Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1916-03-09
600 Quarts Of Nitroglycerin
Let Go While in Trans
portatlon.
DRIVER AND HORSES
ARE BLOWN TO ATOMS
Vivid Description by an
Eye Witness Who Es-
capped Without Scratch.
XX1HEN six hundred quarts of nj

WHEN six hundred quarts of nj
w roglyccrno exploded on pub
lie highway five miles southeast cf
Cleveland, Okla, 30 miles west of
Tulsa at i'3O O'Clock yesterday after
noon. Harry Hin, 20 years old resi-
dent of Cleveland. who was driving
the wagon, was blown to atoms. only
small fragments of the horses were
found. while the vehicle was reduced
Ia minute particles. Although Il. i.
Van Nest, an cmploNc of the okla oil
company with headquarters at CleVe-
land. was within two hundred feet of
he explosion, only his hat was blown
of and the wind shield of the auto
mobile in which he was riding
shattered
\ hole twenty feet in diameter and
five feet deep was blown IN the
ground where the wagon had stood;
were uprooted. bouldcrs ten feet
square literally tIown more than 100
feet like SO many pebbles, while win
dow glass was broken, buildings
rattled and smokestacks leVcled IN
| Cleveland and many other towns
within Il radius of fifty miles.
In Tulsa the effect of the explosion
was not unlike an earthquake. Hotel
| Tulsa trembled from the ground up;
| the Brady hotel sustained several
broken windows; employees of the
| telephone company sustained severe
| shocks. while the building seemed to
rock on its foundation, and smaller
structures in certain parts Of the city
were violently shaken.
Caused Great Alarm.
/. L Il
| distance of the explosion from the
| city. the shock here was sufficiently
severe to cause CONSERVATION among
everyone who felt it. In the business
| district employees left their work and
rushed into the streets to ascertain
| the cause of the disturbance. In the
residence districts people quickly
! congregated but none were able to
explain what had occurred. indeed,
| ii was not until after night that actual
news of the explosion was received
| in Tulsa.
Hill is said to have left Tulsa with
| one of the regulation stock wagons
of the Eastern Torpedo company last
| Monday. lie was bound for the
| company's magazine near Cleveland.
| The wagon was loaded to its capacity
with nitroglycerin and the trip was
| taken in easy stages, as generally Is
| the custom. Everything went all
| right until the man was within three
miles of the magazine on the out
skirts of Cleveland What then oc-
Cured is best explained by Van Nest,
who was driving a Ford car from an
oil field to his home in Cleveland.
when | was half way down a
rather steep hill some five miles out
| of Cleveland" said Mr.. Van Nest, 81
| saw a wagon, to which a team Of
horses were hitched. and one man
! driving. | had no intention of stop
| ping. but when the driver of the
wagon hailed me | brought my ear
| to "A standstill at one side of the
road and waited until the team
caught up.
81 recognized Hill, whom ! knew
| slightly. | didn't have to ask him
| what he was hauling, as Hill. to my
| knowledge, had been engaged in the
| nitro business several years. Hill
| asked me If | was going past the
| Eastern company's magazine, and
| when | told him | was he requested
| that | notify the shooter who is in
| charge of the ma agazine of his prox-
| unity.
Saw the EXPULSION
Before | took leave of Hin," Mr..
Van Nest continued, 81 urged him not
TO start his team until | was at least
| zoo feet distant. This he laughing
| ly promised TO do and | started When
] was about 200 feet away something
prompted me to turn around. Hill
Continued on Page Two)