Supposed Cause.
While the exact cause of the explosion IS
not known, one version is that it was the
result of accident. The glycerine in the
house had frozen during the night, and 1t
is said that this morning about o'clock
the superintendent went to one of the
upper floors to get two parts of the fluid
that had not been affected by the weather.
He Is believed to have slipped and fallen
on the lower floor, which was covered with
ice.
The shock caused the explosion which re-
suited SO disastrously All the timbers that
were blown from the building were sent in
the direction Of the railroad track, and Mr..
Martin. it is thought, was about the front
door of the building when the explosion
occurred. This afternoon fragments of his
body were found in tree some distance
from the building
The damage to the buildings and stock
will probably amount to nearly 5000.
The several officers of the company who
went to the scene of the wrecked building
made arrangements for Undertaken Gasch
to take charge of the remains Of the vic
tim after the inquest is held.