The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-05-03
WRECKEglBY AN EXPLOSION Accident in Fireworks
 Factory. THREE PERSONS ARE DEAD Two More Thought to Be Fatally Hurt. It Was the Outcome of P1syfulness on the Part of Girl Who Was Employed in
 the Plant.
 

|
 disastrous in results. occurred at the plant l of the Thor Manufacturing Company on
 Orange Street this afternoon. Thus far | three persons are dead, while twenty eight others are lying at hospitals. some fatally and others more or less injured. The dead are as follows:
 l Mrs. Maurice Cohen, aged 70; Solomon Cohen. aged 12 Harry Gluechmann, aged Is. Tes
 l Fatally injured-Mrs. Anna Stone. Ben
 Cohen. 13 years.
 Injured-Loretta Stone aged 5: Vera
 Stone, aged 8; Miss Lulu Haihn. 20 years
 old; A. w. Horwitz, Mary Goblowitz,
 aged Is; Wilbur Cole, %; Florence Litz-
 tien. 22; Mrs. Henry Quass. 35; Harry | Quass. 5: Mabel Quass, 8; Mamie Myer,
 Is; Mrs. J. l.. Miller. Jacob Cohen, Har- l ry Cohen. Ella Eesterbrook. Lizzie Stein, Mrs. Esterbrook. B. Hollander. Mrs. l.. | Page, Willie Fertel. Augusta Wolff. Ar thur Conway. Lillie Althoff. Stella Hert- xe Daisy Foutx. Katie Fischel. Belle | Griffiths.
 The Thor Manufacturing Company is 1 engaged in the manufacture of torpedo
 canes and other explosives. A large
 stock of material was On hand and extra
 girls were being employed. | Three Left Inside. |
 dous and windows within a radius of | quarter of mile were broken. In the
 house on Orange Street next to the faa- | tory lived Maurice Cohen with his wife | and eight children. With the collapse of
 the house simultaneously with the expio- | sion the woman and four children were
 caught in the falling partitions and all
 horribly crushed. Mrs. Cohen died on the way to the hospital.
 In the house directly in the rear were
 Mrs. Barney Quass and two boys, All l three were badly injured.
 l The fire originated in a peculiar man ner. The torpedoe caps are filled in
 moulds and there Is constant danger of
 some of the loose powder. supposed to be | illuminate of mercury, dropping on the | floor. For this reason the girls and | boys who are employed In the factory are | compelled to remove their shoes while at work so as to avoid the danger of strik- | ing sparks The. explosion was due to | the frolicsome propensities of new girl.
 who had been employed at the plant less | than a week. The girls had their shoes on at the lunch hour and one playfully showed another of the girls. As the girl slid along the floor her shoes struck | spark in some loose powder. Instantly | the floor was ablaze.
 l At this tuncture a painter, who was | working on the Brudno house next door, | glanced through the open window and | saw the fire. The girls did not seem to realize their great danger and were try | ing to extinguish the flames. The | painter, however, realizing what was stored in the building yelled to the girls ! to run for their lives
 Force Was Tremendous.
 There were ten girls, four boys and one
 
 \ occurred. All of these got out except | Florence Lipster, Willard Cole, son of one ! of the proprietors and Arthur Conway, | 14-year-old boy.
 The flames were easily subdued by the | frefnen after the explosion as there was nothing left Of the factory but pile of | debris.
 The fire fighters at once commenced the work of digging in the ruins for the im- prisoned The first to be unearthed was Arthur Conway. He sustained no in- jurles of a serious nature. The next found was Willard Cole. His right arm
 was broken and terribly lacerated and he was covered with bruises. He was un- conscious when found, but almost imnie- | diately regained his senses. He broke away from the fremen who were carry | ing him and rushed back to the ruins crying, Florence, Florence" From this the fremen kuew that at | least one other person was bupted, and, | dragging Cole away from the debris. resumed their search. Tn a short time
 they came upon the unconscious form of Florence Lipster. She was pinioned un-
 der great weight of debris. terribly | bruised and disfigured
 Mrs. l.. Page. 76 years of age, lived
 near the scene of the explosion. She
 was .%rown to the floor with great vio- | lence. In falling, her hair caught on an obstruction and a part of her scalp was torn off. Both ears were torn. Tn an | adjoining apartment was a baby IS
 months old. Falling glass cut the child
 so severely about the face that it is
 feared its eyesight may be destroyed. Shock Was Too Great. A short distance away was the home of Henry GIeuchmann. Harry. the 15- year-old son. was lying critically i'll of typhoid fever. The explosion and the 1 sick boy to hear and he died within five l minues.
 At No 1265 Cass Avenue a little girl ! 15 years old was lying i'll of scarlet fe- yer. The crashing glass from the win dow fell across the sick girls face and | her forehead was deeply gashed. A splinter of glass embedded itself in one | eye, ana She VIII lose her sight.
 Tn No. 619 Orange Street six doors from
 the scene of the explosion, were Mrs.
 Rosie Lewis and her daughter. Sylvia. The mother had her baby girl in her
 arms at the time of the explosion, and both were thrown to the floor. They
 were bruised and 1t Is feared. the baby ! sustained internal injuries ! For two blocks pedestrians were thrown
 to the ground bv the force of the detona- 1 ton and scores of persons sustained minor injuries this way.