Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1909-05-13
70 MEN KILLED
BY DYNAMITE
Premature Explosion Of 1000
Pounds Tore the Bodies into
Fragments.
PREPARING IMMENSE BLAST
Callahan Road Improvement 60. Ha,
Rren Working for Six Weeks 10
DiSpiace 4O.OOO Tons Of Rock
with 5000 Pounds of Dy-
nnniite

!
were killed by premature blast % dy-
Mantle this afternoon in n stone quarry
operated by the Callahan Road lmproy e.
! ment company near tho village of South
Bethlehem II miles southwest Of Albany
! II was at first believed that the dea tn
ioli would reach 30 but tonight several
/ italian workmen who had been reported
as missing, were accounted for and it Is
rot believed that more than score Of
lives were lost.
/ The dead.
John Hoyt Callahan. vice-president and
, tany.
/ Charles D. Callahan. brother Of the
manager, Albany.
/ Leroy Mcmillan, assistant superintend-
trt. Noorheesville
! John Hendrickson, steam drill foreman n,
south Bethlehem
Fred Snyder, master mechanic South
Bethlehem
James Maloney blacksmith south
got hlehem
William Baumes. fireman. South Beth
| l.tem.
/ Fred ApperI. agent of the National
Powder company. New York
( Twelve Italian workmen
| One thousand pounds of dynamite eX-
| ploded, scattering the bodies of the
victims for hundreds of feet around nd
| il was with difficulty that the blackened.
dismembered remains mutilated almost
beyond recognition. We're identified AS
darkness was falling wagon drew up
10 the engine house loaded with bodies
that had been picked up back on the
quarry hill crowd Of grief stricken
| relatives gathered around eager to
| identify the dead. only To turn away a.
the sickenng sight. Clothing hung in
shrcds from the bodies from which the
heads OF some were missing: others
/ lacked arms or legs or both
Italians with shovels searched here and
there for portions of bodies bringing their
gruesome loads in boxes to the enigma
| house which served as n temporary
inorgue. G. p. Bacell the local Italian
consul. and doctors and undertakers were
early on tho scene. The bodies Of the TWO
Callahan brothers Fred snyder and Fred
Iappert were among the first To be
| identified
The Callahan Road Improvement COM
panv does large business furnishing
crushed stone for road building. and pre-
parations FOR to-day's blast which was
scheduled to take place at i've o'clock
this afternoon had been going on for six
weeks. Thirteen holas Ave inches in
diameter and about 75 feet deep had been
drilled at point about ~ feet hack of the
face Of the big quarry. The dspla cement
was expected to amount to nearly a, ono
tons Of rock and over 5000 pounds of
dynamite were to have been ,ised
The workmen had placed 800 pound
charges in six of the holes and were
working on the seventh when few min
ll'es before two O'Clock. there was ter
'ihc explosion hurting tons of rocks into
TIE air and scattering the bodies of the
victims IN all directions several o. the
men were engaged in pumping water oUt
of the holes Other We're placing the
charges Of dynamite. while the Officers
were standing nearby directing the work.
Another force OF men were carry ing dv-
ramite from the store house some dis
lance away when the death dealing blast
which was caused by the premature
disc harge OF a percussion cap exploded.
llouses in the vicinity were shaken, win
dows shattered and CONSERVATION reign
ei in the little village half mile away
Another gang OF workmen AT work at
tho foot Of the quarry fed 'or their lives
eail whether or not any of them met
death as q result % the shower OF rocks
hurled down upon them. The foreman in
charge said tonight that he thought
two Of the men were killed
Soon after the explosion fire was dis
covered in the woods in which the
dynamite store house wHs located and
II was feared for time that the flames
might reach the building in which a
carload of explosives were stored hut
the hre was extinguished before the
danger was reached
It developed that i've OF the great
charges OF dynamite remained uuex-
ploded in the quarry. This rendered some
whet difficult the search for bodies the
workmen fearing further explosions,
The Callahan brothers were well
known in Albany where they maintain
ed the company's office during the win
ter months, moving to South Bethlehem
when the seasons work opened.