The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1913-03-14
EXPLOSION BLOWS
men TO ATOMS
Dynamite Ship ExpIodes Off
Curtis Bay, Md.
26DEAD, 2OMISsiNG, 6OHuRT.
New Collier Jason RiddIed- Captain
vandyke and Mate Di9gs, OF the
Atlantic, Give Their Lives
For Others.


Baltimore.At least 26 persons were
killed., 30 are missing, and more than
so were injured in an explosion Of $50
tons of dynamite, following a fire on
board the British tramp steamer Alum
Chine, in the harbor of Fort Carroll.
The 20 missing are thought to have
gone down with the Alum Chine.
Many Of the stevedores were known
only by numbers, and it is feared
their names will never be known.
There were also number Of
negroes who were believed to have
been around the Alum Chine and
barges looking for work who are be-
lieved to have been caught by the
hail OF DEATH.
The disaster caused a damage
which is estimated at $3.50, 900.
New Collier Jason RiddIed by Debris.
The brand new collier Jason, which
had but recently been completed by
the Maryland Steel Company and
which was to have been turned over
to the United States Government in
few days, was riddled by huge frag-
ments Of steel and iron catapulted
from the steamer Alum Chine, bring
ing death to several members Of the
crew of the collier and working ire
rible havoc to the ship itself
The Jason is valued at $1,000, 900,
but It is not thought that the loss to
her will amount to more than $4,000.
Work of restoration will take some
months. however, necessitating long
delay before the vessel is turned over
to the Government. Secretary of the
Navy Josephus Daniels has notified
the company that the builders must
be responsible for the loss. The COM
pany sent a letter to the Secretary
regretting the loss of life. The head
of the navy promises to make a full
investigation.
Steamer Rent Into a Thousand Pieces.
The Alum Chine was itself rent into
a thousand pieces by her death-dealing
cargo. The ship leaped into the air.
Then there came crash and flare,
fragments Of iron, steel, woodwork
and cases that had contained the ex.
plosive were hurled hundreds of feet
into the air and the ship or what
was left of her-sank beneath the
waters
4 The Atlantic Transport tug Atlantic,
the crew Of which heroically attempt
ed to save the men on the steamer
and the stevedores who were at work
on the barge beside it, was caught In
the path of destruction and burned
to the waters edge, her captain, Will
liam Vandyke. and her mate, Henry
M. Diggs, paying for their bravery
with their death. The loss of the
Alum Chine is placed at $4,000 and
that of her cargo at $1,000. The At
lantic was valued at $4,000. A car
float, which was near the steamer,
turned turtle and disappeared from
view. It's loss is placed at $1,000.
Quarantine Hospital Suffers Heavily.
The Quarantine Hospital at Wag-
ner's Point suffered heavily from the
shock and the explosion. Every win
dow in the building was shattered and
doors were torn from their fasten-
ings Patients at the hospital were
hurt by falling glass.
Those who we're witnesses Of the
scene describe the explosion simply as
a roar and a fiash--a roar, they say,
such as has never been heard before
and a flash that mounted seemingly
hundreds of feet in the sky. The
fragments of steel and iron fell like
meteors into the harbor, bringing
death and injury and terror to all who
were within range.