The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1917-02-03
WARS TERRORS ARE AGAIN
BROUGHT TO NEW JERSEY
Huge Munitions Plant Burns and
Towns Are Bombarded For
Twelve Hours.

For the second time within a few
months the residents of Hudson couP
ty. n. j.. have known the terrors OF
bombardment about as bad as the wag
in Europe has ever produced. This has
come about by the fire and subsequent
explosion of ammunition factories and
stores of explosives.
The munitions plant of the Canadian
Car and Foundry company at Kings.
land, which "a few days ago employed
thousands Of workers and had just
completed a $100,0 100000 shell contract
for the Russian government, Is nc
more. The fire is supposed to have
started when n defective electric wire
sen a spark into a gasoline container
Immediately the thousands of work
men employed In the plant fed foi
their lives, for they knew what was to
follow. The explosions which lmme
diately followed continued for twelve
hours, bombarding the town of Kings
land and nearby towns and shaking
the whole countryside.
Pieces Of shells were picked up more
than three miles from the plant. A
saloon near Kingsland, on the main
road about a mile from the plant. was
bombarded early In the afternoon, and
the walls eaved in. Four Of the porch
pillars were shot clean away. A dozen
curious stories were told of the acci-
dents of this aimless bombardment.
A large shell fragment tore through
the kitchen of "A house I'm Kingsland
and ripped It's way out through a wall,
passing within three inches Of a littla
girls head.
AS an instance of the constant dan
ger I'm which the police performed
their work may be cited the experience
Of Chief Mcintyre and Chief Burnham
OF Rutherford, N. j.. who were driving
in an automobile along one of the
streets IN Guinea Hill when a three
inch shell dropped from the skies right
into their car, wrecking It. But the
two chiefs and their driver were unin
jured.
The fire spread to eleven cars full of
loaded shells on the Lackawanna
tracks, and then began a terrific BON
bardment. Like the steady firing OF
many batteries of seventy4ives, the
shells exploded one after the other,
The projectiles rising high into the sky
and falling In long ares on all sides of
the plant. Across the main line of the
railroad were the largest repair shops
Of tho 4 onlya ma uxutona L.,A the
200 workers employed there had lost
no time In getting out.
On the other side OF the plant, per.
haps a mile away. begins the slope OF
the hill on which live the 5000 resi-
dens of Klngsland and Lyndhurst.
This latest explosion was similar to
the Black Tom disaster the morning
OF July 81 last. Black Tom Is a pen
insula on the Jersey City shore OF
New York bay, where the Lehigh Val
ley railroad has a terminal Enormous
quantities Of munitions were there
transferred from freight cars to
barges, thence to be loaded on vessels
for Europe.
Never before had such a large guam
tity of high explosives-275 tons-been
detonated at one time. Because of the
isolated situation of Black Tom the
fatalities were limited to half q dozen
or SO.
New York was shaken as IL by an
earthquake by the two principal ex-
plosions which marked a night Of wild
terror. Downtown skyscrapers receiv-
cd the full force of the shock. Jersey
City was partially wrecked.
The disaster began with a fire.
Shrapnel and other ammunition blazed
away all night. bombarding the sur.
rounding shores and even bursting over
Governors island. Meanwhile blazing
barges drifted about the bay, endan-
gering shipping In the harbor and the
wharves which line the New York and
New Jersey shores. When the flames
had been quenched and the explosions
ceased it was estimated that the Black
Tom explosion had done damage
amounting to between $15.0OO,00O and