The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-08-03
Heads of Two Institutions Suf.
fering Heaviest Losses Are
Held For Negligence and
Violation of Laws.
DAMAGE MANY MILLIONS
Only Three Known Deaths
Many Injured and Several
Missing-New York En-.
dangered BY Explosion.

/ New YORK, aug. 1.-Two men A..
under arrest today on warrants char
ing them with manslaughter in in.
directly causing the death OF one Of fl,
| victims OF the terrific explosion Of am
| rnunition on Black Tom pier yesterd.,
| morning. Estimates of the casuaIti.,
| early today placed the number Of deai
-, at three, with three others mortaly in.
| jured, 10 suffering from less seriou,
injuries Snd IL to 20 missing. Est.
| mates OF tire property loss range from
SIS, 100000 to 100000.
| Many persons who were on board
barges moored at the burned pier,
| are missing, and ii is feared that thew
have persisted. In some quarters L wa,
believed the total number Of deaS
would reach IL.
| Those under arrest were Albert
Dickman, agent Of the Lehigh Valley
/ railroad stationed at Black Tom pier
and Alexander Davidson, supertntep.
dent of the ware houses Of the NaticsaI
Storage company. 13 Of which were de.
stroyed by the fire which followed tn,
| explosion. A warrant was issued 10,
\ the arrest Of Theodore B. johnson
| president Of a Tightening company sn
Of whose barges, loaded with amnu.
milton, is alleged to have been moOred
at the pier.
Seek to Fix Blame.
L
| liv safety of Jersey City. charged that
the blame Of the explosion lay with
either the Lehigh Valley Railroad CON.
pany, the storage company or the
ilighterage company, and that some Of
them had violated the laws Of New Jer. |
sey. the Jersey City ordinances and
the rules Of the Interstate Commercs
commission by permitting bacgs
loaded with explosives to remain
moored at the piers over night Those
bafges were being used to transport 4
the ammunition to steamers In Grave.
send bay.
Several Investigations were com.
menced today to discover the origin Of
the tire which caused the explosion
which destroyed 100000 worth Of
| ammunition, SO freight cars, set b!al.
ing ammunition barges adrift to BON.
bard the statue Of liberty and the Ellis
| island immigration station with shells
and shrapnel, and shattered 100000
worth Of windows in this city. One Of
the Investigations is conducted by Col
Beveridge w. Dunn, chief inspectOr Of
the bureau Of explosives Of the Ameri-
can Railway association, and the In
| terState Commerce commission.
He Is aided by 80 inspectors. The
county prosecutor and city employs
In Jersey City are making inveStiga.
! tionS also. 1t is understood that agents
Of the denartment of justice are max.
ing inquiries to learn whether the eH.
| plosion was the work of an incendiarE
Stories Conflicting.
Conflicting reports as to the cause
| OF the fire are still circulated. Lehgh
| Valley officials assert that an inter.
| Looping barge loaded with ammunition
! was moored at their pier in defiance Of
their orders and that the first explosion
took place on board that vessel The
1slvRx ~ hi a..
| that four ammunition barges Were At
or near the piers and that all Of them
were destroyed. 1t Is feared Their
| crews persisted.
The big pier just west Of the statue
OF liberty is today a mass of smOEns
ruins, with the debris piled HUNDREDS
OF feet high in places and with the nT'
still burning.
The work of repairing the damage
to the buildings on Bedloes and Ellis
Islands and in New York and jersey
City began today. The immigration
station at Ellis Island had the appear.
anco OF war swept village with every
window shattered. the roof Of the hes
| oital caved in, the main door blown
away and the dining and executive
rooms wrecked. while the island was
strewn with bits of shrapneL broken
glass and three-inch shells thrOEl
ashore from drifting barges which haa
bombarded the island as they burned
| The damage was estimated at %5@%
| The buildings on Bedloes Island with
J doors blown In and windows shattertG
| showed the marks OF an eight hour
bombardment of shrapnel, iron boIs
and spikes, pieces of steel and full
| holes. while the homes Of the army Oh
ficers are stripped of their chimes
and walls and plaster are shatte[ea
The loss there is estimated at $loO,VV"
i q \ llNT tc
damaged. but the doors to the pedeS'l
are blown In.
| Some Marrow Escapes.
| Stories told by those who narrow
| escaped death verge on the miraculous
| One man says he was blown OIL .
| lighter into the bay and swan to beG
| loes Island, but had to swim D%a
again to the Jersey shore when u
flaming barges bombarded the ls;ana
"The air seemed to be full OF itIm
| and Thought the end of the word nay
| come" said another survivor. ulna
| was blown so feet from the top o.
| freight car and landed near a bulIuN
! which fell unon him.
Felt in Five States.
| The detonations, which were leI'
| five states, began with a continue
| rapid fire of small shells, the 6loNa
up Of great quantities of dyA'nLT1
| trinitrotoluene and other high eP%
| sives, followed by the bursting ~
| thousands Of shrapnel shells VIZ
| literally showered the SURROUND,
| country and waters for many HE"
! around. I'D
| Fire that started soon after the Iis
| great crash which spread DEAN ~
| desolation in it's wake destroyed . 10
| the huge warehouses of the Nalionj
! Storage company on Black Tom iSIu,
! in which was stored MERCHANDISE "a, va
! ued at between $4,000, 900 and SLOW
! 900. The flames, shooting into .rSS
York's sky line" of towering om
buildings, which only a few mo n,T%
| before were shaken to their tounOI
tons as by an earthquake. Nile
/ otraata ~, Manhattan alone We