Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-03-31
HOBOKEN IS SHAKEN UP
viaduct Pier Dynamited by
Foes of Builders.
DWELLINGS ARE WRECKED
Men. Women and Children Are
Thrown Out of Bed.
MANY REMARKABLE ESCAPES
Curious Effects of Explosion-Walls
Knocked Down by Flying
Fragments.
DWELLINGS ARE WRECKED
MANY REMARKABLE ESCAPES


attributed to the malicious act of labor
sympathizers, seriously damaged the big
new Hoboken v;aduct at $50 O'Clock this
morning and imperiled the lives OF scores
of persons living nearby.
Many had narrow escapes from flying
fragments of the viaduct structure. There
were no injuries save numerous slight
Commissions and cuts from flying glass
Windows and chmneys were wrecked
for blocks around. One dwelling. that at
35S 18th street, was well nigh demolished
Unknown parties. thought to be union
sympathizers. hostile to the contractors,
blew up one of the abutments Of the
viaduct piers with dynamite. The heavy
concrete base of the pier, eight feet
square and twenty feet deep underground,
was shaken in it's place and partly shat
tered.
The steel bridge support rising from it
was twisted up like SO much old wire
The upper structure of the viaduct
though still resting on the neighboring
may take months to repair.
The explosion took place at $3.50 o'clock.
1t shook the whole neighborhoOd, threw
men. women and children out of bed,
broke all the window panes within a
radius of many blocks. threw down a lot
of brick chimneys and started panic
among the Hobokenites, who thought that
quake disaster.
Gashed by Glass.
One man was severely injured by falling
glass. Henry Freeze, thirty-eight years
old. living at 1404 Clinton street, within a
block of the explosion, was thrown out of
bed and badly gashed about the body and
head by glass from his windows as he
fell.
OF several houses wrecked by the ex-
plosion, the most severely handled was
i5S 14th street. The structure is a three
story affair 1t presents strange ap-
pearance at present.
One side looks If it had served as
big gun target. Chunks of concrete and
its walls. Chimneys were shaken down
and windows were blown in Through
them can be seen the walls shaken bare
of every bit of plaster.
The escapes of the inmates of the
wrecked building were remarkable. AL
though the sleeping rooms were every one
of them riddled by fragments of steel and
concrete. only single person was injured
of the dozen or SO in the building. Mrs.
Rosa Young was struck by a fragment in
thesleft knee and slightly hurt.
Remarkable Escape.
The most surprising escape was that of
Walter Pilgrim, twenty years old, the son
of Mr.. and Mrs. Frederick Pilgrim, on the
first floor. Young Pilgrim was sleeping in
| a room looking out on the viaduct. His
bed was against the wall of the house,
A volley of fragments burst in and shot
both legs off one side of his bed. throw
ing him to the floor. He was dazed, but
not hurt.
After the dust cleared away and he
picked himself up, he saw his bedclothes
sticking in the oppo:lte wall They had
been picked up and carried away by one
of the chunks of steel, which buried it.
self in the wall, pinning the bed clothes
there, where they remain at present, a
curiosity viewed by a throng of neigh
bors
Frederick Pilgrim and his wife Rosa
had bits Of steel whizzing through their
room, too. They were not hurt, save by
slight bruises from falling plaster.
On the second floor lived August Young.
his wife, Rosa. and their son, August
Young, jr., twelve years old. A twelve
pound fragment of iron from the shoe at
the base of the wrecked pillar came
through the wal anu liuiIcOldlciy OcuUcu
itself a few feet from the sons head
where he lay in bed.
Living Quarters Wrecked.
The Yeungs' quarters were completely
wrecked. with even the furniture broken
or overthrown. The same thing happened
at the fiat of Walter Blackwell. on the
third floor
At 14OG Clinton street near the corner
out of her bed, on TIL. first floor, by the
force of the explosion. Harry G-itenburg,
sleeping too near the window on the sec
ond floor, was cut by ass.
The only man to be found who saw the
explosion is Otto Wrannock, a watch
man in the employ of the contractors. Ac-
cording to Wrannock's account, he was
facing the piers some seventy-five feet
off. when the explosion occurred
He says that he saw neither the burn
ing of a fuse previous to the big flash
nor any persons hanging around or run
ming away just previous to the explosion.
A three-story brick building, the electric
fittings factory of Alois M. Lutz. at Clin-
ton and 18th streets. bore the brunt of the
explosion and acted as shield for sew
eral dwellings nearby. Nobody was In
the factory at the time. 1t suffered less
severely than dwelling houses owing to
Its more solid construction.
Manager Belittles Damages.
General Manager Simmons, in charge
of the viaduct work for the contractors,
said there were possibly fifty men en-
ployed on the steel structure and as many
more nearby on the cement work and ex-
cavation All, he said, were at present
non-union men.
The firm after labor troubles on other
contracts had gone in for non-union labor
entirely The firm had had bridge
blown up some time ago in East Buffalo,
which it was building for the Lehigh Val
ley railroad over the New York Central
tracks there, and had attempted to bring
local labor organization to justice for
the damage done.
Manager Simmons denied all knowledge
contractors regarding the Hoboken via
duct and belittled the damage done to
the structure. In his opinion a small sum
would cover the costs, he said.
The active work of construction hao
been going on for about seven months
he said. There was still plenty of time
to arrange for repairs within the con-
tract dates.
The structure that underwent injury is
viaduct about five-eighths of a mile
long. scaling the Hoboken heights and
establishing communication on an incline
between Hoboken and the settlements at
the top of the hill.
Non-Union Labor Employed.
A contracting concern. the McClintic-
Marshall Construction Company OF Pitts
burg and New York is carrying on the
construction of the viaduct. 1t has
been running a non-union shop.