The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-01-04
EXPLOSION ON
 TANKER KILLS TWO; ' HURT
Ten Missing When Ship is Wrecked at Moorings ill
 New York.

N0W Y Ork.
 1 New York, JaA 4.-rhe Norwegian
 steamship Aztec, an oil burning
 freigher which recently carried car
 go of gaso1ene to France and was soon to depart with another load, blew up in her slip in the yard of the Robins | Dry Dock and Repair Co.,, at the foot
 of Dwight street, South Brooklyn, yes terday afternoon. Two men are known to have been killed and ten are missing. Three of the seven in-
 jured. men who were taken to the i HNIv Farai1Y hospital are likely to die. 1 Although no body has been found who knows just what caused the ex- i losion. which shot the workmen and sailors into the air in 8 geyser of fam ing oil, hatch covers and fragm ents 1 of steel plates, there is no suspicion [ that it was the work of the war p1otters. Upon this point Capt. Tun- ney of the Manhattan police bomb squad, Fire Marshall Brophy. Police Capt. Conboy of the Hamilton avenue station, the Robins company officials and officers and agents of the ship are | agreed. It is supposed. that a spark teuched off gaseous vapor between the tanks in the vessels or fin the bi1ges. But as to where the spark came from there is as yet no indica- ton.
 The Dead
 Doherty, James, 42 years old, who | lived at 91 Coffey street, Brooklyn, | with his wife and seven children. He was foreman of the Robins workmen who were overhau1ing the Aztec Jacobsen, Ole, Norway. fireman of | the Aztec. The Missing Robins company employees, J. Col lins No. 2. H. sherman, C. Swanson, O. Nelson. ..s---1 !, Crew of the Aztec: Henrik Krug, third engineer; Just Schiebler, fourth engineer; O. Anderson, donkey. engi- neer; Raymond Alvarez and D.souchy, fre1hen.
 -f The Injured.
 The three injured men whose burns and other hurts are likely to prove fa- tai are:
 Maroney, Matthew, rigger for the Robins company. of 2os Luqueer street, Brooklyn.
 Anglione. Joseph, machinist's helper. of 458 F'ifty-eighth street. Brooklyn
 Rasmussen, Charles, Norwegian cook.
 Four others who were at the Holy Family hospital were able to go home. !
 The Aztec, returning from Bordeaux on December 21, was overhauled in the Robins dry dock and on January shifted to the adjoining slip for minor repairs. The empty cargo tanks were cleaned with acetylene. In order to make sure that no dangerous gases Nre- mained a chemist for the Robins com pany took samples of the air in /varf- ous parts of the ship yesterday morn ing and reported, according to An drew McGaIvey. the conpany's super i7tendent, that the men could work in safety.
 There were 37 men on board at one o'clock, 20 of them Robins gangs IT belonging to the Aztec. The captain, Edward Hilliesen, was ashore. There was no fire the vessel except the oil flare under the boiler of donkey en- zine near the hreroom which ran a small dynamo. All of those who might be able to tell what really happened are now at the point Of death, but oth- CTS who were on the ship said that the explosion was in the hreroom or the engine room. Thepe was no oil tank within 20 feet, the nearest of the four tanks that contained the ships supply of fuel being separated from the fire room by a water filled cofferdam. The cargo oil tanks, which have a capacity of 2,500 tons, were empty.
 Heard Roar of Explosion. At 1:25 o'clock workmen on the doz- en other ships in the yard and the crews of tug boats that were scurry- ing through Erie Basin heard the roar of the exlosion and were knocked flat by the eeneussion, The entire super structien of the Aztec aft shot into the 1O14OW0Q by 4ldd10S CLdC NO4cdHOoQ to height of 50 feet. The body of Jacobsen, the Morse fireman, fell on the deck of the British tramp Rgae- arm of another man landed orI the bridge of the Caprera, lying at a pier fully 100 yards to the north.
 The tug Dalzelline happened to be lying almost alongside the Aztec Her captain. A. F. Bennett. saw three men shootefar above the Aztec and fall into the basin. He saw that all of them had been killed instantly. One of them was recognized as Doherty before the tide swept the bodies away Four other men, with their clothes burned off, came down a rope from the Az tees deck. The Dalzelline took them aboard with four more that were picked out of the water.
 In 8 small rowboat Jerry Shea, ma chinist, had just Towed into the basin 1 He jumped out of the boat on to the pier to which the Aztec was moored. At that instant the ship blew up, and a descending steel plate from the Az tees side cut Shea's boat in two Ieav- ing him wondering at his extraordin- ary escape.
 Some Thought Trapped.
 The fire r0On engine room and