Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1916-07-31

and partly put out CT commission, the
famous Light Of Liberty burned
steadily throughout the hours of con-
fusion. Naming high above the pail OF
smoke from the fire which ragged neat
by. Early reports Of damage to the
buildings on Ellis Island were exag-
eerated, according to Captain A. b
Fry, supervising engineer of Federal
buildings in New York. He said the
| loss would not exces3 $4,000.
| Most of the damage at the immigra-
ton station was caused by the force
Of the explosion. which wrecked walks
and buildings and shattered windows
and doorways. Two barges ablaze ana
laden with shrapnel shells had drifte6
to the island from the scene of the
disaster. A municipa. FIRE boat and tug
played streams Of water en- them from
enc side and Ellis Island employees
from the other. An explosion on one
of the. barges damaged the structure
housing the power plant.
| Two other fire-swept craft grounded
en- the southwest corner Of the island,
uhich contains the contagious disease
hospital The medical staff removed the
$50 immigrants on the island to the
Battery.
Many small craft as we'll as several
good sized steamers and sailing yes
sells, were badly damaged. Crews on
the big ocean liners anchored out In
the harbor, or locked along the Ne"
Jersey and New York water fronts, de-
clared that when the first two grea:
explosions occurred it appeared as if
their vessels were literally picked up
cut Of the water and then hurled bac!..
Guarding Shops
| All New York and cities within a
radius of 25 miles we're awakened by
the explosions. Within an hour 5000
telephone calls wen: over the police
wires from excited induirers. Hundreds
OF thousands of persons, many of them
scanuly clad, ran excitedly through
the streets, while automobiles con
tanning policemen fremen and others
dashed madly about. Detectives We're
rushed to Maiden Lane. the home uf
the jewelry industry, to guard against
thieves. Elsewhere a,so, where broken
g'ass was strewn over the thorough
fares, policemen were hurried to safe
guard shops exposed through shat
tered windows and doorways.
! In the downtown section so many win
dows were broken that it was impossible
to assign policemen to every DANA eed
store and some of the men each had en-
tire blocks to guard. Scarcely an office
building from the Battery to 50th street
escaped damage. More than score of
persons, according to the police, were
| injured in Manhattan and Brooklyn from
! flying glass Police Commissioner Ar
thur Woods summoned many policemen
from their training camp at Fort Wads-
worth to aid in safeguarding the finan-
cial districts.
Thousands of persons in Jersey City
fed to the parks after the first explosion.
Panic-stricken women wheeled baby car
riages about, some of them praying and
others screaming as they went. Not un-
til after dawn today was the scene
! changed from one of intense excitement
and fear to calm and apparent self
assurance. Then it was with difficulty
that the police held the crowds back from
the scene Of the disturbance.
The fire on Black Tom Island still
ragged tonight. The large railroad
yards of the -Lehish Valley. and the
reclaimed meadow lands for miles
around virtually We're covered with
shrapnel shells, many of them explod
ed. Thousands of persons who f1ocked
there from New York, Jersey City and
elsewhere crowded on tops of freight
cars and watched hundreds of fire.
men at work amid the ruins Of the
vast warehouse system through a haze
Of smoke and cinders.
Many of the visitors carried away
shrapne shells as souvenirs. In some
| instances they had dug them from the
earth two or three miles away from
the scene Of the explosions. In the
railroad yards huge pieces of steel
were found which apparently had been
shot through the air by the force of
the explosions.
| c. w. Leyden, chief of the Lehigh
Valley Railroad police, was killed
while aiding an engine crew in at
tempting to save number Of freight
cars from the fire. A quantity Of dy-
Mantle exploded near where he was
standing it was said, and blew his
body to atoms.
A tug boat tonight encountered a
schooner laden with shrapnel adrift in
the outer bay. The craft, badly burn
f, ed, apparently had broken away from
one of the docks at Black Tom Island.
1t was taken in tow and moored in
South Rrook1vp