The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-07-31

 .ey City earlyi yesterday ,morning was Efoilowed 6ysan explosion that rocked Ethe n4Skropoff1an district for sixty miles aruund .ands did property dam Eaxe esSimatsd4 at from $2o.000.000 to Etso, ,oo0. coo. E SeverSrs rspersons-were were killed land many more injuredA The number < of deathss will not be known until the ruin that was one of the finest rail- Troad terminals in the United States lhas been searched and. cleared away. E Whether or not the fire caused the ilexpi6a&om Is. a matter not yet determ- iinedl The blaze started far out on the Hp Of Black Tom Island, where ifhef6 were millions
 kthere weretmunition cars in the yard Eand barges loaded with explosives ly- I ing alongside.
 No more spectacuIar, ire. has been i wi<1essed in or about this city for Ss,nany years. The explosion Itself WIS terrific. The shock of ft brought ' destructions across the broad waters of New York Bay to Manhattan4 and Brooklyn, littering the streets with broken glass and. damaging the con { tents of business houses.
 smells Explode as Barges. Drift In Jersey Citys sDuildings of every < snrt were shaken to their Foundations. me irnpact was felt far up the Hud- son and down the New Jersey coast. rhes fIre,that sprang up in the freight terrnfr,al of the railroad could be seen for miles and brought men and won- en from distant places to witness It. For hours fhere was a continuous ex- plosion Of sheIls as tbarges loaded with snunitiolSs dff1ted from their moor inxa and Nent out intoa the bay.
 The firds was discovered among z freaxf1t cSTf9 at the end of Black Tom Island shortly after midnight Among !. 4hesb CTS, were several; loaded with fhrae-inch shells At one side of \ the Sopen pier was mooredsa barge 1oaded with nitfo-celIul0se. It iss sup posed Chat an e1ploding shell from one Of {he. muutt1on cars pierced the bares and set or the great mass od VI n Tn. ,s nsrre " 4b1cwn+ to bits.~ Tnere Z. VI nof enough Of 1t left 70 shOw where itxlaad been. By thls esDlos- ion most of The damage was done. The lime waA 2:08 a. m. It was followed bv another of lesser intensity at 2:4O f o'clock That was when several cars Elloaded with explosives were struck py flying shells, from others that mad taken Are
 The ire spread from the cars at the {. and of the pier to the warehouses o1 th9 National Storage Co. Thirteer I. of these were utterly destroyed XII {1ros gsus s svexe mo explosives in these sreh ousess thdir contents consistdns 66 seyeral milton dollars worth Q, { smerchandise. principally sugar. " From the warehouses flames sprea'd fo elnfps, and baxxes moored to piers on tho south aide of the long tongue l;oH land that is known as Black Tom rhe burning buildings lighted up the 54ntire bay and the cities about it.
 The first of the two explosions had Sroused the etn1ro city, and within an hour lower Manhattan held such zcrowds as 1t has seldom seem there They came by every sort of vehicle md thousands cf them walked, They hned the Battery wall and searched s&he mist that lay upon the water.
 EheIls Rain About Statue of liberty
 sOut of the night came the boom oi shells and shrapneL Over on Bed Ioe's Island where the Statute of Lib Asrty lifts her light, the shells were
 
 U,omed to those who saw a flaming Anxge drift that way. Governors Is' land felt the shock, and when bits ol Steel penetfated the buildings thers Gen. Wood sent out members of his Staff to cross the bay and offer aid ts any who might need it.
 ss Brooklyn was shaken from ono ent fo the other. Windows crashed in and M many sections the excitement bor- dered on panic Hundreds of police reserves were sent to quiet the people
 who came tumbling out of their home. iii the belief that t4ts end of the work was at hand. It was estimated tha: the damage to property there woult Teach s250. 900.
 In Manhattan it was estimated tha the damage to windows alone woult total nearly $100, 900. Foundations ana Z walls throughout the city were shaker as by an earthquake. Excitemen prevailed in hospitals and prisons and in the pooper neighborhoods thou sands of men, women and chfldrea rushed to the streets in terror.
 Hundreds of them spent the rest O the night in parks rather than risl going back to their homes when was not certain that other and wors' shocks would come. Police reserves were hurried out to quiet the tumult In the financial district $50 policemen from the police training camp pa tro1led the streets in their khaki uni forms.
 Ali day yesterday thousands O. sfghtseers came from neighboring cit les and country towns Many of then 0ought boats going across the uppe bay end had a good view of the smoul dsr1ng ruins. The boats of the mu nfcipa1 Terry to Staten Island wer, crowded
 Tn Jersey City the police kept tn, curious far back from the. scene O the explosion. Occasional report from exploding shells came from tn, smokfng mass in the Lehighs valle, yards. Frank Hague, Commissions Of Public Safety in Jersey City, began
 an investigation immediately, and etatemepts were made by railroad of Acials and others regarding the ca senstr1rhs.
 Bx0coaA BlAmss . Towing Concern
 .ftsr making m Investigation int. fxut1 surrounding the Axplosiou. th. Lehlos1 Valley Railroad co. issued , statomsnt in which it declared tha
 the frs haa its Inception on barg, belonging to ac Independent towtn,
 concsru, which ha< been raoorad :, violation of orders besice the raii-oat