The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-10-15
NOT ONE LEFT
Every House i'm FOntanet, Ind,
Is Destroyed
By the Blowing Up Of the Du-
pOnt Powder Mills.
FROM 25 TO 80 DEAD.
One Hundred Injured and SOU
Persons Homeless.
All Those Killed We're Working
in the Mills.
Injured Were Found Scattered
in All Directions.
Injured Were Found Scattered
in All Directions.
FREIGHTTRAINB BURNS
Farm House Wrecked 81 OF a
Mile Away.
Shock Cracked a Brick wall
35 Miles Distant.

Brazil Ind Oct. 15.-From 20 10 0o
persons dead and dying, 100 persons III
iurcd. and every house in F9ntanet oes
troyed rendering several hundred peo-
pic homeless is the result of an eHploS-
ion of the power mills of the DuponI
Powder company. near Fontanel' al
9:15 O'Clock today. The first explosion
occurred in the glazing mill of the plant
at 9:15 Quickly following the othef
mills blew up, there being three as
tinct conclusions at intervals of a feW
minutes.
In the mills at the time rs to so men
were at work. When the glazing mill
went I'D the men ran for their lives
frora the other mills and many thus
escaped death. but received serious in
iuries At the first explosion the in
habitants of the town ran from the
buildings ard thus saved themselves.
No one was killed in the town although
there is not a building left standing.
At 10:45, ninety minutes after the
first explosion. the heat from the burn
ing mills exploded the great powder
magazine situated in hollow several
hundred yards from the mills. 1t con-
tanned many thousand kegs of powder
and the concussfonr was even greater
than those from the explosions of the
mills .s-ss.e--
Among those injured from the maya
zine explosion were several physicians
who were at work among the dead and
dying
A freight train standing on the siding
leading to the powder mills was partly
destroyed by the conclusion and took
fire.
The heat from the burning mills and
freight train was so great that it was
impossible to remove Inanyo of the bodies
from the wreckage
Not House Left
Eighteen mangled bodies were taxi
en- to the morgue to await identif1ca-
ton. Injured We're found scattered
everywhere and were collected and
relief given as rapidly as possible.
Not house is left standing in the
town. Fronts, roofs, sides and even
foundations of many buildings have
been blown to atoms Great holes
are torn in the ground, fences have
vanished and household goods from
the ruins are in confused heaps of de-
bris in all directions. The people of
the town who had rushed from their
homes at the first explosion were
saved because of this The 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. 1t was burned almost to a
crisp, but the man was still alive and
begged for someone to shoot him and
put him out of his misery. He lived
but a few minutes. The bodies of two
other employees, V. S. Dial and his son
), were found near Carroll. Will Dali
ton was found unconscious, his body
badly mangled. He can not live
Charles Wells, engineer on the freight
train. is badly injured He is burned
nd hi Iaf loo ieyf fra of IaJ-
school building a quarter of a mile
from the mills, was wrecked and
many of the children within were in
jured, some seriously, but none fatal
ly. A farm house three-quarters of a
mile away was totally destroyed.
Fontanet is a mining town of 500 in
habitants, situated on the Big Four
railroad eighteen miles east of Terre
The explosion Interrupted telephone
communication with outside points
Assistance was asked for at once and
physicians with bandages left both
places in carriages and automobiles to
render aid.
Superintendent Monahan of the
mills is missing and is believed to
have been blown to pieces and his
body burned.
Windows Shattered at Brazil.
Brazil, Ind, Oct. 15.-Three distinct
explosions were heard here today from
the direction OF the F'ontanet powder
mills, fifteen miles away. Many win
dows wers shattered III the business an6
residence districts. All of the plate win
COWS in the Citizens bank building
were destroyed.
Felt in Indianapolis.
Indianapolis, Ind. Oct. 15.-The
shock from the explosion at Fontanet
was felt in this city. At Crawfords-
Vile, 35 miles from Fontanet, the
shock cracked a brick wall and sank
filing in floor one inch. All telephone
connection with Fontanet is lost and
parties have left Terre Haute and
Brazil in automobiles to learn the de-
tails. 1t is reported, but not confirmed.
that twenty-five people were killed.
Thought 1t an Earthquake.
Cincinnati. O., Oct. IA slight shock
similar to that of an earthquake was
noticed here at $3.50 this morning. Prof
Porter of the University of Cincinnati
reporting it very slight, but distinctly
noticeable. In southern Indiana sew
eral points reported shock in some
what more severe form and it was also
reported from Hamilton, o.