Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1910-12-20
APPALLING DISASTER
IN NEW YORK CITY
Continued from Page One.)

Nurses were thrown to the floor with
ba bies in their arms, other babies were
tipped out of their cribs and in two
insta noes, babies were popped upward
out of their tubs as if they had been
drawn out by a powerful suction.
The auxiliary power house itself was
so badly torn that it was hard to real
ize it had ever been a building. Yet it
was a solid structure Of stone, brick
and steel, six stories high and $50 feet
long by SO feet wide. Where the front
| wall stood is a sloping mound of bricks,
interviewer with twisted steel Orders.
F1uttered smoke sifted from the in
| terstices, and mud and mortar covered
the whole, until it looked more like an
| active charcoal burners kiln than a
heap of ruins.
Albert Seagroatt, mOtorman of the
| train that rammed the bumper and
broke the gas main, was held by the
coroner on technical charge of hOmi-
! ide at the end of his examination. He
| aid he smelled gas after the collision
nd notified the yard master.
Seagrcatt was released on parole to-
light at the instance of District Attor-
violence to warrant his being held.
, Workmen We're digging at the ruins
| all night, looking for the four missing
| Workmen and Assistant District .AttOr-
Iney. George Lavelle accompanied by
Guy W. Culgin, an engineer of the
building department., continued an in
vestigation far into the evening ::
j
| reached the scene of todays explosion
| within - minutes after il occurred, is
cued a statement tonight in part as
| follows:
| All Of the investigators from this
| department agree in the general state
| nent that the explosion was caused by
Il train backing into the hummer and
! breaking the two-inch supply main
carrying the gas to the various points
| in the yards. The escaping gas perme-
ated the power house until it formed
All explosive mixture by combination
with the ai-.
| There was no trace of any other
explosive at that point. When the
| leakage was discovered there mad es-
capped from $4,000 to 10000 cubic feet.
! :, large quantity became condensed
under the floors and throughout the
power house. He adds that the leak
was discovered about 10 minutes after
tle break occurred. by William A.
| Withall, an employee of the railroad
| Withall started for the power house
| 10 report it, but the explosion oc
| CURED before he arrived.
A report OF the Municipal Explosives
| Commission. OF which Commissioner
, Waldo is eX-otficio chairman. is SINH
| lar in tone to the commissioners re-
| port.
| What the exact cause of the iGni
ton Of this gas was we are unable to
ascertain says the report.
| All investigators agree that it will
| be almost impossible to ascertain Just
what kind Of spark ignited the gas.
Commissioner Waldo asserted that one
| Important feature of his investigation
will be to look to the future safety in
| the use of this gas so that life may not
! again be endangered. This is the Off
cial explanation of the New York Cen
trail as given out this afternoon by
| Vice President c. F. DAILY:
| "A careful investigation made by
IChief Engineer kittredge. Construction
] Engineer HARDWOOD. Electrical Engineer
I Katie and Manager Whaley of the
| Grand Central Terminal indicates that
the explosion was the result OF an
4 electric train falling over bumper
post in the storage yard, breaking a
! gas pipe. the escape from which pene-
! tratcd the lower part of the sub-sta-
| ton power house and became ignited
| from some cause unknown. ..l.t.
1 Boston, Dec 19.-Miss Mary d. Pope,
one of the victims of today's explosion
| IN,