The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1916-07-31
5~nsr, they are .hipped In such

~ drffted down stream until tHe9
IA been salvaged by tug boat cap
E tA1n. Il was the presence of sucf
4of9es. he declared. that had leo
HIM some time ago to send protest
RI - Washington.
What has struck horror TO the
heart OF New York more than al
I else. however, II the knowledge that
In the very heart of the harbor and
i on all the water fronts conditions that
daily menace the city and the lives
OF It's inhabitants exist.
That the explosion has brought
home TO ther1--that the greatest city
in the world is at the mercy or a
careless or drunken iongshoreman OF
stevedore or any within Of nature that
might set of others OF the great stores
OF high explosives which pile hiRh
the ~harves for miles around. New
Workers arc living in ring Of dyna-
mite. And now they realize II.
The known dead tonight are two
an infant. who was dashed 10 u"at"
from it's crib by the force OF the ex-
piosion. and an unidentified man whose
body was found near the pier where
the blast occurred.
MANY Of the victims Il is feared.
were blown to pieces and who may
never be known The island was
place OF Hrifters longshoremen and
stevedores and such, who came look
ing for work and were put 10 work.
And no one knew them or whence
they came. Or how many were there.
or what happened to them. A care
tn, survey Of pay rolls. an inventory
ing of barEex and freight cars, ana
their crews will, In short time, lead
20 some idea OF the fatalities. but that
liz all.
New York tonight is slowly recover
ing from a series OF shocks and alarms
such "a IL had never before expert
enced.
SKY scrapers rocked Ike willows
in a breeze casting their shadows
against a flaming sky. Shrapnel swept
the hareor. impertlling lie en- heo
1oes Island where the Goddess OF
liberty stands and causing panic In
IN. little army post there.
s,ark Tom is an isle OF wreckaGs
ava Ass.ructton In the reclaimed
ground which the warehouses ana
tracks made a hive Of industry ana
where ships came III from the sea 10
.ake on cargoes there are great shetl
holes. craterS that reach 10 tine roSN
bottom of the hay. Ana THESE
s1ltnr with water and turning 10 DOGS
The bay is coming BACK INTO us
again.
Jersey lily. u ~ lh4N'A ''''~N-
~ outlying district. passed through
the terrors of a besieged city. Eerdan
on ,he west Hardly building
escaped.
FOR miles around the harbor human
life was menaced by bursting fhfee-
inch shells which spread broahcast
their contents OF lead and steel ana
scrap-iron .
$. Flaming Tsarges Run Wild.
Flaming barges, loaded with hiEh
explosive. broke loose from their
Yaoorines and careened wildly In the
harbor, playthinEs OF the currents
They were blazing monitors from
which poured a deadly she'll fire. Bul-
lets whistied !ndiscrtmirstely In all
directions one barge was loaded 10
the matches with black powder TX
blew up with an explosion scarcely
less violent than the first great
shock.
one barge grounded near Ellis
= Island. the immigration station an
peril,ine the lives OF some 700 foreign
ers who had come here 10 be citizens
There was a near-panic in the hos
ni,al on the island where 200 patient
were housed.
Coast guard cutters swift TO tn
ratrol. prevented great havoc to snip
ping in the crowded road leads b
their prompt warnings
A grain elevator of the Lehigh Val
lev Railroad sustained minor damage
AT last reports SIS loaded freight carr
were destroyed II is estimated tina
100000 damage was done to th'
contents OF the packed warehouses
forty thousand tons Of sugar in some o
the freight cars was destroyed, TN
less Is s34o0,0 900.
n. In . statement !seued- today the lie
high Railroad seeks to throw blam
for the fire and explosion on tow
ing company the name OF which /
refuses to disclose.
A barge belonging 10 this company
according to railroad officials ha
moored alongside the Black Tom dock
expressly against orders they CLAIM
that the FIRE started on this barge ans
that IL was the contents of the harE
which caused the frst and creates
explosion.
Three TuGboats Missing.
Between SIS. 100000 and $4,000, oo
worth OF property belonging to tn,
Lehigh Valley Railway Company an
the National Storage Warehouse Com
pany was hurled into the air by tn
series OF explosions, Thirteen stor
age warehouse buildings were blown
up: a dozen barges and their contents
burned or blown up, and probabl,
three tug boats sunk.
The New Jersey Central Railroad
pier half mile from the source o
the explosion also was damaged Thre'
tug boats with an aggregate crew o
about twenty-four men, are listed a
missing. These boats are the Geneva
q Lehigh Valley boat. and the Bridget
and Ithaca. Jersey Central boats
When last seen the light vessel
were bravely forcing their way int
the blazing barges an an effort to re
move them. Then occurred the bt,
explosion. IT ss feared they WERE
torn to pieces and lost with thet
valiant crews Countless homes an,
business places, running up into thou
sands of dollars We're more OF les
damaged in Jersey City, Hoboken
Manhattan. the Bronx, Queens Brook
iyn, Bayonne, Staten Island and ad
taccnt cities and towns
$1,000, 900 In Smashed Windows
Smashed plate glass windows wa
the principal loss suffered. con
seryative estimate OF this loss ~ 81
q 5000
still alarm TO the Jersey City fir
department brought several com
panies They had considerable dis
lance 10 travel, the scene of the fir
l. - H. ~