The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-03-07
Shock Felt in PhiIadeI-
phia and Towns in
New Jersey and
Delaware


Vessel Practically Destroyed
By Force of the Tremendous
Explosion
Baltimore, March Tan explosion of
dynamite, far-reaching and disastrous
in its results, occurred in the lower
harhor of Baltimore this morning,
when more than 400 tons Of the ex-
ploEive, being loaded on board the
British steamer Alum Chine. blew up.
The dead number 20 men,. OF these
four belonged to the crew of the Alum
Chine and three were on board the
United States naval collier Jason.
Twenty-nine other men the collier
and the greater part OF the crew OF
the Alum Chine were injured
Six OF the crew of the tug Atlantic
lying alongside the Alum Chine were
killed and the tug practically destroy
ed The latest reports place the num-
ber of dead at 20 and the injured at
20. :. - =
OF the latter 10 oflfhe Jasonis people
are said to be fatally hurt.
Forty stevedores are unaccounted
for. If they were on the steamer it
ie considered certain that they per
ished.
Some of the people on the steamer
saved themselves by jumping over
board and were picked up by launch
ee and tugs.
The barge lying alongside, contains
ing $40 tons of dynamite, being trans
ferred to the Alum Chine, was com
p1etefy destroyed. 1t Is believed the
Arst explosion occurred on the barge.
The force of the explosion swept
away the upper works Of the United
State collier Jason, which was about
TOO feet away at the time. She had
just been completed by the Maryland
Steel Company and was soon to have
her government trial trip
The tremendous explosion shook
the country for miles around. Win
dows were broken and c11imneys
knocked off houses dozen or more
miles from the scene Of the disaster
At Sparrows Point a schoolhouse was
partly DESTROYED and several children
hurt.
Baltimore was shaken as if by an
earthquake and tail buildings in the
center of the city were rocked by the
shock.
Scores of vessels hurried to the scene
Of the disaster to render what aid
they could. Floating bodies were
drawn from the wreckage and some
of the injured were rescued from the
floating debris. Thirty or more bad
ly hurt men were brought to Balti-
more hospital. The Alum Chirfe had
been here since March Il. and was
high explosives for the Panama
Canal.
1 This morning. a lighter with four
railroad cars was towed to the side of
the vessel and the work Of complet-
ing the task of loading was expected
within a few hours.
Nearby were the tug Atlantic and
several launches belonging to ship
chambers who were engaged in fur
nishing supplies to the steamship.
the ship. One of the crew noticed
and. appreciating the danger of i'm
pending disaster, ran, screaming to
the dock followed by as many of t1e]
panic-stricken crew as had time to
escape from the lower part of the
ship
Right alongside of the Alum Chine
was the launch Jerome, manned by
ship chandler James P. Goodhues. In
to this boat leaped IA of the British
boats crew and Goodhues turned the
bow of his little craft away from the
burning ship and put off at top speed.
The first puff of smoke was followed
by clouds of greater volume.
The men on the lighter made every
effort to. escape. The captain of the
tug Atlantic was too far from the
boat to render any assistance and too
close to escape it's coming doom.
When the fleeing launch was 200
feet from the Alum Chine the explo-
sion came.s There was a deafeninE
roar as hundreds of tons of explosive
went Off. Columns of flame shot out
from every portion of the vessel and
the air was filled with flying debris.
Pieces of machinery and portions
of the hull of the boat weighing tons
were shot hundreds of feet into the
air.
Pieces of iron and steel. three feet
long and weighing SO pounds were
found at points on the Anne Arundel
and Baltimore county shores three
and four miles from the scene of the
explosion.
The aaperstructure of the Jason was
swept away and her side was ridd1ed
by fragments of metal hurled from
the demolished steamer.
One of the unexploded boxes of
dynamite hurtling through the air
struck a portion of the upper works
of the Jason and exploded.
Several men were killed outright
and 80 more who were on the collier
were -frightfuIly injured.
Another box of dynamite exploded
as It landed on the deck of the tug
Atlantic. The explosion was followed
by fire and three men lost their lives
there.
Pitiful scenes were enacted on the
Broadway wharf when the tugs bear
ing dead and injured arrived there.
Hundreds of women and children
whose husbands and fathers work on