Los Angeles herald., 1907-08-11
DEPOT BLOWN
UP, 4 KILLED
FIRE IN COLORADO STATION Ex-
PLoDEs DYNAMITE
OFFICIALS SAY INcENDIARIEs
STARTED BLAZE
Colorado and Southern Building in
Boulder Destroyed-Terrifie ln-
tonation Skaters Many
Structures
By Associated Press.

BY Associated Press.
BOULDER, Colo, Aug. 10.-Four per-
sons are dead as a result of the explosion
of dynamite at the depot fire early this
morning. They are:
ISAAC o. WILSON, aged 80, contractor.
LESLIE ROY LEFEVRE, aged 2S, ma
chine agent
H. A. RAMSEY, painter, married.
MRS. d. T. FINCH, an invalid, died
from shock.
The fire originated from an unknown
cause in the western end of the Colorado
& Southern freight depot at 1 o'clock this
morning. 1t destroyed the depot with a
vast quantity of freight in half an hour
and, spreading distance of 100 feet, en-
veloped a powder house containing 1000
pounds of dynamite, which exploded with
a tremendous shock, throwing firemen
and hundreds of spectators to the ground.
The Boulder police report that 100 per-
sons were injured by the explosion and
that twenty-five are being cared for in
hospitals.
Among the other injured are:
Jack Livingstone, Denver, a machinist;
blown fifty feet against the side of a.
building three ribs broken, clothes
burned off.
Edward A. Cook, face and arms badly
burned, bruised.
Alexander Spartell. blacksmith: clothes
Erbie Miller, carpenter, badly hurt by
falling timbers.
When the alarm was first turned in
only a small blaze was visible at the
west end of the depot
No Warning of Explosion
The fremen, handicapped by low pres
sure, fought bravely in utter ignorance
that half ton of explosives was stored
within 100 feet of the burning building.
No warning was given, and when the
sheet iron shack split open with roar
the men manning the hose and every
person within a radius of 100 yards were
hurled to the ground.
Roy La Fevre and Ike o. Wilson were
nearest the store when the explosion took
place. La Fevre's left leg was blown off
above the knee. Wilson, cripple with
an artificial leg had his right leg blown
away and the wooden limb shattered and
fragments of it driven into his body.
Across the street from the freight de-
pot a big two-story brick warehouse had
great cracks driven in it's walls and it's
roof blown off. Several shacks along the
tracks. occupied by squatters, were re-
duced to splinters.
| In the business section of the city great
sheets of heavy glass fell in splinters on
| the sidewalk, following the explosion. Not
| a pane of glass is left in the center of
| the city. Guards of armed men were
| thrown about the banks and mercantile
establishments to prevent looting.
Carry Powder Out
Scarcely had the smoke from the ex-
plosion drifted away than a band of
volunteers rushed into the powder house,
and fighting their way through the flame
located several kegs of giant powder
which had failed to explode and which
they carried out to safe place.
cid frn IL Oh ,Ia4 - AZ.
burning depot stood car containing eight
tons of dynamite. Despite the fact that
cinders were falling on it's roof and that
little f1ickers of flame were apparent on
its walls, a switch crew backed down and
coupled the smoldering car, and while the
brakemen beat out the sparks the engine
hauled the car two miles into the coun-
try, where it was left on a side track
All the windows in the university build
ing were blown out and the plaster fell
from the walls and ceilings of the main
building. Thirty cars were completely
destroyed with their contents, consisting
of valuable merchandise.
The fact that dangerous explosives were
stored so near the depot and that few per-
sons were aware of the fact will be made
the subject of rigid inquiry by the city
authorities. Railway officials explain that
the storage was only temporary, pending
shipment to the mines.
Incendiary, Say Officials
DENVER, Colo, Aug. 1o-"We have
proof that the fire in the depot of the
Colorado & Southern at Boulder last night
was of incendiary origin said Vice Pres
ident A. d. Parker of the Colorado &
Southern railroad today.
THE miscreants may not have looked
for the awful result which followed
through the explosion of the dynamite,
but upon their hands the blame of the
catastrophe may rest. I will not say
whom we suspect"