The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-10-17
Powder Explosions Cause Aw'
full Results.
DEATH LIST IS LENGTHY.
Every Structure In the Town Utterly
Destroyed. About Thirty-Five Souls
Ushered Into Eternity and Some Six
Hundred Injured.

sons lost their lives and some 500
were injured. Five of the dead pass.
ed away in the hospital here The ex-
act property loss and correct number
days
Governor Hanley arrived at 7;O5
O'Clock Tuesday evening. and immedi-
ately took charge of the situation. and
late at night proclaimed martial law.
The governor ordered all places where
Intoxicating drinks of any kind are sold
closed
The town is practically wiped out.
Not a building stands intact, and
throughout Tuesday fires kindled the
ruins cost the lives Of the manned
pinned in the wreckage and added to
the terrifying scenes of obstruction.
Hospitals and homes in Terre Haute
were thrown open for the care of the
injured Relief trains, carrying ply
sicians and supplies were hurried to
the scene. and the injured We're
brought TO this city.
While hurrying to St Anthony hos
pital the city ambulance was struck
by a street car and wrecked No one
was injured. but it is feared the shock
will be fatal to the explosion victims
who were in the ambulance.
Citizens at once subscribed more
than $1,000 to the relief fund. and the
city council, in special session. appro-
| priated $4,000 to be expended in re-
| lieving the suffering
Assistant Superintendent Nash. who
was seriously injured about the head
and hips, is at a hospital He said he
knew nothing after the explosion I'M
| til he was picked up on nearby hill
about 100 yards distant from the plant
by helping hands, who tenderly car
ried him to the Big Four relief train
| and brought him to Terre Haute.
Mr.. Nash said the loss of the plant
| would be more than 100000 He stat
| ed that thi; was not the first explo-
| sion of the plant. In the nine years
| he has been in the plant seventeen
persons had been killed. Trouble has
been experienced in the past few days
| with the shaft in the glazing room
| Several times the shaft has become
| overheated, and has caused the stop
ping of the machinery. There were
| 81 100 kegs of powder in the magazine
| in the department, according to Mr..
| Nash.
The mills went up with three dis
| tinct explosions. followed ninety min.
utes later by a fourth, even more
serious than the others. when the mag
azine went up. Immediately following
| f,-in firr,
and the Inhabitants of the town who
| rushed to the rescue of the mill en-
| ployes found themselves powerless to
aid those burning in the ruins They
worked fraEtically, in constant danger
from possible succeeding explosions
| unmindful of their ruined homes. Dead
and dying were picked up and collect
ed. Eighteen bodies horribly burned
and manglcd were carried to protect
cd spot to await Identification, while
| the badly injured numbering upward
of fifty, were put on a special train
and brought here for hospital accom-.
modations. Scarcely one of the 1000
| inhabitants of the town but carried
| blood on hands and face from his own
wounds u wounds of those of people
| who had required aid The mills were
| located one mile south of town.
| When the heat from the burning
mills exploded the giant powder maya
zine ninety minutes later, destroying
the town by conclusion, many of those
| engaged in relief work were badly in
| jured and several killed. Surerintend
| ent Monahan of the plant was killed
while sitting in his office, and his wife
| To- IN r. in, hc:, -
home, some distance away That the
death list is not greater is due to the
| fact that the people of the town had
| left their houses at the first explosion.
and were lot in them when the eXplo-
sion of 10000 kegs OF powder in the
magazine hurled their homes to pieces
| and scattered their household goods
| in heaps of debris
! Among the buildings totally destroy
| ed were the Methodist and Christian
| churches, two public school buildings.
| the depot, all business blocks, includ
| ing a large block just completed,
| large warehouse and 500 homes In
| many of them the fronts were blown
| away, while iii others the roofs were
hurled into space,hte sides blown out
and left in a confused mass of wreck
I
| age.
| A Big Four railroad freight train
| on the switch leading to the mills was
| partially destroyed and the wreckage
| caught fire Engineer Charles Wells
| was badly burned and received a frac
ture of the right leg.
A four-room school building was torn
| to pieees at FoEtanet. and not one
| of the 900 children escaped unhurt
A two-room school building at Coal
Bluff was turned over and collapsed
| The teacher and ninety pupils We're
more or less injured.
The force OF the explosion destroy
| ed all telephone communication with
outside towns, and it was with great
| difficulty that aid was reached. Terre
| Haute anil Brazil sent physicians and
| nurses with supplies in carriages and
automobiles across the country. while
special trains were made mp and run
] On the Big Four road for the care of
| The injured Governor Hanley ordered
! he Terre Haute company of the Indi-
ana National Guard here to patrol the