The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1906-09-27
TOWN IS WRECKED
Twelve People Killed and Two
Hundred Receive Injuries.
HORRORAT JELLICO, TENN
Car of Dynamite Explodes, Scattering
Death and Destruction over Wide
Area-Many Business Houses
Were Demolished.

Twelve lives were snuffed out,
scores of persons hurt and property
damaged estimated at probably S5Of'-
oOO. was done at Jellico, Tenn, Fri
day morning at o'clock, WheD
carload of dynamite, standing on
track near the Southern depot exp'od-
ed with a report that was heard for
twenty miles, shattering buildings in
the business section of the town and
breaking nearly every piece of glass
within a radius OF one mile OF the
scene.
The dead are: George Atkins, tele-
phone lineman; John Cook, car lnspec'
tor for the Southern; Walter Rodgers,
clerk for United Cold Storage Ware
house; John Gordon, colored; James
Sharp, colored; William Lovette, aged
12: Ida Raine, agec years; James
Rernolds; John Hoch; J. M. Cook;
Joseph Sellers, engineer on Louisville
and Nashville. One body remains un-
identified, making the total dead at
twelve.
There is bare possibility that other
bodies may be recovered from the
ruins Of buildings, but this is hardly
probable.
The list of injured is long one,
approximately two hundred, and con-
tains several people probably fatally
hurt.
The freight car, one Of the Pennsyl-
vania's line, contained $50 boxes OF
10000 pounds of high explosives con-
signed to the Rand Power company
at Clearield, Tenn. Two causes are as
signed for the explosion. One is that
some parties were shooting at mark
on the car, and that bullet entered
the car and caused the explosion.
The other IS that while the car was
standing on a sidetrack carload OF
pig iron was switched against 1t, and
that the force of the Jar caused the
explosion. Citizens are divided as to
the theories, some going go far as
to say that they actually saw the man
firing at the car with rife.
Jellico is situated on the Tennes-
see-kentucky state line, about 65 miles
from Knoxville, the main business ror-
ton of the town being On the Ten
nessee line. Two lines of railroads,
tine Southern and Louisville and Nash
vile, enter it. The depot OF the South
ern, which was located near the scene
of the explosion, was wholly wrecked.
Two hotels, the GlenmCrgan and the
Carmothern, we're badly wrecked, the
third story Of the latter being wholly
destroyed
Business houses were badly disig'
ured, stocks of goods ruined, while
residences suffered severely, windows
and doors being blown out In houses
as far from the scene as one mile.
Among the buildings totally Destroy
ed were the Armour Packing COM
pany's warehouse, the Jung Brewing
company warehouse, the Pinnacle
Brewing ccmpany's warehouse, tank
and warehouse of the Kentucky Con-
sumers' Oil company and the Stand
ard Oil company's warehouse. Beside
the hotels, the Jellico Furniture COM
pany's building collapsed, and The
stock of the Smith Dry Goods COM
pany was practically ruined, although
the building which it occupied, the
Cumberland opera house, the finest
structure in Jellico. escaped with lit
tie damage. Fully twenty other firms
suffered losses, but they occupied
small buildings.
Rescuers began work soon after the
!! explosion, and medical aid was asked
of Knoxville, which sent dozen ply
sicians to administer to the wounded.
Twelve Of the most seriously injured
were sent to Knoxville on Friday
nights train to hospitals in that
city.