New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-13
iOO.OOO Pounds of Pow
der Wreck Plant at
Haskell, N. }.
TWO MEN DIE;
800 IN PERIL
Twelve Buildings De
stroyed-Fire Follows
Explosion

izbt ~ the roar OF An eNp4Vu'HS w"
~ nunition plsnt-the second visl-
..s,, Of MS kind in thirty-six hours
,,s looking westward saw red glare
-. n, Palisades which told that
ono pounds Of powder in the du
p.,t rlsnt at Haskell, y. j., had gone
vp in fame
Two men at least died in the great
u,.t tha, went roaring skywsrd
.,orly after $3.50; twelve buildings
tbs company we're destroyed; towns
a, miles around were wracked and
b,.,,rsd BY the concussion, and four
.,,s.-New Jersey, New York, Con
r,etieut and Massschusetts-felt the
shock
Series Of Explosions
Hou many men were injured is not
Known. Three hundred were working
n ID, danger zone when the explosion
occurred. There was not one mighty
qub. There we're a series Of blasts,
strung out into a tremendous roar that
last.d for several minutes, while flames
l,speS from one building to another as
spark runs through a gigantic pack
o. freersckers.
The first clap came at $3.50. In the
lew minutes following eleven other
buildings and magazines went up IN
% rapid succession that their roar
"a, blended into one great thunder
p.a and the country for miles around
us frightened by the glow Of the
burning powder.
When the first crash came several
hundred employees turned from their
work and stsmpeded like cattle for the
gate This is on the Greenwood Lake
Turnpike and is the only entrance to
The plan. A hundred yards inside the
compsny's property is the guardhouse,
n which a score Of men are always
held on reserve.
These rushed out as the terror
stricken mob approached. A sharp
ight followed, in which the frightened
employees were beaten back and kept in
side the du Pont property until the
next shift came to work.
Blasted Ont of Existence
one building Of the plant IL known
as the barrel mixing house" 1t is
here that the raw powder is blended
with graphite, which glszes IT and re-
cuee' friction The machinery by
which this perilous work is accom-
plished is barrell-shaped and is re-
yolyed by electricity. Two men tend it.
Ins:e and the building we're blasted out
Of existence An electric spark from
'ts machinery IS supposed to have
''used the trouble.
On one side Of the hill which follows
ne Nsnaoue River northward are the
oAcss and buildings Of the company,
where the safer processes of manufact-
ule are performed. On the other side.
with a rampant Of solid rock separat-
ng them from Haskell, are the powder
magazines and the isolated houses.
where the more psrilous processes are
performed
Nnen the barrel mixing house went
iSyTsrd on shaft Of fame the shock
SCI OF the adjoining drying house"
0asre the explosives are relieved Of
s-psrhuous moisture. From then on
lor I've minutes there was one great
continuous roar, as ton after ton Of
lovder b..x Jp.
YEAR the drying house was maya
'ne, in which three tons Of "pyro,
an explosive being manufactured for
ne United States government, was
Nored. This went next, and the
Mighty concussion reached across the
h'er and set OF four magazines. each
obtaining from three TO four tons OF ,
o@lllstte. another high explosive. Other
smaller buildings Joined IN the tre-
nsndous blast
300 in Danger Zone
there we're more than 800 men IN the
Noger zone when the explosion oc-
.lrree. but officials Of the plant insist
As only tyo the men IN the barrel
n@ing house-are missing, and that
y one wss seriously hurt One Ro
Nsski, a lard, was cut about the head
NO RIBS and taken 70 the plant hos
.Iai' but James Lyman, the general
ahsger, said that no one else was in
u'eo 70 an equal extent. Mr.. Lynah
.0es not even admit that the two for
nsr occupants OF the barrel house were
ulleo
ne shock Of the explosion Jared the
leehine shop so severely that the
mating ON the ceiling. to which belts
Ns attached, came down. Several men
e'ie IN the building at the time. II
oehled that any Of them were in
siec. Later the structure caught fire
md burned.
Immediately after the long rolling
ploson had died away, the compsny's
nghting apparatus was ordered out,
,u u was decided that any attempt
sTtlnguish the flaming buildings
,Oold be TOO dangerous. They were al
eo 70 burn themselves out.
No estimate was available or the
.mesr Of men a. work when the dis
|ler occurred, but as soon as the ter
Continued on paSs 4, column