New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1908-11-21

neighborhood were scurrying TO safety from the
shifting sides of the trench under ground four
men were escaping from death in a most dra-
matte manner. They were Albert Strand. Of
No 1856 East Firth street. Manhattan: Abel
Johnson OF No. 179 East 12Sth street. Manhat-
tan: K James Green. of No III East 109th
street Manhattan and James r. SohnwaId. Of
No. $50 East 121st street. Manhattan. They
were working in the sewer near Gold street
when the explosion occurred. What followed
Strand afterward described as follows
1.-The first thing twisting or the
Snoring and then came the noise Of the great
explosion Then the fire shot through the part
of the sewer that was not finished, and the
earth began to cave in. Our foreman. Gus
Anderson, some distance back of US. We
heard him give a yell and in a second the earth
and the fire were him. We could not see him
after that.
"Our only chance was through the completed
section Of the sewer that led to the river, 50 we
jumped for it. The explosion had broken the
big water main, and the water came rushing
down upon us We got to the finished section
Of the sewer and then made our way along as
fast as we could the water rushing with us.
IT. was dark all about and stumbled over
blocks OF wood and other things that had not
yet been cleared away. All the time the water
was rising in the sewer, and by the time we had
gone a block it was over our knees. The river
front was three blocks away.
When we got about block and half along
the route we saw open manhole and began
to shout. We got answer. and, as we had no
ladder we could not reach the manhoe. 1t was
no use to stay there and yell without being
heard so we scrambled along again toward the
river front The water by this time was up to
waists. When we got to the river front
and the sewer outlet we found bulkhead there
that had been built to keep the river water from
coming in while the sewer being dug. We
climbed over this and from the top OF II climbed
up on the pier. The water UP TO our necks
when we reached the bulkhead, and had We
been minute later in getting there we must
all have been drowned"
ALL OTHERS PERISH.
Besides these men, every other person caught
in the excavation must inevitably either have
smothered drowned or burned to death.
AS soon as the stunned neighborhood recov-
cred a little. word was sent TO the Fire and Po-
lice departments. Inspector Hollahan. with
half a dozen police captains and all the re-
serves that he could reach, started Immediately
to the scene Deputy Chief Lally turned out
with scores of firenen. Six or seven ambulances
rushed to the scene from the neighboring hos
pitfalls.
The situation that faced the fremen and po
Icemen was a hopeless one, In so far as saving
life was concerned. The cries that had at first
arisen from the crater were silent The vic
Tins were buried perhaps twenty feet heiow
the timbers and the sand
The first thing that the police did on arrival
was to clear the tenants out of the houses on
each side Of the big hole. The tenants were
Italians for the most part. and they refused to
leave their possessions. In some cases the
notice even had to beat down doors 10 get the
tenants out.
Atsfhe request OF the gas company. the tele- |
nbone conpanv set a force of sixty girls at |
work warning subscribers in the danger zone |
of the explosion and the urgent necessity OF
consumers being sure that all gas cocks were
turned OF until the break in the main had been
repaired.
CAUSE 4 MYSTERY
As soon as they had to the safety of
the people the officers turned their attention to |
learning who was responsible for the catas- |
trophe Patrick McEvoy. a foreman OF the gas |
company had hurried to the trench with a |
number OF laborers and was busily employed in !
'basging" the broken gas mains and cutting of |
their streams Of FIRE when the police pounced |
ON him and carried him off to the station, in |
spite of his expostulations. There they charged |
him with homicide. The gas company hurried |
w sent another man to take his place.
Another arrest was that OF John J. Haggerty, |
of the contracting firm of Haggerty & Rogers, |
Of Manhattan, which is building the sewer.
Both McEvoy and Haggerty were arraigned on |
the same charge before Magistrate Higginboth-
am in the Adams street police court. and were |
held in $1,000 bail each This was furnished. |
Their cases will be heard on Tuesday. Five
italians of the neghborhod were also taken TO
police headquarters. where they were examined
by Acting Captain Kuhne of the Detective Blu |
reau. under the impression that they might
know something about the explosion. It was
rumored at first that the explosion had been
caused by disgruntled discharged Italian work
men.
Exactly what caused the explosion is not
Known. General James Jourdan, president of
he gas company. who visited the scene of the
catastrophe, said he was sure his mains had not
primarily caused the explosion.
MAY HAVE BEEN GAS LEAK.
His theory is that the workmen in remov- |
ng the stays and snoring, caused a sagging OF
he gas mains. which were placed on the sur
ace during the building of the sewer for the
ake of convenience and that leak resulted |
The people of the neighborhood say that they
lave been troubled with esca ping gas for DAYS
They believe that the loose sand and the sewer
With its sheathing, had become saturated with |
sas, and that a workman's pipe or a short-cir-
uitlng of electric wires had caused the blast
Another theory Is that the explosion was not
aused by Illuminating gas at all. but by the
accumulation of marsh gas-the common name
II the explosive gas which collects naturally in
he bottoms of deep excavations
A J. Griffin. one of the engineers of the Sewer
Department, who was on the scene early. said.
IT is very likely that spark from one of the