Los Angeles herald., 1905-07-14
WORKERS TORN
into SHREDS
GIANT POWDER PLANT RAzED
TO THE GROUND
EIGHT MEN ARE ANNIHILATEO
Explosion In Building at Giant, Contra
Costa County, Is Heard All
Around San Franeis-
co Bay
Rv AssocInted press.
co Bay

BY Associated Press
OAKLAND, July 1s.-The giant
powder mixing plant of the Giant
Powder company at Giant, Contra
Costa county was destroyed by an ex-
plosion at 7:4O this morning. Eight
lives were lost, one white man and
Scven Chinese.
The dead are:
WILLIAM II. DwYER, foreman of
the plant, 30 years old.
WONG WAY.
All QUoNG.
All TOT.
NAH WAN.
BOOK CooE.
CHING GING.
All FORK.
The force of the explosion sent a
Chinese who was working outside
about twenty feet into the bay of San
Francisco. After dropping into the
water he walked to the shore over the
mud flats. having sustained a few
hand and fractured left arm.
The plant was a frame structure,
covered with lime. The loss will be
about $4,000
All those who might be able to give
information on the subject Of the ex-
plosion are dead, and, more than that,
there is nothing of them left by means
of which the remains can be identi-
fled.
The building destroyed is one of the
detached structures forming the plant
of the Giant Powder works, of which
there are about thirty in number 1t
was swept out of existence in the
twinkling Of an eye as effectually as
IL it had been razed to the ground by
an all-consuming flame. Building,
stock. machinery, everything save a
dismantled engine, took wings, and
the wreck of the motor left behind
is valueless even as junk. The force
of the explosion tore UP all the small
railroad track upon which cars are
loaded and hauled to the shipping
plant near Giant station.
The powder works are located about
five miles north of Richmond. The
mixing building where the explosion
took place was, located quarter of a
mile from the powder works proper
and the latter escaped damage.
Foreman Dwyer and his seven Chin
ese helpers had just begun work for the
day. There was an immense quantity
of chemicals in the mixing building
and the slightest carelessness was
liable to result in destruction. Two
small warehouses, 20 by 20 feet, and
only short distance from the main
mixing building, were also shattered
to splinters by the force of the explos-
ion. The buildings are a total wreck.
AT the time of the explosion there
was car standing near the mixing
plant waiting to receive it's load. At
tached to this was horse. This ami
NAL was instantly killed, part of his
remains being blown out to sea. One
of the Cinnamon, who was standing
near the car at the time, was blown
over the hill overlooking the bay and
part of his remains were found on the
beach below.
There is not enough left of the
eight human beings to fill a childs
casket.
Thought There Was an Earthquake
The thunder of the explosion was
heard in all the cities around the bay
and in some places where the noise
was not heard the earth was disturbed
so that many people believed that they
had experienced a shock of earthquake.
In all the buildings which lie be-
tween the destroyed mixing plant and
Giant station there was not left a
single pane of glass intact.
In some of the houses near by were
the gelatine plant and black powder
plant and ammonia plant. People were
working there at the time, but all of
them miraculously escaped injury The
nearest of these plants to the mixing
house was the black powder building.
On large trays on the floor Of this
structure were hundreds of pounds of
black powder exposed. but this FORUM
ately did not explode.
The plant next to the black powder
was the ammonia plant. and in this
Engineer Samuel Gerard was at work
The shattered panes ratified around
him ana loose boards from the floor
were forced upward. Several of them
came near striking him, but he also
managed to escape unhurt.