The daily morning journal and courier., 1907-10-16
EXPLOSION WIPES
 TOWN OFF MAP Half a Hundred Persons Killed and Six Hundred More or
 Less Injured.
CAUSED BY BLOWING UP OF POWDER WORKS
Every Building Wholly or Par italy Destroyed Survivors
 Sleeping in Tents.

 the explosion of the plant of the Du- pont Powder company The dead number from twenty-five to fifty More than six hundred persons were injured and every building in the town was wholly or partially leveliod to the ground.
 Where stood thriving and busy town of 1000 people this morning to- night there is ruin and scattered wreckage. The dead and more seri- ously injured have been taken away. 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. seven in number, blew up at 9:15 this morning, They employed 200 men, and of these seventy-fve were at work when the first explosion occur red in the press mill. In quick suc- cession the glazing mills. the two coinlng mills and the powder mngA- zine blew up, followed by the cap mill. In the magazine, situated sev- eral hundred yards from the mills, were stored 10000 kegs of powder I When it blew up the coneussion was felt nearly 200 miles away.
 Farmhouses two miles away and schoolhouses equally distant were torn to pieces and their occupants in- jured. A passenger train on the Big :. Four railroad four miles away had every coach window broken and sev- eral passengers were injured by flying glass,
 Following is a list of the identified dead:
 A. B. Monahan, general superin- tendent; Mrs. A. B. Monahan, Mrs. Monahan's sister, George Justice, John Bobo, George Bobo, William Sherrill, Henry Harrington. Sylvester Dial, Ad Webster, sammy Nevins. Yates, Win Dalton.
 The mills went up with three dis tinct explosions, followed ninety nin- utes later by fourth, even more seri- ous than the others when the maga- zine went up. Immediately following the explosions the wfeckage caught fire end the inhabitants of the town who rushed to the rescue of the mill en- ployes found themselves powerless to aid those burning in the ruins. They worked frantically In constant danger from possible succeeding explosions unmindful of their ruined homes. Dead and dying were picked up and collect ed. Eighteen bodies burned and man. gled were earted to a protected spot to await Identification while the badly injured, numbering upward of fifty, were put on a special train and taken to Terre Haute for hospital treatment. Nearly all of the 1000 inhabitants car- ried blood on their hands and face from their own wounds or those of others whom they assisted.
 The mills were located one mile south of the town. With the first explosion the employees ran for safety. but most of them were killed or wounded by the quick following explosions in the other milrs. When the heat from the burn ing mills exploded the giant powder magazine later, practically destroying the town by the eoncussion, many of those engaged in rescue work were badly injured and several killed
 Superintendent Monahan of the plant was killed while sitting in the office and his wife and sister-in~law were killed, in their home, some distance away. That the death list is not far greater is due to the fact that the peo- ple of the town had left their houses at the first explosion and were in them when the explosion of the 10000 kegs of powder in the magazine shattered their homes and piled their household goods in heaps of debris.
 Among the buildings totally destroy- ed in this town were the Methodist and Christian churches, the depot all business blocks, including a large block just completed, a large warehouse and 500 residences,
 The fronts and sides of many were blown away, the roofs of others wero hurled into space, while some were re- duced to a mass of collapsed wreck age.
 the switch leading to the mills was partially destroyed by the explosion and the wreckage caught fire Engin- ger Charles Wells was badly burned, and received a fracture of the right 1 leg.
 Three school buildings were destroyed two at Fontanet and one at Coal Bluff | two miles away. All were filled with l school children and every one of these were more or less injured by the col | lapse of the buildings.
 A four-room schoolhouse was torn to pieces and not one of the two hun dred children escaned unhurt None ! was fatally hurt The school building ! at Coal Bluff was turned over and l collapsed. The teacher and ninety pu- 1 pills were moreor less injured. l The force of the explosion destrov- | ed all telephone communication with theoutside towns, and it was with great | difficulty that aid was summoned
 Terre Haute and Brazil sent phvsi- clans and nurses with supplies in car l riages and automobiles across conn trv. while special trains were made up and run over the Big Four railroad | for the care of the injured
 Governor Hanlv at Indianapolis or dered the Terre Haute company of the i Indiana National guard here to patrol the ruined district and protect life and property. The governor arrived +his l ti,,o -AN