Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-12-22

crashed into steel and concrete buffer
post, snapped the post off and rammed
a pile of lumber behind the post into a
two and onc-half inch gas main, connect
ing with the taps from which the tanks
OF the passenger cars are charged at 251
pounds to the square inch.
hN the testimony of the motOrman and
mat Of John j. Quinn, brcklayer work.
inS on the main power house adjoining
the auxiliary house, tho time of tho
break in the pipe is approXimated at n
few moments after eight O'Clock. Two
clocks stopped by the jar fix the time
of the explosion itself at SOP
In the interval the broken main had
ample time to pour high pressure gas
into the lower levels of the auxiliary
power house. When workmen set to
clearing away the strewed lumber, II is
assumed hat one Of them dropped IA steel
tool across the third rail. there was
| fash of electricity and the great reservoir
of tumuated gas exploded.
What happened then will never he
| adequately told The roof of fire house
NO. .. directly across the street from the
power house, rose IN in the air. \
shower of glass, bricks, mortar and
| Srlintered tmhers began to rain down
on the pavements. In an instant the
streets were flIlcd with PROSTATE men and
| women blown nat by the shock of the
! detonation
! CROWDS HItSTEGE DRUG STORES
moment more and crowds beseged
! the drug storos Logging for aid and
| camorinE for telephones. Then the clat-
terine gongs OF ambulances began a
| racket between the tall buildings. The
| tenements To the east of Lexington
avcnue poured thousands into the streets.
| Whole houses were emptied in a twink
! ling. The tall lacados Of the many fash
ionable hctels in the ncighborhood were
spotted with the faces of half dressed
guests. shaken from their sleep, peerng
| from broken windows Black robed
priests from St. Patrick's Cathedral near
by and white coated ambulance surgeons
| passed each other kindred errands OF
consolation and comfort.
| Persons who retained some connected
| IDEA Of their impression of those mo-
| ments say that there seemed to be two
distinct air currents one pushed outward
/ BY the force OF the explosion itself and
the other a rebounding cushion OF air
compressed against combining walls. A
practical illustration Of how this con-
cussion and repercussion worked is given
| in the experience of 4 little girl in a
candy store. block from the power
| house. When the explosion came the
plate glass front OF the shop door was
driven inward, pushing the child before
1t with an impapable hand. but before
she could reach the rear wall, the con-
fined air. bounding outward again,
hurled her into the street. unhurt.
Frank Smith, the chauffeur of the
| wrecked automobile, cut. bruised and
shaken, told from the cot where he lay
in hospital, what he remembered of hts
first impressions.
Almost before | realized that there
had been an explosion" he said. "a rain
of bricks and mortar began to fan on me.
Then siX-foot timber shot down ont Of
the sky like an arrow. ] had one foot on
the brake and the other on the accelera-
tor, with my knees wide apart. The
timber passed clean between them and
smashed down through rhe floor of the
car. Then the trolley car topped over
on me and pinned me beneath the mass
of Wreckage, Two priests were pulling
me out for dead when [ got my wits
Il thought the end of the world had
come" said another survivor.
That the death list did not reach into
the hundreds was "a dispensation OF
ProvNAnce. Half an hour later. the
streets directly In front OF the power
house would have been crowded with
school children. No incoming or outgo-
ing passenger trains were passing. II a
crowded suburban train mad stood on the
rails instead of files of empty cars when
the walls Of the power house blew out,
II f. difficult to imagine what the result
ant horror would have been.
WORST FOCUS OF DEATH.
The worst focus Of death was the spot
1T which the trolley car and the automo-
bile were hurled together. The seven
passengers We're dumped To the under
side OF the car in a taugle OF iron work,
fragments of glass and broken panels
Miss Pope was caught by the head be-
tween stanchion and the overturned
autvnoblo beneath and crushed to death
= Three passengers. all mon, were over
, whelmed with wreckage and died before
help could reach them.
Twenty feet away. Mis- Edith Dinner
. years old "A stenographcr in maya
= zine Office on her way To work, was
speared through the head by flying
ioiSt Policeman Toomey had Just
signalled to the trolley car to stop and
was leading two little girls across the
street by the hand. one was torn IRON
MS hand by the FIRST blast of air ana the
+. other by tile rebound, The second girl
Mary Gilman - years old, had her right
leg torn of by a flying fragment of iror
railing surrounding the Lexington avenue
: station.
Seventeen men in fire house No, were
shaken from their beds, Battalion Chic
. puny was styling at his desk when the
windows fell about him, and an iror
order burst head on through the wall
- knocking him to the floor and badly
" bruislns him. lie got the men to bandas'
" MIN ana went to work Immediately.
= BLOOD ON BREAKFAST TABLE.
In the Bible teachers training schoo
founded hy Miss Helen Gould, at No 81
. Lexington avenue. so young men and
" women were eating breakfast, Those al
a me iar side Of the room first realized
i mat there had been a serious accident
= When looking toward the street, they