New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1903-02-20
FOUR KILLED IN FORT.
THREE MORE M4T DIE.
Shell Bursts at Fort Lafayette
Ice DELAYS .SuCCor.

afternoon. One IF the injured died three hou'S
later save for wrecking the room. NIFTY 'S
twenty-five feet. in which the explosion o'
CURED and blowing holes IN the sides OF ''e
old brick fortress no damage MAS done To fci'
LAFAYETTE several tons Of guncotton were
stored i'm the opposite side of the fort. but were
II no time in Danger. The fort has for some
time been used h- The navy a storehouse for
an,r,7l,nitioD and A board Of officers which WAS
eani from the :aAy yard by Admiral Barker
comma ndant viii make report to him. Whlch
Viii be forwarded 10 Washington The dead
are
POSER t5ustsc. or4sanse man. fourth class No, Sf'
MASON John. ordnance man, second class. No 500
,,1-vnF> rrsnl- ordnance man. fourth class. Long
Island CITY
RoTHHN. John. ordnance man second class, No. -
Weirfela s., Brooklyn
Those seriously injured and in the military
hospital at Fort Hamilton are: James Clancy
laborcr. Manhattan. right arm torn off, left eye
gone badly burned: Martin Thorgenson, ord
nance man. fourth cIass. No. : Second Place.
BROOKLYN. badly burned may lose sight OF both
,,-es right leg broken. half dozen serious
decorations. ~. H Van Gurp. ordnance man.
second class No 1.196 Fifth-ave-, Brooklyn,
badly burned, right thigh broken left leg tract
lIred laceration of chest and head
Those slightly injured and left in Fort La
1
o4a Sta-kholm-st Brooklyn, and T. B. Nc
N1nlIin ordnance man. fourth class No 120
T-ast 0ne-hundred- -nineteenth-st, Manhat-
tan.
The fort is a round brick fortress Of the old
tvpe. which stands III the water about two hun
dred feet offshore, just below Fort Hamilton
Until recently it had been stored full of high eX-
rlosives. most Of which have now been taken
f. the new magazines on Iona Island. up the
Hudson The fort is in charge Of James Nc
Der1nott 4 gunner Of the navy
lie had about forty-fye men working under
him in various parts of the old structure yes
terday all of whom were civilians. although
some Of them. who were formerly enlisted men,
were known as ordnance men, Nine of them
we're working in the un1osd ding room where
heavy shells are emptied OF their stale powder
and rehIled About forty of these heavy shells
were piled up around the room. In the centre
were three ten-galon tin cans, in which the
loose powder was being placed, Two Of the cans
were full.
Just as the men took up S-nch shell Nc
Dern1ott was called away for a moment. Be
fore he could return there was an explosion
that shook the fortress to its foundation. The
roof Of the unloading room, which was heavily
sheathed with iron. was lifted UP, and a sheet
If fame burst out. Pieces Of iron shell burst
their way through the sheet iron walls and
knocked holes in the bricks. McDermott said
later
IT seemed as though the whole fort would
totter over into the water at first realized at
rn~e what had happened. and quickly gathered
tcr@rher the other men, ran out two lines OF
hose and began to fight the flames that were
4-nreting through the apertures in the room.
We luckily pur the fire out before any of the
other bag shells became hot enough TO explode.
From what heard from one of the men who
p.ss able ia talk 7 think the explosion was
caused by 4 spark from some grit that was on
The thread Of the hack cap IF the shell The
bows had almost got the cap unscreWed when
there was a fash and 2, roar. The men were
scattered IN al directions Il was Just by
chance that ] was away at the time. / do not
believe there was any carelessness on the part
ri the men It was something that could not be
avoided There was sixty-two pounds of powder
in the shell and several hundred pounds in the
cans
L nas SO o'clock when the explosion &C
Cured and II was TWO hours later before any
assistance reached the fort, as or account Of
the heavy ice cakes lying between 1t and the
shore no small boats could pass. The explosion
was heard within radius Of a mile Lieu
tenant Colonel Rodney [. s. A. commanding at
Fort Hamilton suspecting what had occurred,
called up Fort Lafayette on the telephone. In
ten minutes Major ]. A Powell, surgeon in COM
-77and Of the post hospital; Surgeon Walter
Webb DR. I. c Ager. a civilian surgeon. who
hsppened TO be near by, and the full corps Of
hospital stewards had reached the army pier in
the most ambulance. The fort is not more than
one hundred feet away from the end Of the pier,
hut there were no boats there that could break
-bro,eh The ice A roUboat was tried. but il
would have been sheer folly to have continued
The attempt and IL Was given UP. Steam was
r,~I11 in 7 he
>, hour, but this small craft got stuck, and IN
eni.A Of strenuous efforts the captain could not
force her through the ice
Prior to this Captain Dreamer, or the Fort
Hamilton police station. with four Of his men,
had reached the wharf and tried 10 get over 10
the fort in 2 row boat, but failed. It was nearly
Z o'clock when the big tug Market, from the
BROOKLYN Navy Yard, arrived with aid Rear
Admiral Barker, who had been Informed Of the
accident at once, had dispatched the tug. with
CAPTAIN ]. B. Briggs, Captain c. A Adams and
Surgeon Plumner, all naval officers The Mar
keeta landed first at the pier and took aboard
Surgeon Powell and his staff and Captain
,-rear7er No civilians were allowed TO 90
The uier but two score more braved the Bit
ing winds and watched the fort from the bluff
above.
McDermott and his men were trying to do
something for the injured men, who had been
carried into another part OF the fort OF the
room in which the explosion occurred Major
Powell. who is q veteran, said:
I have been on the field of battle, but never
saw such a horrible sight. Arms, legs, shreds
Of flesh and blood seemed TO be everywhere.
OF the nine men in the room every one was
killed. or injured. Six alive, three were in
fr.or77enrs The four seriously injured were
transferred to The land on the Narkeeta and
taken as quickly possible To the military
hospital
ATunden who died later. had his arm torn off
Al the shoulder and his left leg was hanging