Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1902-01-30
Area Affected Extended fer Several Blocks
in Each DirectiOn-0ne Building Had
to Be Abandoned By the Manage
ment-All the Front Rooms
of Murray Hill Hotel
Wrecked of
the Disaster.
the Disaster.


blast killed six persons, injured 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 ond the west, the Man.
haitian and the Grand 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 extended
for several blocks in the four directions
from the center
THE KILLED.
The killed were:
Cyrus Adams, cigar man at the Muir
ray Hill Hotel
James Carr, 80 years, waiter; employed
at the Murray Hill Hotel.
Hem, 2S years, of Ansonia, Conn
]. Roderick Robinson, of Nelson. B. c.,
a guest at the Murray Hill Hotel.
John II. Thomas, assistant engineer, (all
outside reports seem to agree as to his
death, but his body is not reported by the
police or by the hospital people,
William Tubbs, master mechanic for
Contractor Ira A. Shaler.
]. r. Robertson, of Nelson, B. c., was
killed by flying debris. He was general
manager in Canada for the British Column
bia Gold Fields Company, Limited, and a
prominent citizen in the community where
he lived. He was Scotchman and left a
widow and four children. He was said to
have been quite wealthy.
THE EXPLOSION.
The sunken approach Of the street rail-
way tunnel used by the Madison Avenue
line cuts through Park Avenue, and the
shaft for the rapid transit subway was run
down beside it at the intersection of East
Forty.frst street. The street railway ap'
proach was housed over with a super
structure used for the operating plant OF
the Rapid Transit Company. Temporary
buildings for storage purposes were thrown
up against the superstructure at the mouth
of the shaft, end there the explosion oc-
cured.
1t tore a great gorge in the street, de-
molished the temporary buildings and
part of the superstructure, and sent mass
of earth, splintered timber and twisted
iron high in the air. Much of it went bat
tering 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 front Of the
house was wrecked.
The Manhattan, on the east SIDE Of the
avenue, Jared nearly as bad, and had to
be abandoned by the management.
General alarms brought fireman, police
reserves and every available ambulance to
the district, and the injured were speedily
cared for. A majority of the injured were
treated on the spot, and the white coated
ambulance surgeons worked for an hour in
the debris.strewn streets.
Police lines were thrown across either
end of Park Avenue and across tie inter-
secting streets. Several times the police
cleared the street of people in front of the
Murray Hill Hotel. Torrents of water
from broken mains poured into the tunrel
shaft while the wreckage was beng cleared
from the street railway subway, and il
was feared that the street might cave in
The cause of the explosion, and the
quantity Of explosives that blew up. are
not definitely known. Several causes have
been advanced. One was that the fire
. started near the powder room, and tha
Master Mechanic William Tubbs lost BIZ
=. life in a desperate attempt to quench j
y before it reached the deadly fuel. Another
Q was that it started from a spark produced
+. by stray current of electricity. A thifC
placed the blame upon a blast in the tun
s mel. Still another gave gas explosion
!. from electrical contact in the trolley con
It duit of the street railway subway. 1t vii
# probably take an official investigation t
reveal the true explanation.
- Several lnen who were very close to tn
q shaft escaped, while others hundreds @
y feet awsy were knocked down and seri
ously injured.
1, District Attorney Jerome visited tn
scene and made an investigation to guild
:, him in the official inquiry and posslbl
9 criminal prosecution that will follow.
10 PLACED UNDER ARREST.
Ira A. Shaler, engineer in charge of tn