The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-11-10
ELEVEN OIL TANKS BLOW UP
PILLARS or FIRE LIGHT IP
THE RAY AND SHORES.
0n- Wan KILLED when Tank He Mas stand.
Ing d, ip Constable Hook Let go
Governors island Feared . Maya.
zinc in tBue Of the Fort, Had Exploded.

GoSernorS island Feared . Mawa.
zinc in Bne Of the Fort, Had Exploded.
Over in the mushroom he'd OF oil tanks
on Constable Hook a 1000 barrel tank
blew mp with a roar NJ 5 IS O'Clock LAST
night. and just al the minute that the
towering column Of fir" signallad 10 "a
Of the lower hav and Staten Island that
something had happened IN the ward:
Of tn. Tidewat OIl Company othr'
tanks in IN. vicinity began exploding
their tops and burned until ~" La i~op
Of IiNo barrels ur wafer " hr- ,r~lsan-
had been consumed
One man lost his life n. was Charles
Belitz. "A sirlI runner. via" hV"d al Ave-
nue. r. and Tw.ntv-"ighth street R,vonnc
When last s.-n altN " hrvEs n lning WI hin
ten feet Of the first tank II go OF The,
hours after the fire mad - ir'c-l ne boS!r.
charrcd 20 n small cin,irr. va. founi
80 feet away from IN" ruins oi the burned
rs'centl"l" Until far into N" night
crowd nf Polish women stood and wI'!o
a. th" gates. clamorng ihi' ihsl- his'
bands We're missing, nut ~" officers o.
IN. oil company r-portsi that asi'ls
from the man who had Keen i;il"i m one
Was missing
IL was Tank - m Yard :: which ga-o
IN. signal for the general heavy CON
Donading by tn" other ten By spon-
tancous combustion. 80 the officials ~
The Tid.w alter company believe The oii
which filed TN. big galvanized iron tank
Ia the brIm became. ignited without
an instant's warning the heavy top blew
"A IN. tank. fully n hundred feet in ths
air and It landed 100 feet away in thu
nest of other tanks Of the same ward.
The report of the explosion was rrensn-
dous All Of Staten Island heard ~.
the amateur seismograph experts on thu
Battery in New York began computing
the number Of thai earthquake and tho
noise carried far back into New Jersey.
So severe was the defamation when the
Il rst Of the oil tanks blew up that the
army officers al Governors Island believed
that there must have been an explosion
In the powder magazine OF one OF the
forts at the Sarrows. Their fears were not
quieted until they had called up the forts
on The telephone and had learned that
nothing had blown up there.
In Bayonne and the Grsenville section
OF Jersey City adjoining Bayonne hum
dreds of windows wer. broken. bric-A-brao
and ornaments were toppled from manteis.
and in some instances chandeliers were
twisted far from their plumb by the freaks
Of the conc,ission. Big cracks started
in the walls Of Public School 81 in Bayonns
and many Of its window sashes were
empt led More than one fimsy tenement
in tn. foreign section of Constable Hook
rocked on its weak foundation. There
was panic among the Polish and Magyar
families Of the workmen employed in tho
oil works.
The minute that the top Of Tank II
went of q column Of fire topped with a
heavy plume Of black smoke shot straight
up toward the stars. then the smoke
twisted and poured snakelike across the
Kill van KuIl Here the burning oil
sprayed down on the tops Of arby tanks.
other explosions followed and before
ten minutes had passed the whole Jersey
shore shone with the eleven fire pillars.
The big siren whistle in the Tidewater
works and that Of the Standard Oil Com
pany's refineries further along on the
Hook beloved the general alarm OF fire.
Tugs and steamers out on the bay be-
tween y, George and the Statue Of Liberty
took up tn. chorus Al the sound OF the
whistles every employee in both refining
plants. bet ween nine and ten Thousand Of
them. took his appointed station accord
ing 10 the fire drill instituted by the re-
iinery managers and all the privat. tirs
fighting applrat, ia both plants was run
out.
Rivers 81 burning oil spread nors
RI pidlv than the streams from high
pressure hose corld turn them back and
every minnie squads Of smoke black en@d
men had To jump Ia avoid some fiery
stream that sped swiftly through he
channels Of the grounds. They directed
most Of their attention to wetting down
'he tops aud sides Of ev"rv other tank in
TN. great n--- NJ steel Jars that encunbers
the Hoox and streams were PLAYED con-
sJantly on the roofs of the Tidswater
r.finerie< which stood only 40 yards
away from Inc nea rest foamng tank.
Tn. red light thai giowed from the great
torches strong that two miles
away from the scene one co',ld read a
NEWSPAPER
" was three hours before she oil had
burned itself away Then tho search
for tn. bodies Of the many supposed to
have been missing was begun. The
saarchers found oyv the remains Of
Beiitz. and a rough census Of the other
workers showed none gone