The San Francisco call., 1904-03-15

generally known around the plant that
the workmen in the separating house"
had been having trouble with the acid.
1t could not be made to Separate as
it should have done. 1t seems that the
acid was a new kind that had recently
been purchased from the Peyton Chem
ical Works at Martinez. Until recent
ly the Giant Company manufactured
its own acid. but discontinued this
practice when the Peyton company
started operations.
Jackson, the young man who was
killed, told a number of friends only
as long ago as Sunday night that he
had been having trouble getting the
acid and the oil that came into the
separating house. to separate. He
told this to his fiancee, Miss Isabelle
Craig, and a number of other young
women who work at the plant. He
said that one night he had worked
until 1 O'Clock in the morning to sep
arate the two dangerous liquids before
he finally succeeded. Jackson declared
the new acid to be the cause of all the
trouble and expressed the fear that
he stood in some danger of losing his
life.
The explosion occurred at 12:40
o'clock, as all the clocks in Giant were
stopped at that time by the concus-
sion. Most of the employees of the
works were at dinner at that hour,
else the loss of life might have been
far greater. There are 1iine girls and
large number of white men and Chi
NJ ho rAIo a. hoI
upon the grounds at the time some un-
doubtedly would have been killed by
the flying debris.
STORY OF DISASTER.
A loud, sharp report, followed by the
crash of timbers and then silence, told
the story of disaster to the inhabitants.
Some said afterward that they felt as
if all the atmosphere had suddenly
drawn away and then rebounded. Some
felt as if the roofs were about to be
pulled off their houses and all were
frightened by the crash of glass. AS
soon as it was all over a rush was
made for the scene of the tragedy,
wives and children all thinking of loved
ones who might have been caught and
killed instantly
The first sight that met their eyes
was Sehartau, who was lying on the
hillside near the separating house, >
He was returning to his work from
| luncheon just as the explosion oc-
CURED and was struck by a piece of
iron that was broken from vat and
sent through the air with terrific force.
1t struck huge stanchion in it's flight
after striking Schartau and then went
out of sight over a hill
| Schartau's left leg was mangled just
above the ankle. Otherwise he was
not hurt and when assistance arrived
he was taken to the Giant Company S
office. There he showed his bravery
and nerve by sitting up and smoking a
pipe while waiting for the doctors to
come from Point Richmond, five miles
away.
l was dust going back to the mix
ing house. said Schartau, after get
ting something to eat AS was my Gus
tom, had gone to the separating
house TO see how much LIQUID there
was left there. 1 stopped a minute
and then went on, but l hadn't got far
before the explosion occurred. At the
same time that l heard the explosion
/ realized that ] had been hit and a
moment later l saw that my leg was
mangled. This is the first accident
have been in during my seventeen
years connection with the works.
Frank Mcclellan and James Flynn
had narrow escapes and only a few