Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-09-08

continued from rage One
primers to the dryhouse, The material
damage apparently is not great
WEEKS OUTPUT LOST
About weeks output of detonators at
the arsenal was lost in the first explosion.
The primer dryhousc, which blew up also.
was about half full, nut ! don't know
whether it contained experimental primers
or those perfected for use.
since We have had trouble with our
primers We have been buying primers Of
private manufacturers. In view of the fact
we have been requested by wire to appro-
pirate only $500 as an emergency sum to
make repairs, It Is not likely the loss to
buildings viii prove heavy"
Fire alarms were quickly sounded and
police from the Fifteenth. Thirty-third,
Eleventh, Thirticth and other districts were
called. These. with the regular army
soldiers from the Ordnance Department of
the United States army, took charge.
Ambulances hurried the injured to the
Frankford Hospital
The smallness of the casualty list is
considered remarkable in view of the
fact that between 300 and 500 persons were
at work in the buildings and yards of the
arsenal at the time of the blasts.
PLANT TEMPORARILY CLOSED
Immediately after the explosion the
arsenal was ordered closed until the Of
ncials could determine the extent of the
damage take care Of the dead and in
jured and decide whether or not operation
of the plant would be advisable today.
Men and women presenting themselves
for work on the early day shifts We're
turned away by the gate guards, who said
there would be no work today. At 6:45'
However Colonel Montgomery, commandant
of the arsenal, ordered that work should
proceed today as usual in all the buildings
not DESTROYED or damaged. This indicated
that the accident was not as serious as
had been feared.
BY o'clock almost the usual number Of
persons were at worli-between 1000 ana
5000
An the buildings were frame except r. A,
house No. 3. a new brick structure.
The five blasts came close together anu
Immediately shells Of various sizes-moSt
of them loaded with shrapnel-were burst
ing on all sides
PANIC IN NEIGFIBORiiOOD
The nelghborhood in the vicinity of the
Government plant was described as II Ver-
table bedlam
Not only were thousands OF men ana
women attracted to the scene in various
stages of fright, but others, by the hun
dreds were seen running away in every
direction, especially after the more severe
explosions occurred.
Guardsmen on duty-men familiar with
the layout of the arsenal--said that the rain
alone prevented the loss of many more lives
and of the plant itself. The steady and
heavy downpour unquestionably, they said,
prevented the flames from reaching the
large magazine where thousands Of pounds
of powder are stored,
More than 500 members of the Forty
seventh Regiment of the New York National
Guard were on guard duty at the arsenal
when the explosions occurred. They are
commanded by Colonel Jannicky.
William Fisher Of 1902 South Eighteenth
street was one of those at work in the
dryhouse just before it blew up.
lie heard the sizz of the burning powder
and with another fellow workman jumped
for the door. He reached it just in time.
He said that he felt as if the whole Cover
regions" had broken loose.
Several men were stopped while running
madly away from the scene while their
clothes were ablaze and their wounds bleed
ing They appeared temporarily deranged,
but were quicted by ambulance physicians.
A number of the soldiers, who were pris-
oners in the guard house are being heralded
as heroes by their comrades. These pris-
oners were released after the fire broke