The Oskaloosa herald., 1910-12-22
BLAST KILLS IS;
new YORK SHAKEN
Fifty Hurt In Destruction Railway
Power House.
STREET CAR IS HURLED FAR
Four Lose Lives as Coach Falls Upon
Auto--Scare In Hotels Near
Grand Central
Station.

New York, Dec. 20.-Thirteen per.
sons lost their lives, so were injured
and a thousand people were shaken up
in an explosion of car-lighting gas
tanks and dynamite In the new, six.
story power station of the New York
Central railroad, under construction at
Fiftieth street and Lexington avenue.
Nine bodies have been recovered
and those of four workmen are be-
lieved TO be in the wreckage.
Ceiling and windows in hospitals.
schools and apartment houses were
shattered. which caused innumerable
minor hurts. Fire Chief Croker says
that in his opinion the first explosion
was that of lighting gas and the Sec
ond that of a hundredweight Of dyna-
mite which lay within fifty feet of the
gas tank. The Grand Central cut, in
which new track levels are being ex.
cavated, appeared as if a battle had
been fought in it.
Four Die on Trolley Car.
The blast picked up north bound
trolley car, lifted it in the air and sent
It crashing down upon an automobile
which was passing on the other side Of
the street. Four of the passengers
were killed and every one In the car
was injured.
What became of the chauffeur or the
occupants of the automobile is not
known. A dead man was found on the
81 IL h,- hn ha.
lieve him to have been the chauffeur.
The new substation powerhouse,
where the explosion occurred, is at
Fiftieth street and Lexington avenue,
half dozen blocks north of the Grand
Central station.
Official List of Dead.
The official list of the dead follows:
Patrick Jordan. track foreman.
E. B. Livermore, New York Central
inspector of Pullman cars.
c. McMarrow, railroad employe.
. Edith Offner, stenographer.
William Poetscbke, Corona, L. I.
Mary B. Pope, teacher.
Charles Roberts, clerk in Adams
Express company.
John Ryan, clerk.
Thomas Stagg, Waterman at power
house. a
Mgrs. Lapette and Hayes and Fa-
theirs O'Conncr, McQuade, Sinnot and
Byrnes of St Patrick's cathedral hur-
ried to the scene and administered the
last rites OF the church to the most
seriously injured
Fire Truck House Demolished.
The house of fire truck No. s, Lex
ington avenue and Fifty-fir street, is
practically demolished. The wall are
cracked and the truck was put out Of
commission. Battalion Chief Duffy
and the other firemen were hurled to
the floor and received injuries.
The police report that the explo-
sion took place in the boiler under
the battery room which supplies the
power for the third rail on the New
York Central tracks.
Throws 1925 Persons to the Floor.
At the Bible Teachers Training
school in Lexington avenue, directly
opposite the power house, 125 men
and women were thrown to the floor.
Many were injured and several were
taken to hospitals. All the windows
in the building were blown in and the
ceilings fell.
At the postofice substation at For
tieth street and Madison avenue the
explosion slightly injured several
clerks and threw the mail over the
floor. In the New York Nursery and
Childs' hospital ceilings were shaken
down and windows broken. but none
of the 800 children was hurt.
The damage to the power house and
other buildings has not been esti-
mated, but it was stated that 1t will
exceed s5O0,000
Grasps Dangling Rope; Saved.
A workmen standing on a scaffold
on the top of the power house when
the explosion occurred saw the scat
fold wrenched from under him, and as
he fell he blindly grasped a dangling
rope. He hung there until rescued by
firemen.
There we're many rescues by the
police and passers-by. Six men were
hauled from a smoking hole by a pa
trolman
Employees Of the railroad have.beeu
unable thus far definitely to assign
the cause Of the explosion, but II is
believed large quantity of dynamite
stored in magazines close to the sub
station was responsible for the great
er part of the damage.
Eleventh Victim Found.
New York, Dec. 20.--Special: The
body of the eleventh victim of yes
terday's explosion at the New York
Central terminal was found this
morning. Five are dying from frac-
tured skulls in the hospital. The
property loss is at least sl,500,0O0.
The coroner and district attorney are
Investigating.
The merchants along the north