Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-03-04
FELT 40 MILES away
Many Distant Places Shaken
by Homestead BIoW-Up.
300 HOUSES DAMAGED
Hundreds of Pounds of Dynamite Let
Go, but Causes Unknown.
BUT FEW PERSONS WERE HURT
Columbia University Professors Say
the Shock Was Heavy Because
Of Atmospheric Conclusion.
BUT FEW PERSONS WERE HURT

NEW YORK. March 4.-Nobody was
killed by the terrific explosion of hundreds
the mouth of the Pennsylvania tunnels in
| Homestead. N. j.. shortly after midnight
Saturday night, although a Waterman was
missing for short time yesterday. and
this gave rise to report that he had been
blown to pieces. The missing man was Geo.
Johnson. He turned up in the morning and
said he hadn't been hurt He was on duty
near the magazine just before the ex-
plosion.
Considering the magnitude Of the ex-
plosion, the injury to life and property was
slight. Four persons were hurt and
removed to the hospital. One Of these was
Waterman who was approaching the
magazine when the explosion occurred.
Three or four hundred of the houses in
Homestead, Union Hill and vicinity were
more or less badly damaged, most of them
having their windows blown out and the
weather boarding ripped of. 1t was sur
prise to many yesterday morning to learn
that the damage caused by the explosion,
which was heard in Greenwich, Conn, forty
miles away, was not greater than this.
Atmospheric Conclusion.
Why the shock carried SO far was ex-
planned by professors in the School OF
Mines at Columbia University on the theory
that it was due to atmospheric conclusion
rather than to earth vibrations. Being
heavy and damp, the air was in excellent
condition on Saturday night for the trans
mission of the shock for long distances.
Then, too, the hill which rises perpendicu-
larly at the rear of the meadow in which
the dynamite magazine was located acted
as wall through which the atmospheric
wi hrnf ~ nf.of nr,1
sounding board, which threw the coneus-
sion out across the river over New York
to the eastward. Under these ideal condi-
tons, combined with the fact that the ex-
sors declared that it was not remarkable
that the conclusion was felt forty miles
away from the scene.
Three Theories.
What caused the explosion has not been
ascertained. There are three theories given
for it. There were two distinct shocks, but
it was the dynamite which went off to cap
the climax which caused all the ruin and
the noise
Working Boss Frank Henry of the tunnel
plant said yesterday the indications were
that one of the four compressed air tanks
in the power house blew up first and that
the defamation set off the dynamite. This
theory was untenable as the tanks were
found intact.
Another explanation current was that
four men were working with giant powder
and that a spark got into the powder and
that the men fled and gave the alarm be-
fore the powder went off and in turn set
off the dynamite.
The third story was that work train
passing the storage house set it on fire
through a spark, and that all the employees
fled before the first explosion took place.
An official investigation will be made within
a day or two to ascertain if possible just
how it occurred.
Houses Badly Damaged.
The main force of the explosion seemed
to carry toward the northeast. The half
dozen houses most seriously damaged are
in that direction. Along Bergenline ave-
nue., Union Hill, the force of the explosion
was very marked, and that Is to the east
and north. One of the most serious losses
is to the Givernaud silk mills All the win
dows on one side were blown in, and the
machinery was showered by broken glass;
and some Of the machinery badly damaged
1t will take a number of days to get ali the
machinery in working order. Meanwhile
the weavers will be idle.
All day yesterday the stores which sold
glass kept wide open, but they could only
sell; they could not agree to put it in, for
the demand was so great.
Those who were skilled in doing 1t were
busy all day cutting glass 10 fit and house.
holders had to make the best shift they
could to put in their windows themselves
Officials of the Pennsylvania railroad
and OF the contracting company visited the
scene of the accident yesterday. Charles
M. Jacobs, chief engineer of the entire tun-
mel work. was at the scene early. He made
a thorough investigation Of the tunnel and
discovered that it was in excellent condi-
ton. He accounted for this by saving the
hard Palisade rock had resisted the shock
William Bradley. who holds the contract
for the construction of that particular part
of the tunnel, also arrived early, but after
making hurried investigation left He re-
fused to make statement to the reporters,
Like the Work Of Cyclone.
All the buildings of the contractors and
the little houses in the neighborhood
looked yesterday as if cyclone had struck
them. The spot where the magazine had
stood was marked by hole about fifteen
feet long, ten feet wide, and four feet deem.
the margin Of which appeared to be rolled
back, like the peel OF an orange that ia
ripped partly off. The boiler house looked
as though 1t would collapse in a heap any
moment. The corrugated plates constituf-
ing the facing hung suspended on a few
nails and the wooden uprights were wah-
bly,. The cement house lay spread ont on
the ground almost as fiat pancake
The stone crusher and the office buildings
appeared intact.
Houses in North Bergen, West Hoboken
and Union Hill townships, within a mile
r.
ance. They looked as though they had
been subjected to a severe bombardment.
All the windows, not a whole pane of
which was left, were covered with boards.
women's skirts, flaring rags, and other ar
ticles as If the inhabitants had seized any
thing in their excitement to shut out the
cold. Many of the houses We're so badly
wrecked that they will have to be rebuilt
or renovated. Some of the streets were
strewn with broken glass and shutters.
Employees of the contracting company
made some remarkable statements about
the explosion yesterday. They said that II
sounded no louder to them than an ordf-
nary discharge. They could give no rea-
son for this, but they persisted in their
statements. They said that they were en-
joying their midnight meal about 1000 feet
away when the explosion came. Some of
them were in the mouth of the tunnel and
others were in shacks near by. They were
aroused from their meal by a report. and
they started out to investigate Then thew
saw the destruction that had been wrought
For the first time they became excited.
from the apprehension of what had han,
pened to their families, who occupy the
houses in the neighborhood, and without
waiting to be dismissed stampeded for their
homes.
Much Destruction.