The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1905-03-30
SUBWAY EXPLOSION
New York Electric Train Hit
Dynamite Gar.
UNDERGROUND STATION WRECKED,
Coaches md Car of Cartridges Took
Fire From Third RniI-Thirteen
Explosions FollOwed-Fire-
men Unable TO Work.

men Unable TO work.
NEW YORK, March 30.-A terrific
explosion In the rapid transit subway
here, where a fire ragged for several
hours, followed a collision that wreck
ed the One Hundred and Sixty-seventh
street and Broadway station and tore
away the side of the tunnel for 200
feet to the northward
An exploring party of hremen had
got within 400 feet Of the fire when the
explosion occurred. In the party were
Timothy Gaynor of engine company 81
and other tiremen and reporter. All
end covered with ashes and sand. AS
soon as they regalned their feet they
beat a hasty retreat
The explosion which wrecked the
station was the thirteenth in two
hours.
All were caused by collision 40
feet underground in the subway exten-
sion at One Hundred and Sixty-eighth
street and Broadway. which set fire TO
| the shaftng in the tunnel, set off lot
| Of dynamite, which shook the neighbor-
| ing section of Washington heights and
| imperied the lives of scores Of work
men.
An empty train which went too far
past the terminal switch ran into a fat
car used by the construction gangs. A
box of dynamite cartridges on this ear
is supposed 10 have exploded at the
shock. There was so much inhamma-
bic material to feed the fire that it was
many hours before it was subdued.
When the collision occurred the cars
were set ablaze by the third rail, and
in few minutes the tunnel was filled
speedily spread to the yellow pine
stored in the subway at this point and
also reached twenty-five barrels of oil,
which exploded.
Dynamite stored in the subway also
! exploded, causing alarm among the
residents of Washington heights, who
came rushing from their homes, and
sending q hundred Italian workmen in
the subway on a mad gallop for safety
TO One Hundred and Eighty-first
street.
George Fry, swltchman, was the
only person on the wrecked train, and
his experience will not be soon forgot
ten by him. He was Obliged TO fight
his way through the flames and smoke
back to One Hundred and Fifty-sev-
enth street His story of the accident
is that when he was letting the train
through the shaft from One Hundred
and Fifty-seventh street he pushed in
! to car ahead, in which there was no
| light II was not making much speed
said Fry, land was astonished when
the crash came,
How the car came to be there |
don't know There was no light in it,
and | knew nothing of II until | was
fired from my seat. It's miracle that
escaped: but, without knowing exact
ly what | was doing. crawled through
the car. which filled instantly with
smoke Then | knew what was com
ing. and | ran from car to ear. | was
blinded with smoke. The whole train
was on fire All this time explosions
were taking place. A second after
| bumped into the car there was an cX-
plosion and then another and another
/ think there must have been seven or
eight in all tell you was glad when
got on the tracks. ran TO One Hun
/ bred and Fifty-seventh street as quick
ly as could and had the power turned
off"
Firemen were sent down from the
One Hundred and Eighty-firSt street
entrance to make an examination. Up
on reporting later they said that as far
as they could see the archway of the
tunnel near the place where the explo
| sion occurred had fallen in for space
of nearly 200 feet. The flames were
still eating up the timber work in that
part of the tunnel.
Fortunately no lives were lost. The
explosions shook dwelling houses for
several blocks in every direction, and
In the immediate neighb0rhood of One
Hundred and Sixty-eighth street the
windows were shattered into atoms,
which were showered on the sidewalks
until they looked as if a fine snow had
| fallen.