Missouri Valley times. [volume] (Missouri Valley, Iowa) 1874-1931, 1915-09-23
SIX ARE KILLED
BY SUBWAY BLAST
More Than so Persons Injured
Street Caves in, Drop
ping Trolley Car
Into Tube.

New York. Sept 23.-Six persons
others injured today when dynamite
blast in partly constructed section
OF the Seventh avenue subway caused
an entire block of pavement to cove in,
engulfing crowded trolley car, a
heavy truck and many pedestrians.
number of laborers at work in the
excavation We're buried under tons of
debris. Seventy-eight persons, con-
siderable portion of them being women
and girls on their way to business. We're
on the surface car which dropped 30
feet into the excavation and was partly
buried under concrete. rails heavy
timbers, dirt and rocks.
THE DEAD:
LOUIS KRuGMAN, % years old, a
passenger on the car.
AN UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN,
about 60 years DID,, apparently on her
way to work.
Mayor Mitchell. Fire Commissioner
Adamson. Police Commissioner Woods,
District Attorney Perkins, other city
officials, members of the grand jury
and Edward p. Mccall. chairman of
the public service commission. reached
the. scene early and made inspections
Several Investigations were begun. The
mayor said the inquiry had not pro-
gressed far enough to indicate whether
criminal negligence was responsible or
accident or whether arrests would be
made.
The accident occurred shortly before
s o'clock. and more than half of the
way to work
Trolley Car Falls In.
There were IS passengers on the
trolley car which dropped is feet into
the subway excavation, when the en-
tire block on Seventh avenue. between
Twenty fourth and Twenty-fifth street
collapsed. Although the car re-
under an avalanche Of concrete, rails.
timber and earth. and many of the
passengers We're severely crushed
Persons who were in q large office
building close to where the car went
down. said there was great roar as
the pavement and portions Of the side
walk sank. This was followed a mo-
ment later by the cries of the partly
entombed passengers and of pedes-
trians who were either thrown into
the excavation or knocked down.
Men and women smashed the car
windows with their bare hands in an
effort to escape, eye witnesses said,
while pedestrians who had been thrown
into the hole struggled to avoid the
railing debris and regain the street
level
Police reserves were called out. two
fire alarms. We're turned in and Is
ambulances with 30 surgeons were
rushed to the scene The hospital
corps of large cloak and suit house.
directly opposite the cave in turned out
The cave-in broke water and gos
mains and within a few minutes after
the accident heavy flows of gas and
water threatened the lives of the 100
or more persons in the excavation
Prompt work by city employees i'm shut
ting off the flow of water and gas in
the broken mains put an end to this
danger
Fire ladders and ropes were lowered
into the great hole and police and fire..
men began carrying out the dead and
injured. while contra ctors' employees
and others worked fll-iously clearing
away the timbers. rails and debris that
imprisoned many persons.
Within an hour more than so injured
persons had been removed from the
cave. Two of these. u man and woman,
died on the wa. to hospitals. and an
Otnef woman was reported dying by
surgeons. A short time later the res
cuers reached the worst part of tile
wreckage aud the first body was re-
covered. Police and firemen later re-
ported taking five dead from the cave
In.
Rescuers found numerous sticks of
dynamite scattered about in the sub
way wa, excavation and foreman for the
United States Realty and Improve
ment. contractor on this section of the
subway, said much blasting had been
done this morning between Twenty
third and Twenty fifth streets. under
Seventh avenue.