The free lance. (Fredericksburg, Va.) 1885-1926, 1905-09-12
EXPLOSION E.ILLS tIAN
Disaster at rai.chAnce, Pa. pread:
Lca.1 and Ruin.
PROPERTY DAMAGE is i.EAVY
Shock Of Explosion Was Felt twenty
Miles Away and Many Victi' J Were
Blown to Pieces-B. & o. 7 IN Had
E-ranR


Miles Away and Many Victi' Were
Blown to Pleces-B. & o. T. IN Had
Narrow Escape.
Connellsylle Pa. 8 -. II. - The
Rand powder mills p. .archance, six
miles south OF Uniontown. were en-
tirely wiped out by an explosion. Or
the 80 men who went 10 work In the
mill 10 are known to be dead. OF these
10 have been Identified.
The list of dead enl II ssSag Is as
follows: Frel WatCrstra = Jr, VIII
liam Mcintyre. Albeit Woods, Omer
HUMPHREYS. George l.laVellyn, Harry
Underwood. Elmer Hughes. Clyde
Woods. James Brcal!rcn. George Mar
tin. Charles Bsrcl4y, diet 1T the hos
pital; Gilbert Mitchell, a rmall boy
Anawalt Grbble. Fred W. crstraw,
Sr.. Charles Fritz, william Lie 'ellyn,
Isaac ..ctcal. Omer Swaney, Frank
Ky lard.
Eccr-3 q people in the wn OF
Falrchance. within half mile Of the
powder iiis, were L.,lo or less pain
fully injured.
The s.1Ca o. tn e~p.o5ion was dis
tlnctly lcG IN CoAnclla,ill', ~ miles
away. bu.ld'n-s being rocked On their
foundation. ~ tui5n.O"n hundreds
of pancs Il lass were broken In the
town of Fab chance there is scarcely
house that did TT suffer damage. The
sides were battered in as though axes
had been used. Hay stacks were top
pied over in the fields and live stock
were stunned. The rails of the Balti'
more q Ohio railroad and the Western
PENNSYLVANIA Traction company were
rooted from the rOadbed and traflc
was delayed from four to six hours.
No. 81 train on the Baltimore q ONO
had a narrow escape from annihila
ton. II had just passed the Rand
mills when the explosion occurred.
The windows in the passenger coaches
were shattered and the passengers
thrown into panic. Had the train
been few seconds late It would have
been blowA mp. as the mills are within
a few rods Of the tracks.
There were seven explosions in all
Every one Of the 10 buildings was to
tally demolished. Not a yestige OF
them remains. The debris that was
strewn over the 10 acres OF ground
where the plant was located took fire
soon after the explosion and added It's
terrors TO the disaster. The dismem-
bcrcd parts OF the dead were burned IL
many instances. Identification OF many
was made by parts Of clothing alone
The first three explosions were not As
serious as the last four. Then tho
packing house, pressing room ant
margarine blew up. followed by twC
cars OF dynamite standing on nearby
railroad siding. which were set off by
the conclusion from the powder mil,
explosions.
All day at short intervals searchers
would bring In bits OF bodies or cloth.
ing. Some OF these finds were carried
in dish pans or damaged powder cans
with which the ground Is strewn fol-
acres. One little boy carried in on 9
shingle part of mans hand.
All OF the dead and injured, with the
exception Of c. NJ. w. Rand and CLYDE
Woods. lived in Falrchance.
When the bodies were recovered the
work OF Identification was very diff
cult. Small pieces OF bodies were picked
up all over the place but they were SC
mangled It was difficult to collect
enough fragments of any one body tc
make Identification possible. Almost
half mile mountainward from the plant
an Office sleeve, wet with blood, was
picked up.
The hole where the magazine ex.
ploded Is about Is feet deep and g
yards square. The earth, black anc
soggy. Is thrown up in huge chunks
some Of them Weighing a hundred
pounds. Under the high banks of eartf
thrown up at this place wOrkmen art
working with picks trying to trace
more bodies.
II is hard to determine the cause OF
the explosion. and its origin may never
be known Nor is the point at which
the first explosion occurred known Ger.
talnly. 1t is supposed to have taker
place. however, in the mixing mill, re-
sulting from a spark caused by a work
man striking a tool against piece o.
metal.