Delaware gazette and state journal., 1902-12-11
THE POWDER MILL EXPLOSION.
It Was One of Most Terrific That Has Or
.nI,rrah In.. sn.u.. Ilina-

It Was One of Most Terrific That Has oc-
CURED for some Time.
The explosion in the Hagley yard of
tho L. I. du Pont de Nemours Co.,
Monday afternoon was one of the
most terrific that has occurred>at tho
works for years, although the quantity
of powder destroyed and the actual
damage, aside from the loss Of life,
was y-TrsrvnIhcuut.--f fhe
membsIs of the hrm fsei shady over
the death of one of their most faithful
employees as the relatives of the latter,
and for that reason but little i'm
portance is attached to the wrecking
of the mill, which was small affair
and can be rebuilt at comparatively
little expense.
William Mcdowell, the man who was
killed, although only - years of age,
had been in the employ of the company
for some time and was we'll liked by
the members OF the firm and his fellow
workmen. Ho was small of stature and
was known as Little VIII, " to dis
tinguish him from another William
Mcdowell, who is larger man. His
wife was Miss Matilda Devinpey, a
sister Of Thomas, Robert, John, George
and Andrew Devinney of kissing sun,
Mrs. Webber of Edge Moor and Miss
Devinney OF this city. Their only child
is daughter, who is now years OF
age. In addition to being member oi
! Star of Bethlehem Lodge, Loyal Orange
| Legion, deceased was also member oi
| Columbia Lodge, A. o. U. w, and a
member of Christ Episcopal Church.
A brother lives in the West.
J. The fatality cast gloom over the
/ entire neighborhood especially al
| SQUIRREL Run, where Mr.. Mcdowell
! and his family resided and ever since
/! The unIortunateacciden kind ueigbbor!
/ have been doing what they could Il
comfort the widow and orphan.
The company has n rule under which
widows and orphans of victims of ex
piosions ara taken care Of, the position o
the deceased and circumstances of hi
family being taken into consideration
IL each instance.
The explosion evidently resulted from
a piece Of grit in the powder whicl
was being ground in tho mil. operatet
by Mcdowell. Tho powder had coni
from the press mill and was beinl
ground to smaller size than that il
which it was originally made,S thi
being the custom in the preparation c
different size, and although the creates
precaution is taken to keep the powde
clean, it Is possible that bit c
foreign substance found its way int
the material to be ground and that tn
grinding caused n spark, which Ered oil
Of the powder -. in the mill. which j
thought to have been about two tons
The force of the explosion was tcriti
J and completely wrecked the mill, hf
! sides tearing hole in the earth whic
Co. fnr
wall. the nody was dismemberod ar
Llsyn IN. diTererstgdireations maxim
the assimilation difficult
The aoGqussion broks windows l
the neigbborhood aud many larg
buildings in the city were sha ken. !
fact, tho earth trembled for man
miles, which led some people at iii
tance to believe that there had been q
/, earthquake. w-.s
| Immediately after the explosion hun
dreds OF people hurried to the yard
the major portion having ra!ativf
working there. On occasions Of tb
bind there 10 aiwaya -Eteat deal /.
cQpeern felt relative to those at wei
in the plant d. = .ss =
!, Many people living in the city ha
relatives working at the powder mil
d and consequently the first westbouI
t Delaware avenue car after the explosiI
d Monday was filled with relatives al
Q others who were hurrying to the wor
n to ascertain the extent of the damag
1t Superintendent Van Trump of the Ci
y Railway Co. happened to be on the Q
q and when it was made known to hi
II that many passengers were on the
d way to the powder yards to inquire {
% the safety Of relatives he instruct
10 Motorman Clark to run with all pos.
d BILE speed, which the motorman di
Those who knew of this act on the pc
IS of Superintendent Van Trump appret
'f ated his kindness very much and al
10 the efforts of Motorman Clark to &
Ie the party to the nearest point to t
.e' works as quickly as possible
% . In order to ascertain whether I
If shock had affected the new Rookfo
,s" water tower Foreman Charles
1t Martin of the Water Department visit
10 that structure Immediately after {
70 explosion. He nsoended the towor a
made an examination throughout, an
rs SO far as he. !gas abls to discover,
ix damage whatever had been Gone, ev
I, TO the pipe connections.
10 The last big explosion at the powc
works occurredon December 9Th, Is!
I'd jLst four years ago Monday, when
n, powder car was overturned in
rs Hagley yard, near whera- .Monda.
explosion occurred, which caused I
carload of powder and press mill a
other grinding mills in the vicinity
p explode. Robert MoIlhsnny and 10
us Wright we're killed instantly and ,Io
o. Moore died in half an hour, while 81
n eral others vera injured, two fatal
a Thomas MeCann dying two days la
ed at his home at Rising Sun q
be Samuel Stewart three days later at
OF Delaware Hospital. "
rr+ A peculiar incident connected W
OF the explosion occurred at the house
in@ Joseph fisiey, WHO lives close to
lis mill Just half an hour previous n
from the Robelen Piano Co. had pla
,rt new piano in tho house. The TO
ry of the explosion practically wrecl
" I the dwelling, cracking the walls {
m breaking the. plaster and glass blu
mt later investigation showed that
'or piano had escaped with only sli
nd scratch.
ne Prisoner Dead In His Cell.