The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-11-18
NAVAL ARSENAL WRECKED.
Fatal Explosion Demolished Iona
Powder Station in Hudson River.
THE LOSS EXCEEDS S2,OOO,oOo

Six Men Killed, Ten Wounded and Build
ings Shattered Into Fragmcnts-Shells
Pierce Walls and Shock Felt Twelve
Miles Away-stones and Bricks Hurled
Far Out Into the River.
Peekskill. \. Y.-Six men We're
blown to pieces and ten were injured
in an explosion which reduced to an
almost total wreck the United States
Naval Arsenal on Iona Island, In the
Hudson River, three miles from this
place.
The first of a series of explosions oc-
Cured in one of the shell houses on the
island, where six men were engaged in
drawing explosive charges from con-
;ignment of old shells recently removed
from the battleship Massachusetts.
-Four massive shell houses, built OF
brick and stone, were blown into the
air. The barrack building Of the Ma
rine Guard was almost completely de-
! molished. A stable building was
wrecked and consumed by flames, and
every building on the island was
wrecked and consumed by flames, and
every building on the island was
riddled with projectiles that were
hurled in every direction, ~
The force Of the explosions broke,
windows and did other damage In this
city, Haverstraw, West Point. High
land Falls, and even caused the falling
Of wall in an elevator building at
Ossining, eight miles away. q
The dead, all Of whom were work.
men employed by the Naval Ordnance
Department, were: Frederick Brown,
Haverstraw; Patrick Curran, Haver-
straw; George Moorehead, Tomkins
Cove; James Conolly, Peekskill; Fred
erlck Locke. Peekskill; Frederick
Ward, Stony Point.
The more seriously injured are Otto
Fries, Chief Gunner who was in
charge Of the arsenal; Frederick An
derson, magazine tender employed at
the arsenal, and Gunner Frank
win, of the battleship Massachusetts.
Iona Island, which has been used bysi
the Government for about two years. 1sS
an oblong piece Of land running north
and south in the Hudson River. anu
cut off from the west shore by a Dit Of
swamp land which gave It the name OF
an island. The West Shore Railroad
at the southern end Is restled across.
to the island and runs along Its west
ern side.
The arsenal, which lies between the
railroad and the main channel Of the
river, consists Of four brick and stone
shell-houses, 800 feet long and thirty
feet wide, arranged In pairs, -120 feet
apart, and numbered from one to four.
| About $50 feet to the southwest OF the
western pair of shell houses is the MAJ
rine barracks, q two-story structure.
| The entire station Is the largest naval
arsenal in the world. -
No one will ever be able to tell exact
| ly how the accident occurred, for all Z
] those who were near are dead, but IL
was known just what they were doing,
and it is said that they were engaged
in unscrewing the base plug from 4
thirteen inch shell. The plug wass
rusty and stuck fast. g4sS..s
So great was the force Of the explo-s
sion that whole kegs Of powder were
thrown many hundreds Of yards with
out exploding. Every piece Of glass In
every building on the island had been
instantly shattered by the first e1plo-
sion, and the second blew in portion
Of the marine barracks building several
hundred feet away. Many Of the
workmen employed on the island be-
came panic-stricken and made a wild
dash for the railroad trestle leading to-
| the main land. s.3s.
The second explosion was followed
by great bursts Of fame in various adj
| joining structures, and as the debris
fared up the hundreds Of shells buried:
| under the fire began to burst.
The cost Of some of the buildings was
as much as $4,000 each. A few Of
them were empty. but the others were
| filled with old powder and various
magazine stores unloaded from shipss
going out of commission. The most re.
| cent unloading was that Of the cruiser
| Columbia, which soon is to go out OF
commission.
Other stores on the island consisted
of Ignite, dynamite. cordite. millinite.
lyddite and gun cotton. There has
been great care taken 1t Is said, to pre-
vent accident. A red flag Of danger
was always hoisted over the island.
Thermometers were placed In each
structure and their records taken fre--
Quently to keep track of possible chem-:
ical changes.