The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1907-10-18
HUNDREDS ARE INJURED
Dupont Powder Mills at fon'
tenat Blow Up.
EVERY HOUSE IN TOWN WRECKED

Huln-M dTIldO Id" - 0SS'0'~ ~ "''~
State Troops Patrol the Stricken
City, Guarding Life and Property.
Fontanet. Ind, Oct. 16.-The total
number of dead as the result OF the
explosion of the Dupont powder mills
here Tuesday is believed to be thirty
five. OF these five died in hospitals
at Terre Haute Tuesday night. At
least 600 were injured and an I'M
mense amount of property was de.
stroyed.
The town is practically wiped out.
Not q building stands intact and
throughout the day fires kindled in
the ruins cost the lives Of the manned
pinned in the wreckage and added to
the terrifying scenes of destruction.
Where stood a thriving and busy
town Of 1000 people Tuesday morning.
there now is ruin and scattered wreck
age. The dead and more seriously in
jured have been taken away. Five
hunderd Inhabitants, all more or less
injured, remain to gather their scat.
tered household goods and sleep under
tents and on cots, guarded by soldiers
of the state.
Without warning the powder mills,
seven in number, blew up at 9:l5
a. m. They employed 200 men and
of these IS were at work when the
first explosion occurred in the press
mill. In quick succession the glazing
mill, the two coming mills and the
powder magazine blew up, followed by
the cap mill. In the magazine sit
uated several hundred yards from the
mills were stored 100000 kegs of pow
der. The conclusion when 1t blew up
| was felt nearly twenty miles.
Every House Destroyed.
Every house in this town was de-
stroyed. Farmhouses two miles away
and schoolhouses equally distant were
| torn to pieces and their occupants In
jured. A passenger train on the Big
| Four railroad four miles away had
every coach window broken and sew
eral passengers were injured by fly
ing glass.
The mills went UP, with three dis.
tinct explosions, followed ninety min
utes later by fourth even more Sc
rious than the others when the maya
zine went up. Immediately following
the explosions the wreckage took fire
and the inhabitants of the town who
|rushed to tho rescue of the mill en-
ployes found themselves powerless
to aid those burning in the ruins. They
worked frantically in constant dan
ger from possible succeeding explo.
sions. uumindful of their ruined
homes. Dead and dying were picked
Iup and collected. Eighteen bodies
horribly burned and mangled were
lcarted to 4 protected spot to await
Identification, while the badly in
l1ured, numbering upwards Of fifty,
were put on a special train and taken
to Terre Haute for hospital accommo.
tdations. Scarcely one of the thou
sand. inhabitants of the town but car
ried blood on hands and face from his
own wounds or those of people who
had required AID.
i Employees Ran for Safety.
i The mills were located one mile
south OF town. With the first explo
sion the employees ran for safety, but
most of them were killed or injured
by the quick-following explosions In
1.-The other mills. When the heat from
1.-The burning mills exploded the giant
powder magazine ninety minutes
later destroying the town by the con
|cussion, many of those engaged in res
Gus work were badly injured and sew
eral were killed. =: Superintendent
4 Nonahan Of the plant was killed while
sitting in his oh1ce and his wife. and
This sister-in-law were killed in their
homes some distance away. That the
death list is not far greater is due to
the fact that the people Of the town
had left their homes at the first ex'
plosion and were not, in them when
the explosion o. the 10000 kegs of
powder in the magazine hurled their
lhomes to pieces and scattered their
household goods In heaps Of debris.
* Among the. buildings totally; de
stroyed in the town were the Metho
dist and Christian churches, two
school buildings, the depot, all bust
1uess= blocks, including q large block
i Just completed, a large warehouse and
200 homes. IN many Of them the
fronts were blown away, while in
kaAharo <1,> rnofc vora hur1ad int