Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1907-10-18
POWDER BLASTS
WRECK ENTIRE CITY.
EXPLOSIONS AT FONTANET KILL
FORTY, INJURE 600, AND
LEAVE 1900 HOMELESS.
COUNTRYSIDE IN A PANIC.
Not a Building in Town Left Standing,
Streets Full of Debris and Wound
ed Dying in Flames.

| persons are injured, many of them fatal
| ~, every house in the city of Fontanet,
| fifteen miles from here, is in ruins and
| 1900 are homeless. This is the terrible
! result of series of explosions which
| wrecked the mills of the Dupont PoWdei
company near Fontanet today. The
shocks were felt as far east as Cincinnati
and south as far as Louisville.
The big plant is now in flames and it
| will be nigbtfall before what remain of
the dead can be recovered. The cries of
! injured workmcn can be heard, but 1t Is
! feared that they must perish.
John Gray, an employee in the press
room of the plant where the explosion
originated, was picked up ut n distance
from the wreck. fearfully burned and
with no clothing on his body. He will
| die.
William Sheriff.. also employed in the
| press room will die.
William Walker. employed in the va
| porizinE room, was fatally hurt.
The 15-year-old son of Samuel Cot
trell is known to be dead but his body
| has not been recovered.
Whole Town u Wreck.
The first explosion occurred in n glaz-
ing mill of the plant at 915 o'clock.
! Quickly following the other mills blew
| up, there being three distinct conclusions
at intervals of few minutes. In the
| mills ut the time were from scventy-tive
| to eighty men ut work. When the glaZ-
| ing mill went up, the men ran for Their
! lives from the other mills and many thus
| escaped death. but received serious in
! jurics. At the first explosion the lnhabl-
! tantS of the town ran from the building
and thus saved themselves, No one was
| killed in the town, although there is not
II building left standing.
Rescuers Among Victims.
At 1915 O'Clock. ninety minutes after
| the first explosion, the heat from the
| burning mills exploded the great powder
! magazine situated III Il hollow several
| hundred yards from the mills. 1t col,-
| tanned many thousand kegs of powder
| and the conclusion was even greater than
| those from the explosions OF the mills.
Among those injured from the magazine
! explosion were several physicians who
| were at work among the dead and dying.
n freight train standing on the switch
| leading TO the powder mills was partly
| destroyed by the concusson and took
fire. The heat from the burning mills
and freight train was SO great that it
| was impossible to remove many of the
bodies from the wreckage Eighteen
! mnnglcd bodies were taken to the
morgue to await identification. Injured
were found scattered everywhere and
were collected and relief given as rapidly
as possible.
Not House Standing
Not house is left standing in the
town. Fronts. roofs, sides, and even
| foundations of many buildings were
| wrecked. Great holes are torn III the
ground, fences have vanished and house
| hold goods from the ruined homes are
| i'll confused heaps of debris in all direc-
tons. The people of the town who had
rushed from their homes ut the first OK
nI h.nu ,If La, HI.,
shock from the exploding magazine
wrecked the buildings in the town.
The first body taken from the wrecked
mills was that of Doctor Carroll, an en-
ploye of tho mill 1t was burned to II
crisp, but the man was still alive and
| begged for some one to shoot him and
put him out Of his misery. lie lived but
| Il few minutes. Two other employees
were found near Carroll. They were Yes
| Dial and his son. Both were dead. Win
Dalton was found unconscious his body
| badly manglcd. He cannot live. Charles
| Wells, engineer on the freight train. is
badly injured. He is burned and his
| left leg is fractured.
SchoolhouSe i'll Ruins
\ brick school building, Il quarter mile
| from the mills, was wrecked and many
| of the children inside were injured, some
seriously but none fatally. farm house
three-quartcrs of n mile away was total
| ~ destroyed
| The powder mills belong to the trust
| and werN devoted to the manufacture
! OF blasting powder.
| The railways are running trains to
the scene of the accident with physicians
and the injured are being brought to the
| hospitals Supt. Monahun of the powder
! mill is missing and is supposed to have
| been killed. \ state of pane prevails
among the residents of the surrounding
country, the telegraph and telephone
wires are down. Many automobile par
ties have left this city with physicians
and relief supplies.
Children in Crash
The school ut Fontnnet had Just been
called to order when the explosion oc
Cured. At least forty of the children
were injured.
The first view of the wreck was n
sickenng one. Although men knew
that another explosion might occur at
any moment, they entered the wrecked
buildings to rescue comrades. Flames
soon attacked the buildings and drove
the rcscuers away and the workmen
were obliged to stand by and see their
fellow workers burn to death.
Appeal for Soldiers.
When the wounded men were placed
on board OF the relief train to Terre
Haute there was II frantic rush made !
by the wives, parents and children of the
injured to establish the identity of those
rescued. One man died on the train
before he left. His name was Justice,
and he had applied ut the mill this morn
ing for work. Another man expired as
the train pulled into the Big -Four sta
ton at Terre Haute.
Mayor Lyons of Fontanet has called |
special meeting of the city council this
evening to afford such relief for sufferers
in the work of relief. He has appealed |
detail of twelve police officers to assist
in the work of relief. He ha sappealed |
to Gov Hanly to send Co, Il of Terre |
Haute to the scene of the disaster ut
once with tents.
Scenes Are Terrible.
The people of the town though home |
less. rushed from their ruined houses 10