The Red Cloud chief., 1907-10-18
EXPLOSION WIPES OUT CITY
BETWEEN 25 AND SO KILLED AT
FoNTANET, IND.
elk HUNDRED ARE INJURED

NfN 'N
Every Building in Town Of loco Is
Wrecked-shoek Felt for Two Hun.
dred Miles.
F%ontanot, Ind. oct. 16.-Between
twenty-five and fifty dead, 600 injured
ind a city of 1000 people wiped out.
Such Is the rate which overlook Fon.
tanet when the Dupont powder works
exploded. Where stood a thriving
ma busy town of 1000 people yester.
day, TO-DAY there is ruin and scattered
wreckage. Five hundred inhabitants,
all more or less wounded, remain TO
gather their scattered household goods
and sleep under tents and on cots
guarded by soldiers OF the state.
Without warning the powder mills.
feven in number, blew up at 9:15
a. m. They employed 200 men and Of
these, seventy-fve 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. fol.
lowed by the cap min. In the maya
zine, situated several hundred yards
from the mills, were stored 10000
kegs OF powder. The concussiOn when
1t blew up was felt 200 miles away
Every house in this town was de-
Atroyed. Farm houses two miles away
End school houses equally distant
were torn to pieces and their occu.
pants injured. indianapolis and even
Cincinnati felt the shocA A pasSen.
ger train of the Big Four railroad.
four miles away, had every coach win
dow broken and several passengers
were injured by flying glass.
Following is a list of the identified
dead: A. b. Monahan, general super.
intendent: Mrs. A. b. Monahan and
sister; George Justice, John Bobo.
George Bobo, William Sheriff.. Henry
Harrington. Sylvester Dial, A. ID. Web
ster, Sam Nevins, Will Dalton, George
Hodge. Earl Wood, John Grey, Don
Dial, Frank Dial, James Briggs, Fred
Cress. John Nevens, Edward Nevens,
T. T. Kellup, Henry Chandler, w. e.
Crif, J. l.. Carroll. Samuel ingalls,,
Frank ingalls,, Miss Susie Bishop, viii.
lie Hodge.
Dead Burned In Ruins.
The mill went up with three distinct
explosions, followed ninety minutes
later by a fourth, even more serious
than the others, when the magazines
went up. Immediately following the
explosions the wreckage ooh fire and
he inhabitants Of the town who
rushed to the rescue Of the mill EN-.
ployes found themselves powerless to
aid those In the ruins. They worked
frantically in constant danger from
possible succeeding explosions, un.
mindf OF their wrecked homes. Dead
and dying were picked up and collect
ed. Eighteen bodies. horribly burned
n mangled, were carted to a pro.
tected spot TO await identification,
while he badly injured. numbering
upwards of fifty, were put on a spe.
oial train and taken to Terre Haute
for hospital accommodations.
The mills were located one mile
south of the town. With the first ex-
plosion the employees ran for safety,
but most of them were killed or
wounded by the quick following eXplo-
sions in the other mills. When the
heat from the burning mills exploded
the giant powder magazine ninety
minutes later, destroying the town by
the conclusion, many of those en-
gagged in rescue work were badly in
jured and several killed.
That the death list is not far great
err is due to the fact that the people
Of the town had left their homes at
the FIRST explosion and were not in
them when the explosion of the 10000
kegs of powder in the MAGAZINE
hurled their homes to pieces and scat.
tered household goods in heaps of
nebris.
Big Buildings Destroyed.
Among the largest buildings to be
destroyed in the town were the Meth.
Odist and Christian churches, two
school buildings, the depot, all bust.
ness blocks and 500 homes. In many
oil them the fronts were blown away,
while in others the roofs were hurled
into space, the sides blown out or
they were left a confused mass Of coll
lapsed wreckage.
A Big Four railroad freight train on
the switch leading TO the mills was
practically destroyed. Three school
buildings were destroyed al Fontanet
pnd Coal Bluff. two miles away. All
we're filled with school children and
every one OF them We're more or less
injured by the collapse OF the build.