The Washington herald., 1911-02-02
EXPLOSION SHAKES
NEW YORK CITY
Continued from Page One.

at the center Of the explosion, and not
a trace Of them save three mangled
bodies were found.
Three-quarters of a mile away. at the
Toothpick pier, the captain of the tug
| boat Tuohy was blown through his pilot
house and killed. which made up the
number of dead positively known as four
There was hardly any doubts IN the minds
Of the railroad men after they had talked
with the barge shippers and the dock
workmen. some Of whom had been less
than 200 yards away from the dynamite
car. that all of the twenty-five had been
destroyed. OF these twelve had just
stretched themselves to rest from showing
dynamite cases between the box car
door and the hold of the Katherine. The
others belonged to the two lighters. nine
men on the katherine w. and four on
the Whistler.
Men Eating Lunches.
The men in the terminal yard, who had
taken a look at the loading operations a
minute or two before the explosion. said the
Polacks were squattfng on the string piece
Of pier Z, eating their lunches. and that
the crews of both lighters were aboard.
1t was possible that some Of the dynamite
handlers might have strayed up through
the yards. but 1t was not a bit likely.
because it was against the rules and
their own inclinations.
They were contract laborers supplied to
handle shipments of the Du Pont de Ne
mours Company to the Communipaw piers
and it was not their habit to stroll away
from the work in hand Taking all this
into consideration. the Jersey City police
tonight put them down as dead men, they
and the crews of the lighters.
The frightful violence Of the explosion
clouded its cause. The men who might
have told a straight story were dead and
the dynamite had taken care also of
other evidence. Theories and stories
passed wildly all through the yards The
railroad men agreed pretty conclusively
that there was a preliminary explosion
either Of boiler or of escaped gasoline
on board the Whistler or the Katherine
Wan explosion which instantly set off
the dynamite loaded in their holds and
still on board one box car.
First Explosion on Boat.
Vice President and General Manager
w. G. Bester, of the Central Railroad of
New Jersey. worked for ten hours with
out entirely satisfying himself. He ac-
cepted the opinion of Capt Land, Of the
marine department Of the railroad, that
boats blew the car and not the car the
boats
For years the Du Pont de Nenpours Com
pany has been shipping dynamite and
blasting powder from several of its
plants to be loaded on to lighters at pier
Z. The company owned the Whistler and
ieased the Katherine w. an excursion
steamer which had been converted into
a lighter. The Du Pont people did not
bother with the routine of unloading. but
let the job to contractors. who fur
nlshed Polack or Hungarian labor Some
OF these men had been kicking around
dynamite for so long that they thought
no more of handling it than they would
OF handling cement.
To-day this was the situation Pier :
ooO feet long. is the central tooth of the
termlnafs Jaw. Four railroad tracks feed
freight to barges or lighters or ships that
tie up at either side On all four tracks
were strings of cars. Only two cars of
dynamite We're at the pier end One of
mem was full; the other contained four
[oHs Behind the loaded car was a car
lul OF cement. Just back Of that was
the partly emptied car. and then there
vas car of sulphur. cement, sugar. and
'arious kinds of merchandise
In Fffty-pOund Cases.
The lighter Katherine W. was snuggled
against the string piece on the north side
II pier I. From her main hatch ran a |
vide, smooth runway, on which @be
Polacks had been sliding fifty-pound
;ases of dynamite sticks from the nearly
uil car. Outside the Katherine w on the
ior'h was the Whistler, which had taken |
'h d cargo OF dynamite, according to |
"orkmen in the freight yards. The
" hstler was equipped with gasoline en-
'ines' and the Katherine W. had a saso-
me engine for auxiliary purposes.
on the south side of the pier was hitch |
d the Norwegian ship Ingrid of I.aurik
apt Eric Dannell, in from Buenos
AFres with a cargo of lumber and fer
iiizer bones Farther up the pier on the
tihe slde was the two-masted schooner
o. HardWick. of Annapolis. Nova
'coua' capt Herberts Ande Sanders She
u rived storm-beaten from Port CIyde
>ova Scotia. with hold full of lumber.
Ine southern Pacific's big lighter Ox-
ora lay along pier at the south side
loios me strlp or water, to the north.
'aS the nshter Emperor of the Empire
Ashting Company. Lighter No. 2 OF the
ersey Central, was not far from the
Emperor. And tied up or in motion he
"een the jetting docks were half a doz-
barses or lighters waiting for space
take cn freight.
Scene of Activity.
Within half circle of ! e0O vards fror,
ne end of pier were 200 freight hand.
RS, dock men. switchmen, and others
bout the ordinary business OF a freight
'rminal. A switch engine was purri,p
nd grumbling and humping cars some.
here.
In crash this scene of industry. was
hanged to widespread ruin and confu-
on. The Katherine W. vanished. the
'histler sank. The big Ingrid keeled
yer and righted herself with a damaged
arboard side and her superstructure
led with wreckage. The Hardwick less
jured. reappeared through the smoke 6
a condition that made her jovial little !
aptain swear Historically The Empe- ,
'r. of Oxford, and the other lighters :
lowed ripped planking, and, like tne ;
Zip and schooner. will need a new lot !
glass fixings. :
Freight cars on the ends of the four
rings We're Jared into splinters or i i