Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-09-28
Probably Fifty Persons Killed and
Two Hundred Injured at
Ardmore, Okla.
SKATERS RAILROAD DEPOT.
Buildings for Blocks About are
Rocked by Shock and Flames
Sweep the Town Quickly.

Ardmore, Okla, Sept. 2S.-A
spark from workman's hammer ig-
nited a tank car full of gasoline here
late yesterday, and from the ruins of
two city blocks, RACED by the result
ing explosion and the fires which
followed, thirty-one bodies had been
recovered late last night.
Fifty persons are believed to have
been crushed to death under falling
walls or burned to death while pin
ned in the debris. The property
damage is estimated at 100000.
At 8 o'clock last night the fires
were under control and the city was
under martial law. Private homes
Immediately were thrown open to
the injured, and scores of men were
working last night in the smolder-
ing ruins along Main street in
search for additional victims.
Not building on Main street es-
capped damage, either as result of
the force of the explosion or of the
fires following. The publishing
plants of the Daily Ardmoreite and
the Statesman were damaged.
All school buildings, business
houses and residences within twelve
blocks of the business district bear
evidence of the explosion. Practi-
cally every window in the city was
shattered
Two workmen were repairing the
tank at $3.50 o'clock yesterday after
noon when one of them struck it
with a hammer. A spark from the
blow ignited fumes escaping through
small leak. The explosion follow
ed. The workmen were blown to
pieces.
The shock shattered the Ardmore
railroad station, used by the Santa
Fe, Frisco and Rock Island railroads,
and the Rock Island freight station
and scores of other buildings took
fire from the flying liquid.
Flames spread rapidly until all of
Main street appeared a roaring fur
mace Thirty freight cars in the
Santa Fe railroad yards were de-
stroyed. The dense pail Of smoke
hanging over the city prevented res
cuers from doing effective work. The
roof of the Wilmington hotel was
blown off by the force of the first ex-
plosion, but all guests are believed
to have escaped.
At the store of Maddin & Co.,
which was burned, scores of girls
were working and it was feared last
night some of them lost their lives.
For five hours after the explosion
Ardmore was cut off completely from
the outside world. Telephone and
telegraph communication was sever
ed by the wrecking of poles in the
downtown district.
Many of those who lost their lives
were buried under debris when the
force of the explosion shattered
buildings and threw down walls.
Charles Smith was standing on
Main street when the shock occur
red. He was killed by bricks from a
building nearby. M. E. Atkins, a
drayman, was three blocks away
when the explosion came. The wall
of a building buried him. A. G..
Gould, huckster, was driving across
the Santa Fee tracks. He met death
and his wagon was blown to pieces.
An Indian sitting on a wagon near
the Love hotel was crushed to death
when the east side of the structure
fell.
Will Graham was pinioned under
the debris of the Santa Fe freight
house when that building was
wrecked. His brother witnessed
Graham's death in the flames which
followed the explosion.
c. S. Neil, railroad telegraph OPP
orator, who though he suffered a
fractured leg and wrenched back,
pieced together some broken wires
and sent out the first news of the
disaster and a call for aid.
Neil, who was at work near the
scene of the explosion, recovered
sufficiently after the explosion to
search for a telegraph instrument,
which he found in the demolished
Santa Fe freight buildings. The
fumes from the explosion forced him
to breathe through a handkerchief
tied about his face. He is said to be
in a serious condition today.