The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-12-13
| DEAD, 12HURT IN
SHELL EXPLOSION
Bethlehem Co.'s New Castle
Plant Damaged.
BLAST SHAKES COUNTRYSIDE
5000 Three-Inch Projecties Loaded
With At. N. T." Detonate Following
Fire-lncendarism Suspected.

New Castle, Del, Dec 13.-Five
thousand three-inch shells loaded with
the powerful 1T. N. T." exploded at
the Bethlehem Steel company's plant.
near New Castle, Del
One man was killed. About twelve
persons were slightly cut
The detonation of these high explo-
slve shells. whose contents, "T. n. T."
CtrlnitrotcluoD, were the SAM which
wrecked Halifax, rocked the country
side for miles around Fragments Of
shell screamed through the air, and
people fed from their homes in ter
ror.
The mon killed was Theodore ia
cobson, Harrison, n. J.. chief OF the
Frtvat" "~tice at the plant
Ther" Is a suspicion Of incendiarism
and JCh2 Lalli Italian boss of a gang
of labCrers a the plant, and Tnother
found in the shell loading building
where the explosion occurred. and
where he had no business to be
I.alli is said to have gone into the
building to get warm. and to have
turned on the heat. There is a theory
hat the heat caused the boiling over
Of the ct n. T." which. in ona pro-
cess is liquifed before being placed
in shells. and that the fire and ex-
nlosion resulted Experts say, how
YER. that a temperature of at least
4A0 degrees is required to explode "T.
\. T." and that this would have been
impossible in the loading house.
Officials at the plant, nevertheless.
believe the fire may have started, per
haps accidentally. from the boiling
over of 1T. n. T." Several pots of
the explosive have boiled over al the
plant IN the last few weeks, 1t is eaid.
The loss is estimated at from $50
900 to $4,000, but may go higher.
The fire was confined to the loading
building. which was of steel skeleton
construction. reinforced with bricks
md terra Gotta. 1t was two stories
N height, and three small sheds abut-
ted it
Numerous casualties were averted
" an accident to the trolley service,
which prevented about 500 workmen
ION reaching the plant on time and
by the celebrity with which those in
the plant fed when the danger sig
nal sounded on the siren.
It was not until $40 o'clock that
he first shell exploded From then
on. for two hours, the shells, in vol
leys Stimulating the drumire Of bat
tlefeld exploded. the proiectiles
shrieking through the air
Scores darted straight over the
plant like skyrocketS, some bursting
high aloft, with shattered fragments
raining over terror-stricken men and
women as they fed.
One of the heroes Of the blast, with
tRe slain police chief is tll.<-enginman
of the yard Though shells were burst
ing in the loading house, he ran
"dinkey" engine to siding adjoining
the blazing structure, and coupled on
a box car, freighted with loaded shells.
He pulled it to safety point in the
yard, and escaped unscathed.
Three women, two of them the wife
and the daughter of lighthouse keep
er, crouched in the lighthouse 800
yards from the burning building dur.
ing the bombardment. Though the
field surrounding the lighthouse was
dug into craters by the shells, they
were unhurt.
The women are Mrs. George w.
her daughter, Susan, and Jo-
sephine Walsh, a visitor from the
Continental Hotel. Atlantic City.
At the first defamation, Mrs. Duncan,
whose husband was absent, banked
the fires, and with the other women
descended into the cellar. In this pro-
lection, resembling battlefield dug
out. they prayed while the shells
shrieked around the lighthouse with
out hitting it.
Dozens Of shells fell in open fields.
Residents of New Castle, two and a
half miles north of the plant, were
paralyzed by fright, and many of them
took to their cellars. The conclusion
was felt for miles, and even in Ches- !
ter, window panes broke.
The whistling shells. exploding with
terrifying reports, sprinkled the fields, {;
the plant. Board fences /;
were smashed to kindling wood, and I
there are few spots near the plant /
which do not bear marks of the !
BLASTS. One shell penetrated the tire
Of a motor car passing.