Los Angeles herald., 1910-12-20
NEW YORK SHAKE N
BY CAS- EXPLOSION
THAT KILLS TEN
Shock from Blast at Grand Cen.
traI Station, First Thought
Dynamite, Felt 2 Miles
Associated Pressl


morning by a terrific explosion of il
Illuminating gas in the auxiliary power
house of the Grand Central station.
Ten persons. two of them women
were killed. 125 We're injured and prop
erty was damaged to the extent of
from $2,00O000 to s3.000,000.
Four workmen who are missing are
believed to have perished, and of the
125 injured 9S were removed to hospi-
tails OF those eight may die. An in
vestigation by the police is under way.
Traffic on the New York Central
railroad ceased entirely for some hours
and was disorganized for the rest of
the day, but the new station itself.
now in process of construction, was
not damaged
NICOLI GALUCCI. laborer.
PATRICK JORDAN, laborer.
E. 3. LIVERAORE, Pullman car in
spector.
c. McMARROW. laborer.
EDITH OFFNER. stenographer.
MARY POPE of Boston, Mass.
CHARLES ROBERTS, expressman.
FRANC STAGG, WatChman.
JOHN RYAN, laborer.
GUTHER TOMBSTONE, electrician.
The injured include laborers and
other employees of the railroad, pedes-
trians. bystanders and others in the
vicinity of the accident.
CAR THROWN ON AUTO
A passing surface car, carrying
seven passengers, WAS lifted from Its
trucks and hurled on an automobile
running alongside. Four of the seven
passengers were killed outright, but
the chauffeur of the motorcar was only
cut and bruised.
For some hours it was believed
dynamite alone could have wrought
such instantaneous and demollShlng
havoc but late in the afternoon Fire
Chief Croker said he was convinced
the explosion was due to a mixture of
air and Illuminating gas, used in light
ing railroad cars. touched off by an
electric spark. The gas had accumu-
lated in the auxiliary power house
from a broken pipe snapped off by a
runaway passenger car.
The force of the explosion ran north
and south from one to two miles along
the rocky ridge that is the backbone
of the island and east and west later
ally for a mile.
Foundations were Jared. walls were
shaken out of plumb, windows were
blown in by the thousands, ceilings
came crashing down on the heads OF
those beneath and the paVements were
The loss to shop keepers and prop
erty owners in the vicinity will spread
over a wide range of items. Christmas
displays were blown backward into
the shops, sucked into the street or cut
to ribbons by flying glass. Whole
fronts Of buildings were left without
a window.
HOW DISASTER OCCURRED
As nearly as can be determined this
is how the accident occurred:
A train of empty passengers cars
hauled by an electric motor, in charge
of Albert SeagTOatt, got out of con-
troll, crashed into a steel and concrete
buffer post, snapped it off and rcmmcd
pile of lumber behind it into a gas
main connecting with the gas from
which the tanks of passenger cars are
charged. In the interval before the eX-
losion the broken main had ample time
to pour high pressure gas into the low
or levels of the auxiliary powerhouse.
When WOrkmcn set to clearing away
the lumber it is assumed that one OF
them dropped a steel tool across the
third rail, there was a fash of electric
ity and the great reservoir OF accumu-
lated gas exploded.
What happened then will never be
positively known. The roof of fire
house No. >, directly across the street
from the poWerhouse, lifted like a
magic carpet A shower of glass, bricks,
mortar and spintered timbers began
to fan on the paVements and in an in
'stant the streets We're filed with pros
trate men and women blown fiat by the
shock and the rush of the air. They
sat dazed whore they fell, picking
slivcrs from their flesh.
The tenements TO the east Of LeXing-
ton avenue poured thousands into the
streets.
Whole houses were omptied in A
twinkling. the tall facades of the many
fashionable hotels in the neighborhoOd
were spotted with faces of half-dressed
guests. shaken from their sleep, peering
from broken windows.