Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-07-31
was blown fifty feet from the top Of
a freight car.

lIcISHI Cal. 49, ikssa.f.
Felt ini Five States.
The detonations. which were felt in
five states, began with continuous
rapid fire Of small shells, the blowing
up Of great quantities Of dynamite.
tre-cellulose aid other high explo-
sives, followed by the bursting of thou
sands of shrapnl shells which liter
ally showered surrounding land and
water for many miles around.
Black Tom island Is an area Of re-
claimed land, which projects into New
York bay from the Jersey shore. i'm
mediately behind the statue of Liberty.
Six Lehigh Valley railroad piers and
the National Storage houses compris-
ing thirty-four three story brick build
ings about hundred feet deep, were
the principal sufferers
Warehouses Are Destroyed.
Between $25,000.0OO and $4,000, 900
worth of property belonging to these
two companies was hurled into the air
by the force of the explosions. Thir-
teen storage warehouses and their en-
tire contents We're burned, a dozen
barges and their contents burned or
blown up and probably three tug boats
| sunk.
Three tug boats, with an aggregate
total of thirty-four men, are listed as
missing. These boats are the Geneva.
Bridgeton and Ithaca. When last seen
the little vessels were brayely fore
ing their way into the blazing barges
in effort to remove them. Then oc-
Cured the big explosion. 1t is feared
Fthey were torn to pieces and lost with
their crews.
Countless Homes Damaged.
About a million dollars worth of
damage was done on Bedloe's island
and Ellis island suffered severely.
Countless homes and business places
running up into the hundreds of thou
sands were more or less damaged III
Jersey City, Hoboken, Manhattan, the
Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, Bayonne, Sta
ten Island and adjacent cities and
towns. Smashed plate glass windows
was the principal loss suffered. A con-
servative estimate of this loss is ST.
SOC, 900.
The origin Of the blaze which caused
ruin and death has not yet been estab-
fshed. This fire, as nearly as can be
established from eye witnesses. began
either in freight car on the "explo-
sive pief," or on barge moored to
the pier, about ten minutes after mid
night. 4
The Lehigh Valley Railroad Com
pany, In an official statement, lays the
blame an barge owned by an inde-
pendent towing company which, against
orders. had moored to the pier The
railroad charges the FIRE began on this
barge. Some eyewitnesses assert the
condagratton started on freight car.
\ Like cannonade.
Many Of the shells shot toward the
open bay. 1t was a wonderful sight
the early morning watchers beheld as
the shells ricochetted along the sur
lace Of the water. How the onlookers
VINO swarmed the bay front escaped
injury cannot be explained.
About o'clock one would have i'm
agined that the blazing barges were
IN charge OF trained gunners.. Several
hundred shells exploded almost sim
|iuitaneously. y
t was apparent that the explosion
did the greatest damage in the area.
occupied by the freight cars. It is said
eighty seven of them stood on the
tracks upon this stretch, which was
once solid land, but is now vast
pond. 1t was among these freight cars
at this point that Cornelius J. Leyden.
cnief OF the Lehigh Valley police, was
standing when last seen alive. With
him were several other men. The
noating barges and the territory sur
rounding the crater were strewn with
exploded shells of various sizes.
Statue Of Liberty Damaged,
Damage to the statue of Liberty
has been variously estimated at from
100000 to $l.Ooo,ooo. The latter is
the guess OF Captain Clinton, in charge
OF Liberty island. The exact injury
can not be ascertained until experts
nave made a careful examination of
the pedestal and base of the statue
Bedloe island, almost on a direct line
with Black Tom. bore the brunt Of the
snock. A warehouse recently complet-
ed there is practically in ruins,
The first thought of the. officers and
men who comprise the little army post
was for Miss Liberty. Thru an ava
lanche of dirt and pieces of f1yine
shrapnel a detail Of three men with a
noncommissioned officer ran to- the
statue after the first blast. They found
1t badly damaged.
The light on the statue. however
burned steadily. not even f1ickerine
when the successive blasts ratified the
monument to its foundation. The main
door. heavy iron affair, weighing
nearly ton, was blown completely
of its hinges.
Thirteen Warehouses Wrecked,
At least $1o,oOO,00O, probably s15-
100000, damage was caused by de-
struction of thirteen OF the eighteen
warehouses Of the National Storag.
Company in Jersey City, Edmund Z.
Mackenzie stated today. This loss n
amply covered by insurance.
The damaged goods included 10000
tons of raw sugar, valued at between
100000 and $4,ooo.ooo, and $4,000
bales of tobacco.
On consignments, OF munitions and
other supplies going to France, loss
will fall on insurance COMPANIES. owing
to the fact that policies on French
shipments begin from the first delivery.
British shipments are insured only at
"waterside."
Federal Inquiry Begun.
Washington, July STANDARDIZATION
of the great explosion In New York
harbor was begun today by the depart
ment of Justice and the commerce COM
mission thru agents in New York.
MT IT. 49, q q - -