The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-04-26
LAID TO- GASOLINE
DIDN'T BLOW UP THIS
ray BETORE THE AUTO ERA.

:, Reason to suppose That Illuminating Gas
uIrakine Any More Now Than II Was
before Garages We're Set Up In the
nstrict That Has Become Explosive.
rbs Bureau of Sewers got busy yesterday
rreyent another wholesale blowup OF
.rho,es In the district west Of Ninth
.r.,,,e between For~ty-seventh and Fifty
,,,rth streets. where the people are Of the
.,I,ion that they are in the danger zone
Il A local vesuvius. Every manhole was
uncovered early yesterday morning to
,lov the sewers to purge themselves Of
~ eases which have caused the explosions,
I'D down the middle Of every street stood
.rnty barrels to warn drivers Of the open
ranholes. .
Everybody saw what was being done, and
4. employees Of the sewer department
.,a the police took especial pains to inform
4. people in the neighborhood that another
[.,nIosion couldn't take place yesterday.
Al any rate. Last night the lids were still
4 and in some of the openings pipes had
Nan set to act as ventilatora
Chief Engineer LOOMS Of the Bureau OF
Gwers and DR.. E. J. Lederle, former Health
commissioner, spent most Of the day travel
vpg around the district investigating con-
d,iops and planning remedies. They got
II. police Of the West Forty-seventh street
,.,tion Interested and each policeman made
, house to house canvass last night urging
,.ople not to carry lights into their cellars
when they thought they smelled gas. Two
srsroen we're also on duty trying to detect
,s in the sewers and making themselves
generally useful.
nr. Lederle was asked to investigate the
ause OF the explosions soon after the first
n them occurred about two months 60.
IL has pretty definite ideas on the subject
and has decided that vast gasolene from
NE many garages along Broadway between
Times Square and the Circle is responsible
ior the trouble. Chief Engineer LOOMS
ns come to the same conclusion. Care
mi investigation has not disclosed a serious
lax Of Illuminating gas in the district and
bOuseholders near the biggest sewers have
complained frequently of the smell Of
usolene in their cellars.
A four foot eve pipe runs down Ninth
Avenue. Fifty-first street, Twelfth venue
md Fftieth street into the North River.
his is the main sewer which taps Broad
vay from Fiftieth to Ffty-eighth street,
where most of the garages are. This
nrt Of the town is recognized as the auto
mobile district. The automobile men de-
CARED Yesterday that they were not vast
ing much gasolene that is worth 10 cents a
ulon, but the Sewer department officials
beheye that a little of the explosive stuff
contributed by each garage is what has
aused the trouble. Besides, they suggest
that the man who doesn't pay for the gaso-
enc doesn't care how much is wasted.
They also declare that the sewers have
existed in their present state for a good
rsrv years and that illuminating gas has
aked for a good many years and that no
nch explosions took place until the auto
.nObile garages moved into Broadway.
Chief Engineer LOOMS said yesterday
That the problem was a hard one, and he
didn't quite know what could be done to
,leyent a repetition of Tuesday nights ex-
lbsions. He thought the Aldermen would
ave to pass some sort of an ordinance
rrventing the draining of g~asolene into
gNe sewers.