The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1911-03-16

flames spread in the plant causing ex-
plosion after explosion, each blast
Of the powder sequestered in the var
ious portions of the plant brought new
terror to the frightened people. The
men who escaped from the mills hurried
to the village to inform relatives that
they were safe and the reunion Of these
people was the one bright spot in the
whole night of horrors. There was
one awful blot on this picture and
that was the appearance of Mrs.
Thompson little woman who had been
with her husband only few minutes
before the explosion. With her daughter
a girl of fourteen years, Mrs. Thomp-
son walked up and down the street
asking news of her husband. The fact
that her modest ntSIe home was wreck
led was of no interest to her and she
remained just waiting for news until
/ late in the evening, when she was per-
suaded to come to Kenosha to spend
the night.
Sheriff Takes Charge.
Within an hour after the explosion
Sheriff Andrew Stahl had rushed a
force Of sixty deputy sheriff. to the
village and these men patrolled the vii
lage and prevented people from going
into the zone Of danger. Aided by
these deputies Sheriff Stahl made the
rounds of the ruined houses of the Will
age and gathering up the women and
children he packed them into band wag-
ons and automobiles and sent them to
/ Kenosha for the night. All but two
of the women of the village accepted
the. hospitality of the people of the city
and came to Kenosha. These women.
sleeping in q room covered with the
debris were kept under the protection
Of the deputies.
Once during the night it was claimed
that an effort was being made to loot
some of the damaged houses but Sher-
lift Stahl ordered his deputies to shoot
down on sight any one found attempt
ing to rob the homes and this put an
end to the reports. 1t is not thought that
a SINCE thing was taken from any Of
the houses
The wave Of the explosion seems to
have carried toward the south and
south of Pleasant Prairie along the
various roads the damage wag even
greater than in the center of tho viii
age. The King store which stands on
the principal corner of the village was
mass of ruins. It was not only shak-
en- from its foundations by the force Of
the explosion but a great piece of ma
chinery from one of the buildings of
the plant was driven through the
building from roof to cellar. Tt tore
through the rafters of the building and
carried havoc in its wake Fortunate
ly the people in the King store had
leaped into the street at the time of the
first explosion and none of them was
injured
Ruin is Widespread.
/ Pleasant Prairie was a village of
icharmingly furnished homes but of the
fifty homes in the village not one
of them were left intact. Every win
dow in the village was broken and in
most of the houses the chimneys were
demolished and the falling brick litter
ed the floors about the beds where wo-
men and little children had retired to
sleep for the night.
The big boarding house along the
Main street of the village collapsed at
the first explosion and the entire place
was wrecked. There were ten or ff-
teen people in this building and it was
a miracle how they escaped without
serious injury.
Thousands of dollars worth of dam
age was done in this way in the VIII
lage. 1t was reported that Bristol and