The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-09-24
MAN WHO SET FATAL BLAST
 TELLS STORY
"Gus Midnight" Describes Awful Horror of Explo-
 sion in Subway.

the injury of S5 persons, will take place at 10 o'clock tomorrow morn ing in the Municipal building be- fore Coroner Isaac Feinberg.
 The first adequate story of what l took place immediately before the Seventh avenue street deck and a crowded trolley car dropped into the l 3O-foot subway ditch was told yester- day to District Attorney Perkins by 1 August Mezanotte, or August Mid might, as he is known, the boss blas-
 ter who placed the fatal charge and ran away after the accident.
 1 The plaster. who is an Italian, went to the District Attorney yesterday with a lawyer, Monroe M. Go1dstein. l From his explanation of his disap- 1 pearance the District Attorney de- ] cided that he had run away in 8 panic 1 of fright. and Mr. Perkins decided not to put him under arrest but to keep l him within easy call.
 The Boss B1astcr's Story.
 This is Midnight's. story as report ed later to the District Attorney: ] ''I went to work at z o'clock in the morning with six dri1lers, a powder monkey'-a man to carry dynamite and push the electric button ] exploding it-and an assistant. We went to the magazine at Seventh | avenue and Twenty-third street and ! cent dynirnite, and before setting off any of it we prefaced the blasts. .The first blast was in only one hole at the bottom of the excavation and I put three-quarters of a stick of dynamite into it. It was fired at about 7:50 o'clock and cracked the stone above slightly.
 "TfBe second blast was the one that preceded the cave-in. It was on the face of the rock, about 3 feet from the bottom of the excavation, and for it four holes about nine feet deep were used. These holes included an arear of about IS feet. Three of the nine-ounce sticks were put into each hole. The third blast. which was nexer fired, consisted of two holes, with three-quarters of a stick in each. Before we began to blast, after all of the holes had been loaded, the monkey took the remaining dyna- mite and detonators back to the mag azine.
 Before the second blast sent two drill men down toward the Twenty fourth street end of the excavation to warn the men working there, and sent five men up with flags to stop street traffic. When reached the street surface I saw the street car in Sev- enth avenue. It is the custom to stop cars and other traffic about 100 feet
 
 this at about that distance, or per haps only 90 feet away, and so sig naled the monkey to fire the charge.
 Whole Street in Waves
 'In couple of seconds after the blast went off-maybe it was three of four seconds-the whole street seemed to begin to wave and tremble. Then it started to crash down, be- ginning at the end where was stand ing and sagging down in the middle, then breaking up all at once with an awful noise. It didn't fly up in the middle as some people. have said; it just sagged and then broke; and 1t was awful.
 Before knew what Twas. doing T was running up Seventh avenue. kept running;N Iwanted to get away from the sight. ran to 231 West Fifty-fourth street. where my nephew SyIViO Paretu keeps a garage, ana stayed with him until was able to go to my cousins house in Astoria. l didn't know what was the best thfns to do, and so I asked a lawyer, MT. Go1dstein, and he said for me to come with him to see the District Attorney today and to tell everything l knew about the accident. I don't think l want to blast any more. That is the first accident I've ever had, and l don't want any more"
 Mezanotte said he was born in an
  came to this country in 1889. He was naturaIized in 1900. he said, and lived at 6 Jones street with his wife ana six children He is 45 years old and a licensed handler of dynamite. He l seemed highly nervous as he told his | story yssterday,. and the District At torney's Impression was that he could 1 be relied upon to stay in the neigh | borhood for later appearance as a l witness.
 | iTpc- 11od l been placed over the rock previous to the second blast to keep the debris from flying out and striking the wood en structure, Mezanotte said 1t was not customary to cover the rock when l such deep holes were used. It is our penerally accepted theory that the l blast hurled rock against the nearby l structure and knocked several beams out of place, and that the others, m | terdependent upon one another Tor support, and not nailed to each other' went down like row of dom1noes. Preparations for Inquiries. Preliminary steps for starting other investigations were in progress all day yesterday, while several hun dred laborers toiled in the twisted and splintered debris that half-flled the great ditch in Seventh avenue Photographers were in the excaVa- ton until dark taking pictures of the spot where the dynamite charge that is supposed to have started the trou- ble was fired, and other features of the wreckage. These pictures were Eordered by the Public Service Com
 mission, which is conducting one in vestigation, and by the contracting company, the street car company, the State Industrial Commission and the 1 District Attorneys office, all of which are making Investigations. 1 By night the workmen had remov- 1 ed tons Of the debris and had chopped to pieces the Seventh avenue street car and removed all of 1t but the floor and trucks. Another gang was at work all night, and it was believed that the work of clearing up the de- bris would be completed by tonight or tomorrow morning. It was said.