New-York tribune., 1910-12-20

He was placed under arrest Dy tne COZ
oner after the hearing. but was later re-
leased by Magistrate O'Conner when ar
raisned in the Yorkcflle police court no
was taken from court to the Coroner'
ofice. In the Criminal Courts buiiuins'
| and there discharged by Coroner rem
berg, at the suggestion of District As-
| torney Whitman. pending furtner III
vestigation OF the explosion.
| SeaSrott told a straightforward story
before the court and to the coroners
He said he had been shunting the train
about the tracks in the yard TO Irs 'he
brakes as was the custom before TAXING
trains out He said the brakes oidh
work we'll as he came up the tIAch
toward the buffer ct the substation. ana
his car slipped along the rails ana
crashed through the buffer He ao-
mitted. however. that he had no sand IN
the sand box, which Is usually placed
there in order to give the wheels grip
on the rails when they are slippery
Thought Steam Pipe Broken.
He thought from the cloud OF steam
that arose after the crash that the car
had only broken a steam pipe. and he
reported the accident to Yard Master
Lucy and went back into the yard to
test another train. The nnotornaan said
he sn1e1led gas at the time. put dldn
notice that the gas pipe was broken
Lucy and Seagrott were returning to
the car to make up the train few min
,tec Jafar u-foep fi,o o~p1oxiop occurred
according to the testimony Lucy was
knocked down and badly injured Sea-
grott escaped injury. seasrott said that
he ran into the buffer about 7:53 o'clock.
and the police fixed the time OF the ex-
plosion at S:22 o'clock Several clocks
in the buildings in the immediate neigh
horhood stopped at exactly that time
che clock on the Nursery and Chiid's
Hospital, across the street. had stopped
at exactly 800 o'clock. as well as the
clock in the big lighting and heating
powerhouse OF the New York Central.
which is being completed adjoining the
sub-starion, where the explosion oc-
CURED.
The investigation conducted at Fire
Headquarters at the instance Of Fire
Commissioner Waldo in the result Of the
testimony did not tally IN every respect
with that conducted during the day by
the coroners and the District Attorneys
Office.
This investigation was made by mem
bers Of the Municipal Explosives Gem
mission and Joseph L Burke, Inspector
of Combustibles; W. L Beers, Fire Mar
shall, and John c. Rennard. electrical en-
gineer and chief Of the fire alarm tele-
graph system. Each made q. report, from
which Commissioner Waldo prepared a
summary.
"All of the investigators from this de-
partment agree" he said. "in the gen.
eral statement that the explosion was
caused by a. train backing into the
bumper in yard No 2, at Lexington ave-
nue. and 5Oth street. breaking down the
bumper and the train striking the foun-
dation and q supporting column of the
power house. This occurred between 7:15
and 1:30 a. m. William A Vital, the
man in charge Of the Pintsch gas tanks
on the viaduet at 46th street. subse-
auently noticed that the gas was escap-
ing at a very rapid rate This gas sup
piled the various pipe lines throughout
the yard for furnishing lights TO the
Was Looking for Leak.
'It was few minutes before a. m,
when Vital noticed the loss of gas and
went to make an examination in the
yard. Before he got to the power house
the explosion occurred. The backing of
the train had apparently broken the
two-inch supply main carrying the gas
to the various points in the yards. The
escaping gas permeated the power house
until 1t formed an explosive mixture by
combination with the air.
There vas no trace Of any other ex-
plosive at that point. No evidence was
found that any other explosives than gas
were in the vicinity OF the explosion.
There Is a permit for a first class dyna-
mite magazine for storing one thousand
pounds on the viaduct at 49th street
This magazine was found intact after
the explosion.
1.-THE Pintsch gas is made at the COM |
pdly pI6uC III NtSITiS6ud duQ is tdASIi |
to the terminal In tank cars, from which !
it is supplied to the tanks on tho VIA |
duct for distribution throughout the |
yards. Last night this gas was brought |
down and the tanks on the viaducr |
filled. When Vital discovered the leak |
age from the viaduct tank pipe there |
had escaped from 14.O00 to 10000 cubic |
feet A large quantity became con- |
densed under the floors and throughout |
the power house.
"Pintsch gas comes under the head of |
ordinary gas. and 1T IS under the turis-
diction of the Department of Water Sup
ply, Gas and Electricity. The District |
Attorney and the Corener had most Of |
the witnesses. so that we were not able /
to get the testimony Of some. This is
simply preliminary investigation.
which will be continued until the re-
sponsibility for the accident is abso-
Iutely determined
The report OF the Municipal Explo-
sives Commission, signed by Frederick
j. Mayuald, General George P. Eaton.
Sidney Harris and Peter Acritelli. of |
which Commissioner Waldo is ex-officio
chairman, was of a similar character.
Rennard Defines Cause.