Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1909-12-08
MEN ARE ANNIHlLATED
Twenty -seven Worknen Killed When
Hamburg Gas Tank ExpIodes-Many
Others lnjured-survivors Plunge
Into Water.

Hamburg, Dec. 8.-THenty-seven
blazing, shrieking human skyrockets
'hurtled across Hamburgs water front
late yesterday, impelled by the explo-
sion Of the largest gas reservoir in the
world. Their doom was heralded by a
crashing roar which made the city
think for dazed, shrieking moment
that an earthquake had happened.
And then, higher than the highest
building in Hamburg, a sheet Of red
and green, and purple flame curled into
the heavens and obliterated even the
aerial trail of sparks which was all
they had left behind to remind the
world that only moment before they
had been living workmen.
The gas reservoir which exploded
was not completed, and had it con-
tained its full capacity of 100000 feet
Of gas, instead of only 100000 cubic
feet, which had been admitted for test
ing purposes, it's explosion might have
wiped out an entire district of the city.
It is supposed the explosion was
caused when the jar of the pneumatic
hammers with which the workers were
fastening rivets In the outer jacket
caused fissure to open in its con-
tanning walls. The gas apparently
rushed out and into the retort house,
where it was ignited from the open
furnaces.
The fire department from the entire
city was enroute to the scene before
an alarm had been turned in thru reg
ular channels. The explosion called
them all, but when they arrived with
the most modern apparatus it was sew
eral hours before they could get into
action on the flames, which meanwhile
destroyed another large tank and
caused a second explosion.
The crowds had been driven from the
vicinity, however, and no one was In
jured by the second explosion, with
the exception of several persons far
away from the scene who We're slightly
burned by bits of blazing debris, which
fell all over the city. Red hot frag-
ments of iron and coke were thrown
out over the harbor and fell aboard
many ships, where they were cooled
with buckets of water before any fires
were started by them.
The explosion shattered houses HedT
the gasworks and windows dropped
from their castings and were shattered
several miles distant. Several dwell
lings near the fire were burned after
they had been shaken to the ground
in ruins as if by an earthquake.
When the flames had subsided suf-
ficiently to permit the approach of the
firemen they We're extinguished and
then it was found that more than forty
workmen, painfully burned and in
many cases seriously injured, had
managed to crawl sto safety in water
tanks in the inciesure. These were
pulled from the water, then so hot as
to cause them intense agony. and were
removed to hospitals, where it is feared
several of them will die.
Ten of the twenty-seven killed in
the explosion were found by the fire
men. They were so horribly burned
and torn as to be almost beyond iden-
tification. Among the seventeen whose
bodies have not yet been recovered is
the chief engineer of the gas works,
who was on the scaffolding supervising
the workmen. Fear is expressed that
the other bodies may never be recov-
cred, as it is more than probable that
the men literally were blown to atoms
by the force of the explosion.