Evening journal., 1916-05-16
"A DEAD MAY Be
TOLL OF FLARE-UP
At GIBBSTOWN
Continued from First Page

Continued from First PAGE
Centre street. Woodbury.; compound
fracture OF right leg; burns face and
hands: sight of one eye feared de-
stroyed.
Rune Everley 30 years old, Gibbs
town. concussion OF brain and frac-
ture Of right hip.
Charles d. Heritage. 20 years old.
Woodbury.; foreman: fracture Of left
arm; decorations Of head and body.
Thomas n. Shilmiri. 30 years old,
Jefferson. n. j.. foreman: lacerations
Of scalp and contusions OF body.
Biochi Di Franski. 80 years old,
Gibbstown; fractures OF left leg and
left arm.
Lewis Sabials. Gibbstown.
All the above are in the Cooper
Hospital. Camden The hospital ON
clals this morning stated that all OF
them will recover.
Others injured are:
Malvin Cassidy. Woodbury.: lacera-
ton OF the side; taken home.
William Volk. Woodbury.. brother
OF John VOlk. who was killed: arm
broken; taken home
Richard Volk. another brother:
slightly bruised and cut: taken home
II. A. Stillwell. Woodbury.; cut
about head: taken home,
The trinitrotoluOl nitrating house
which went up was a two-story frame
structure, as was also the nitrobenzol
house. near by, which exploded. The
debris from these buildings caught
hre. The detonation brought down
two small brick buildings about sixty
feet from the buildings. in which the
explosion occurred. and some Of the
dead were said to have been in these
brick buildings when they crumbled.
These buildings we're used for the
manufacture OF hexite.
The explosion is said 10 have been
the worst that has ever occurred at
this plant The late Lammot dupont,
father OF Pierre S. dupont, president
OF the present big powder company
was killed some years ago in an ex-
plosion at the Gibbstown plant.
= The explosion caused more or less
OF panic among the employees and
number OF laborers are said 10
have resigned Immediately following
b the fare-up. The shock was felt for
many miles and thousands Of panes
Of glass were broken in the windows
OF houses in surrounding towns.
Hundreds Of persons who had rela-
tives and friends working at the
plant hurried to GibbstOwn. AS soon
as the explosion occurred guards un-
der orders from the officials, how
! ever. closed the gates No one was
permitted to enter and none Of those
b inside could leave.
The company physicians with the
help OF large numbers OF employees
b Immediately started the work OF at
tending TO the injured and getting
out the dead and Injured from the
b wreckage of the buildings.
. House Roof Blown 800 Feet i'm Air.
Although windows in Woodbury. and
Paulsboro were broken i'm large num-
81 hers. not single pane Of glass in
b GibbstOwn was even cracked. The
b force Of the explosion was said to have
travelled in a nOrtherly and westerly
direction. The roof OF the nitratinl
house was blown. intact. 300 feet into
the air, and then separated into thous-
ands Of pieces, which scattered in
many directions.
e in clearing away the wreckage and
4 bringing out the bodies said was
q twelve feet deep and about twenty
4 feet square. was blown into the ground
r on the site where the nitrating plant
r, stood. Two or three of the men were
? killed there by the force Of the ex'
plosion.
One man, on whose body not a marl
- was found, was said TO have died from
suifocation, caused by breathing tn,
fumes OF ammonia and acids. Hii
face was buried IN a pool Of liquiC
r mixture when his body was found
Work at the plant, except in a few
units, practically ceased for the dal
after the explosion.
Cause Remains a Mystery.
The cause Of the explosion prob
ably never will be known. Officials
or the company said IL might have
been set of by number OF causes.
spark in the nitrating plant; dan
gerous temperature in the mixtures
in the watts, or other conditions nigh
have set off the explosive.
When the nitrating house, OF which
the employees Familiarity call the
triton plant, let go the benzol house
and two buildings. in which hexite j.
prepared. were demolished. Pieces
OF iron, bricks. large blocks OF wood
and other wreckage were hurled n
many directions. One workman. al
, most two city blocks distant from
, the scene OF the explosion, was SO
J verely cut on the hand by a piece o
a brick.
itl Mr.. ILawIey. the assistant supcrin
n. tendent, was just outside the door o
nt the nitrate house when Il let go. II,
rs was picked up alive. but died befor,
it he could be taken to one Of the i'm
II provised hospitals on the grounds
Jordan. another of the dead. had beer
Of married only a few days. He wa
= member Of the Woodbury. Dramati
in Society. as was John J. VOlk. Botl
N were we'll known and popular in tha
n town.
Mr.. Lawley lived at No. 45 Aber
he deem Place. Woodbury.. He cam,
IL from Northampton. Mass. and en-
lr tered the employ OF the company il
August. 1905 He was at one tim
" located at the cOmpanys plant a