New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-01-13
Thursdays Disaster Will
Cost Russian Govern
ment SS,000,000
STRUCTURES MAY
NOT BE REBUILT
Cars Agents Were Nego-
tiating for Purchase OF
the Plant

A black smudge on the Hackeusaek
meadows. over which a shcll-torn iron
smokestack stands sentinel, is all that
is left Of the thirty-four buildings Of
the Canadian Car and Foundry Com
pany's munitian plant at Kingsland'
n. J.
The loss. according to officials Of
the company. is Sl6,75o,OOO, but not a
single person persisted in Thursday
explosion.
Officials OF the company announced
after an investlg cation that lasted an
day that the explosion and hre might
have been Of ucendiary origin. The
suspicion was voiced IN the oihciai
statement which contained the estimate
Of the damage
Buildings Show Havoc
The wash house and the engine
house. which stand at the far end OF
the destroyed rectangle, and nine
shacks where explosives are stored,
distance from the scene OF the IRE
which were untouched by the con
fagration. emphasize the havoc OF the
flames and bursting shells.
But the damage 90 the plant looked
smaller than that wrought by the
bursting shells on Guinea Hi, me
Italian section Of Kingsland, at the
base Of which the plant stood. Not
ono of the 200 houses in this section
escaped. Five Of them were set ahre
and destroyed.
Scarcely tree in this section but
sbows the marks Of the bursting
shells. Many Of them have been de
stroyed. their branches lying m
charred and blackened MASSES near
the trunks. And everywhere arc to be
seen the splinters Of shells.
Looks Like Battle Scene
After a visit through the ruins yes
tcrday. Ernest p. Bicknell, d'r~ctor gen
cral of the Civic Relief of the Ameri-
can Red Cross, said:
THE first thing that struck me as Il
walked through the district was the re
scmblance 20 a battlefield. The nrst
house We saw was a stucco affair, m
which several she'll holes showed, and
lust below the cornce, on the front Of
the house, protruded an unexploded
shell that had entered but half way.
And on the ground were the she'll
sphnters one sees on the European
battlefield. The shells, which did not
explode when they struck the ground
owing TO the absence Of fuses, instead
Of digging deep holes. commonly called
craters. merely imbedded themselves in
the ground
Thomas J. Huekin, County Prosecutor
Of Bergen County, continued his in
vestigation yesterday, and as result
said that he was convinced that the
fire fighting apparatus in the works
was Inadequate. lie said that there
was a total absence Of sand pals, and
that had there been several in the
house where the Gre started the men
might have succeeded in cXtinguishing
the blaze.
Will Block Rebuilding
The local officials OF Kingsland were
more concerned over the possibility Of
the company attempting to rebuild its
plant than anything else. Mayor Clay
declared last night that he had IL on
excellent authority that the company
would attempt TO rebuild.
But YOU can rest assured that they
VIII not, If there is any law on the
statute books of New Jersey 20 prevent
their rebuilding he said. 81 have in
structed the Counsel for the Township
Of Union, which embraces Kingsland,
20 be prepared TO start suits IN the
courts the moment they attempt 20
huild to invoke injunctions restrain
ing them
II was not until day broke yesterday
that the shells ceased TO explode al the
rate of "a score or more a minute. One
Of the guards reported that he heard
cries coming from the swamp just west