Omaha daily bee., 1910-12-20
ONE HUNDRED ARE IN HOSPITALS
Property Damaged to Extent of Five
Hundred Thousand Dollars.
BROKEN PIPE CAUSES ACCIDENT
Foundations Are Jared and Walls
Shaken Out of Plumb.
LOSS COVERS VERY WIDE RANGE
street Car Picked Up and Dropped
ON Auto, killing -Four Oeou-
pants-WindOws I'm Many
Buildings Broken.

NEW YORK, Dec. le.-The heart OF Man
haitian island was shaken this morning by
a terrific explosion OF Illuminating gas IN
the auxiliary power house OF the Grand
Central station Nine persons two Of
them women. were killed, l25 we're in
jured and property was damaged to the
extent of $4,000.
-Four workmen who are missing are be-
lieved to have perished and OF 125 in
iured ninety-elght were removed TO hos
pitfalls. OF those eight may die. An In
vestigauon by the police Is under way.
Traffic on the New York Central rail-
road ceased entirely for some hours and
was dsorganized for the remainder OF the
day, but the new station itself now in
process of construction, was not damaged.
The dead:
NICKOIC GALUCCI, laborer
PATRICK NORDAN, laborer
e. b. LlNERMORE, Pullman car IN
C. M'MARROW, Iaborer.
EDITH OFFNER. stenographer.
Ma MARY b; F0PE, residence esd Boston Mass
FRANK STAGG. watchman.
JOHN RYAN, laborer.
The injured include laborers and other
employees Of the railroad. pedestrians, by
ISLANDERS and others In the vicinity of the
accident
Trolley Car Thrown from Track.
A passing surface car. carrying seven
passengers, was lifted from I tracks and
hurled on an automobile running along
side. Four OF the seven passengers were
Killed outright, but the chauffeur OF the
motor car was only cut and bruised
OF the nearly 100 In hospitals, the follow
ing are most seriously injured:
Unidentified woman fractured skull
Michael fractured gkinl1 and in
ternal injuries
Vetta. Abrahamson. fractu.ed skull and
Theresa Lotta, fractured skull and shoul-
der.
John Smith. injuries to the head.
Francis Kelly. policeman, burned and
bruised.
John Cunningham, burned.
Unidentified man, internal injuries.
For some hours It was believed dyna-
mite alone could have wrought such In
stantaneous and demolishing havoc, but
later in the afternoon Fire Chief Croker
said he convinced the whole explosion
was due to a mixture OF air and illumi-
mating gas used in lighting railroad cars.
touched off by an electric spark. The gas
had accumulated in the auxiliary power
house from a broken pipe, snapped off by
runaway passenger car
Foundations were Jared, walls shaken
out of plumb windows blown in by the
thousands. ceilings came crushing down
on the heads Of those beneath and the
pavements were Uttered with pulverized
glass
Loss Half million.
The fun amount Of the property damage
is yet unavailable and may exceed the
rough and conservative estimate of $4,000.
| The loss to the New York Central Rail
road company includes the physical dam
/ ~. f..K.
utterly wrecked the delay to construction
work. and the damage done to cars stand
ing near the power house.
The loss TO shopkeepers and property
owners in the vicinity will spread over
wide range of items.
The explosion, which could be heard for
many blocks, partly wrecked the fire en-
gine house near by and prevented the fire.
men from getting their apparatus into the
/ street. Monsignors Lapette and Hayes and
! Fathers O'Connor. McQuade, sinnott and
Byrnes OF ST. Patrick's cathedral hurried
to the scene and administered the last
rites of the church TO the more seriously
! injured.
! At the postoffice sub-station at Fortieth
street and Madison avenue. the explosion
slightly injured several clerks and threw
the mail all over the floor. In the New
York nursery and Childs' Hospital cell
ings were partly shaken down and the
windows broken. but fortunately none Of
the 800 children there were badly hurt.
Unique Features of Accident
workman was standing on a scaffold
on top OF the power house when the ex-
plosion occurred. The scaffold was
wrenched from under him and as he fell
he grasped a dangling rope, hanging there
until rescued by firemen.
OF the seventeen fremen in the fire
house opposite only one man was injured,
though in adjoining buildings scores were
thrown from their feet and hurt.
A little school giri was about to enter a
} candy store at Fifty-frst street when the
blast came. She was picked up bodily and
carried through the plate glass door OF the
/ store and dropped unlnjured IN front OF the
! candy counter. There was not a scratch
: on her.
There were many rescues by the police
and passers-by.
Fire chief Croker said II would be al
least day before his men can get at the
bottom Of the debris covering the Lsttery
room. where the explosion occurred and
where the bodies OF five missing workmsu
are supposed to be-
Girls Leg Blown OF.
Patrolman Toomey was on Lexington
avenue car when the shock came, Just
ahead Of him girl was killed, one OF hei
llegs being blown off. wsile ToOmey him
self was blown clear across the street and
his uniform almost completely torn from
him. He got up and was starting TO hell
. IN the rescue work when he fell uncon
r sciOus.
gang Of more than fifty bHcklay er'
Z sixty feet IN the air on the big poweI
! building near the scene OF the explosion
had a remarkable escape from death OF
serious injury. An air cushion formed bs
! by the explosion below, hoisted up the biz
o. scaffold on which they were wording
tilted It inwardly and tossed the men oyel
the wall they were building and on firm
I scaffolding constructed on the inside. OnA