The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1910-12-20

some pipes that contained gas, and in
that way was responsible. for the eS-
plo~ion
Well said Mr.. Whitman. you have
the right To hold the man il YOU SEQ fit.
but ] will advise You that you haven
the slightest bIt Of evidence against him
and any Justice Of the supreme Court will
release him on "A writ OF habeas corpus
=, Seagroatt Is marrifY and has children
h. has been employed by the railroad
eleven wears
District Attorney Whitman said last
night that h.. did not intend 20 cause
Wholesale arrests He had been early
upon the scene Of IN. accident and after
remaining there more than four hours
h" was unable 10 g'Ie-s ut the real cause
Of the explosion
"ot course there will be an invest ga
ton aside from Ia. Coroner'S invesfiRa-
ton said Mr. Whitman i haven't
the slightest doubt that the New York
Central Will give engineers ready access
10 the premises and upon their report will
depend whether or not the matter Will
be taken befOr. the Grand Jury II II
should be found thar there was dynamite
on the premises without "A permit OF
cours. W.. would act
wAIpoS INvFsrruNT' Rs REPORT
When Fire Commissioner " aldo heard
the explosion he headed his automobile
Tor the scene and when he got here
ne made borough inspection. He asked
the fire marshal. the bureau Of conn
bust iblss. the Municipal Explosives Com
mission and IN. chief electrical engineer
To investigate. Late IN the afternoon
each ~ these agencies made a preliminary
report To- Mr. Waldc
Joseph !. Bnrs.. Inspector - com
bust ibies. reported that his bureau
couldn't state drnnu.ly IN. cause ~ she
explosion lie found thar dynamite
stored "A block from the transfer nlsr
house. gasOlen~ stored between Forty
n!nth and tlf,IrIh stre-,s and hydro
carbon drums III various varts ~ the
warts wer" IN good condition n. added
The theory j. that n derlird hlckiuz
car hrok" N. bumper NJ IN" Su's'h emo Of
III" building. thereby di-c"nn.c'ing the
:Int-"h a.ls mans running parallel with
al 'ra' ~ ia ~" Vsr,
"" find pcrspn- -mellad g1- before the
explosion. and Will" vOrkm"u were. en-
G"avoring 'o puf III. car On the track con
tac' may hnN" been m,de with The third
rnIl. developing a spark which NAV hav.
caused an explosion ~ IoO-. gas In the
debris oi u'lding the pIl~. u evplo-gOfl
mr.. a number ~ m"'Il drums whose con
tents ~" "A n. unable To STATE. until tn. debris
l. r~fnoy.
The report Of ! G. Rennarti electrical
engineer. said that he had NOT discovered
what Ignited the Pintsch gas Mr.
knnnlrd wrote
~ about ten minutes baf0r. : tn" opsr-
"for ~ ia" compressor ssa'ion noticed rhs-
the gauge on hts pn'-Dh gn- mining system
wa rapidly LOWERING. indicating an nm
usual ">'np" "f caS N. Immediately l-f,
The building and started on an inspection
OF the ward 4" locate. II po-. ibI. III" pOint
~ which N" ras was escaping he visited
y considerable portion Of The ward without
discovering the leak. according 10 his state
m"n'. and " a. returning TO his station when
the explosion occurred From the time the
pressur. gauge indicated the escape OF gas
until the explosion occurred there would !
probably escape from the opening at least
20 900 cubic fe"' OF gas. which IN combtna- /
ton with the air would furnish an enor- |,
nous volume OF explosive gas Just what
nnir.d the explosive mixture ~ $ impos- |
sibl" TO determine. Several possible causes |
ar" evident in tho electric light circuits |
carried IN this part Of the yard and build |
inv anv on" Of which may have broken |
80 a. 20 form an arc when rho foundai ion |
was struck by the car Any open fame
however. would b. sufficient TO carIs. tho
!" Nplo-ion
Fire Marshal W l.. Bees embodied in
his report that Of Assistant Fire Mars hal
Peter X kilgnlicn who was on the scene
twenty minutes after the az cdent and who
said.
The yard crew had been backing down
"a track No -. ward No ,. a dead train
which seemingly had got from under con-
rOl of The, 'rEin crow. and running into n
bumper AZ Ia" end OF the track. breaking
- me-. and. continuing: oolliG.d with "A p.I-
ar supporting III" sup"T-tructIr. Of rh.
pUilling. 'aiistLr ia" hr"aking Of a A.. iusb
ga main which was used tor cOnvcviAr-
PInt-, gl' The yard crew ~ "nd"aycA-
ng =" r"-'"r" 'h'- car to ~. tract caused
he ignition of he .s' apinH Ra-
In my opinion Marshal Beers re-
ported. the primary cause II thi. acct
lent was ID" loss of control II the dead
rain
Tn. Municipal xplOsives Commission
Dpinnd TINT the explosion was caused
~ th. ignition 81 large body Of loose
gas iprobably Pintsch gas. used for
ghtiDR railway carr (which had escanei
rom - broken main underneath the
station What tba
.Hnc' ca'ise Of the ignition 81 this gas was
Ne ire ~ vet unabI'. to say
Assistant District ATTORNEY Gs,ru.
n Iay"lle Rnb Coroner HoIrzhR,Iser con-,
inIci III" investigation =; tho fag, Fifty
irs' 'ir""' station last night Robar,
idan'tOn. Mayor G:yn0r's Srcrc,ary
md D".UIty Commits ioner D-ir ~olI ,ys-e
pre- cant rroHt 81 the time
William A Nhiih.li. "a "nplovae ~
he Nov iore cntral who hlq hri ch.-9e
II tho pinteph RAs tank NJ Fort =. a...,...sL