The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1907-10-22
RUIN SPREAD FAR AND
WIDE BY EXPLOSION
Plant Of Du Pont Powder Com
pany Blows Up atFontanet, Ind.
SHOCK WAS FELT 200 MILES
Three States TremDIe to the Detona-
tion Of Giant Magazines Crash
Victims Burned to Crisp
Over coo Injured,


Fontanet, Ind Upward of fifty
persons were killed, the majority be-
ing blown to pieces 600 persons out
of total population Of 1000 we're in
jured, and every building in this
town was RACED in a series of explo-
sions in the Du Pont Powder Plant,
which eliminated in the blowing up
Of the magazine. containing 10000
barrels Of blasting powder The
force Of this GROWING blast was so
terrific that the earth trembled and
buildings were blown down four miles
distant. A school house in Coal Bluff,
two miles away, was thrown over
and smashed. The teacher and forty
pupils were buried in the wreck. A
passenger train, travelling forty miles
an hour on the line of the Big Four
h Railroad, four miles distant, was al
most thrown from the tracks. Every
window in the train was shattered.
Reports from other points show
that there was widespread terror of
an earthquake. The last and greatest
explosion was heard at points fifty
the greater part of the State and
large sections of Ohio and Illinois
were shaken. In Terre Haute, TWEEN
ty miles as the crow flies, windows
were shattered and ceilings were
shaken down. In Charlottesville,
thirty-five miles away, walls were
cracked and in one large building of
recent construction the tiled floor
sank more than an inch. Great dam
age was done fifteen miles distant in
Brazil There was general flight
from the houses, in the belief of an
earthquake, until at the end of min
ute, there came the distinct roar of the
explosion. In many places the explo-
sion was taken as thunder
Nothing remains of this town to
mark it for what it was Even the
sidewalks have been obliterated. Not
tree stands for two miles around.
Hedges, stone bitches, wire fences,
all have gone There are great
assures in the earth, as if one of the
giants of the ancients had turned
tremendous furrow. Here and there
are great holes like dents in the
ground, and over all the field of DESC
lation is strewn the wreekage of
homes. Doors, rafters, window
frames, bricks, mortar, all are scat
tered fat, with not foot of wall
protruding anywhere. And with this
wreckage Of bare walls and floors are
strewn the furnishings of 400 FAM
lilies. Pianos, beds, tables, chairs,
pictures, clocks, are Gcattered on all
sides, not an article intact, all broken
and cast with a direction as if a
mysterious hand had brushed over
the town and blotted it out.
There were four explosions. To
the devotion of the townsfolk to the
men caught in the mills was due the
heavy loss of life and the appalling
list of injured. With FIRE spreading
rapidly and threatening The magazine,
not a man, woman or child deserted
the town Instead, all gathered
around the plant ready to sacrifice
their lives to rescue those dead and
dying in the wreck of the mills. and
the work was in progress, injured
men being carried out by the score,
when the magazine blew up.
1t was said by survivors that there
was fash, and then it seemed there
was moments suspense, followed
by a crash that struck every person
within radius of mile either
dying or senseless. Those who es-
capped death bIed from ears. noses
and mouths, and the ear drums of
scores were shattered Farmers were
the first to invade the stricken area.
They found the surviving hundreds
beginning to regain their senses. All
communication by telegraph and tele-
phone was cut off, but fortunately the
train which. SO narrowly escaped dis
aster carried the>news to the station
from which it was telephoned to
Terre Haute and Brazil Relief
trains were dispatched within an hour
from those cities, and as quickly as
the injured were picked up they were
Ecarried on stretchers to the trains.
-Four specials bore them to Terre
Haute. The hospitals there were un-
able to accommodate all, and two
schools were impressed as temporary
hospitals.