The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1906-03-24
VOLLEY or SEWER BLOWUPS.
MANHOLES SAIL SKYWARD-RAIN
OF BROKEN GLASS.

Dozena OF PanIcS on inc upper west SI0e
in the Explosion Beit-Tenement
House Floor in Wayes-Snow and 1ido
to Blame for Volume OF Gas in Sewer.
The manhole covers of the sewers in q
district bounded by Ninth avenue, North
River, Fifty-frst and Fifty-third streets
were blown of at 4 o'clock yesterday after
noon by an explosion that sounded like q
fire In a dynamite factory. The explosion
shattered all the covers, broke nearly all
the glass In the upper stories in the affected
district, soorched the hair of a horse,
chewed up several pedestrians with flying
glass and made a series of nice little panios
in the tenement house district. Ahigh tide.
a frost and a few leaks in the Illuminating
gas mains formed the combination Of causes
behind it.
There is something the matter with the
system in that district Of the city
anyway. The explosion Of manhole covers
has been all too frequent Of late. There
was an unusually high tide yesterday. The
outlets to the river were backed up by the
water, and owing to the snow In the streets
the vents in the manhol covers, which usu-
ally let of s~uperduous gas, were ohoked up.
oC"oi BdS lie uOV lHI1dulIldDlb, DuJ or
binary domestic coal gas Is. The gas
mains CROSS the sewers at the street corners,
so that there is Usually a leakage Of illumi-
mating gas into the sewers. Yesterday,
owing to the high tide and the stoppage OF
the maHhole vents, there was an under
groundblast primed and ready. The spark
that set it Of may have come from a cigar
cite, from an unguarded electric light
wire or from the snow plouEhs which were
at work cleaning the streets. At any rate,
the whole business blew up at five minutes
past 4.
The ignition must have taken place
somewhere in the neighborhood OF Fifty
first street and Ninth avenue, for this was
the place where the explosion was the
heaviest. There are six manhole covers
strung along Ninth avenue in the course OF
two blocks. A gang Of $50 Italian work.
men and teamsters were at work there
cleaning the street.
All Of a sudden every mani ole cover
went up until it struck the elevated struct-
ure, and out Of the holes jumped geysers
Of fire. The explosion was strong enough
to knock people down in the street and to
break nearly every window in the surround
ing buildings above the ground floor.
The American boss OF the Italians was
dropped into a sitting posture on the side
walk. When he had arisen and fortified his
nerves with a glass OF whiskey he looked
about for his men. They were not there,
They had not returned up to quitting time.
1t is not known II any Of them was hurt,
but certainly none Of them was hurt badly
enough to hamper his running.
The explosion travelled along Fifty-frst
street to the river and sent side trails up
Tenth and Eleventh avenues. Nearer to the
river its force was siighter, but It took
on every cover but one and broke two
out Of three windows all the way along.
Everywhere was the same story-up went
the manhole covers. out went the windows,
and a pillar Of flame shot up to the level
of the second story.
Aload Of snow was making its way toward
| Broadway from the river on Fifty first
street and a delivery wagon. driven by
Martin Roane, was travelling in the op
posite direction. They turned out for
each other, and between them was a man
hole cover. just then up went the cover.
The pillar OF fame caught the nigh horse
| of the snow wagon, soorching of his name
and tail 20 that he looked like a Mexican
hairless horse, but doing no further dam
age to him.
1t caught also the ear of Roane's horse,
who plunged and chucked his driver out.
Roane fell on a pile Of broken glass and
was pretty badly cut. The horses added to
the confusion on Fifty-first street by rum
ming away in opposite directions.
Miss Rose Kearns was going along Ninth
avenue when a bucketful Of glass from a
| broken upstairs window came down oh her,
cutting her face and wrists. In fact when
the surgeons dashed with the ambulances
from Roosevelt Hospital they found a
dozen people with cuts from the flying glass.
As every one was taught in school, window
glass broken by explosion always falls out
ward, owing to the air pad within. Ninth
avenue and Ffty-frst street were 30 thiokly
strewn with broken glass last night that
walking, except with the thiokest shoes, was
dangerous.
Only one cover along Fifty-frst street
| failed to blow up, and at that point the ex-
plosion did a peculiar trick. Mrs. Mar
garet Hayes lives in the basement at 551. A
tenement house visitor had called to see how
| she was getting along, and in the crib in the
corner her baby Martin was asleep, Mrs.
Hayes gave the visitor a seat in the COM
pany rocking chair.
And how are we doing to-day?' the
visitor was saying, when her rocking chair
was blown out from under her and into the
crib with the baby. Mrs. Hayes, with q
mothers instinct, grabbed the boy and
rushed out into the hall with il. The
visitor screamed and tainted, and Just
then there came a second explosion which
blew the floor Of the basement into forty
different curves and waves. This house
is owned by a policeman. Up to 0 O'Clock
this feature Of the explosion had not been
reported to the West Forty-seventh street
police station, 1t is supposed that the
manhole cover at that point was frozen
down 80 tightly that 1t held, and the burn
ing gas sought its weakest outlet, which
happened to be under Mrs. Hayes's floor.
The explosion played the queer tricks
common with explosions. In the block Of
| Ninth avenue between Fifty-frst street
and Fifty-second streets 1t broke every
window above the first story in every
house but one. In this one house not a
window was broken. On the other hand,
., - 49, crn,nd Noor xfyiodnx-a L.,