New-York tribune., 1918-11-08
Charge
Pressed IL, Morgan
Explosion Inquiry
Mayor Hylan's Representa-
tives Show Danger to This
City in Catastrophe

That the great Gillespie munition
plant disaster of October and 5 was
entirely preventabl and explicitly
traceable to negligence OF factory otti'
cials was the charge formally brought
bv the Perth Amboy Council of Defence
as the Senatorial committee appointed
to investigate that calamity began its
deliberations yesterday in Perth AM
boy, n. J.
Plant officials were accused Of having
obstructed the councils investigators
after the wreck, and measures for
safeguarding against similar tragedies
were urgently demanded.
"If it is indeed found that negli-
gence caused this explosion said
Judge Adrian Lyon, opening the De
fence Councils case, certainly the
persons who were guilty of such negli-
gence should not be intrusted with the
same thing again. If, on the other
taken. then it follows that, if the fac
tory is rebuilt in the same place and
in the same way, there will always be
danger of similar catastrophe.'
To emphasize the point of how
widespread such danger is under pres
ent circumstances. Judge Lyon intro
duced testimony of the mayors from
several outlying towns. while the case
for New York was presented by Com
missioner Of Docks Murray Hubert
who was specially delegated by Mayor
Hylan to attend the hearing
Water Mains Menaced
"There are 100000 miles of water
mains in New York City" said Mr..
Hubert "all of which are menaced
so long as there are not safeguards
against such explosions. To show
how serious the situation might be-
come. it is only necessary for me to
point out that Richmond borough, for
instance, depends for its water sup
ply upon one 36-inch flexible water
main, which, if ruptured, would re-
quire several weeks to repair. In
Queens single main supplies three
wards with water All water from
the Catskills comes through a single
rock tunnel. If this we're dislocated,
plosion, it would take weeks to re-
pair"
The long, spidery bridges. the high
pressure mains for fire and the arti-
ticiai reservoirs IN Manhattan are all,
the Commissioner seid, in danger so
long as explosions of the sort that
wiped out Morgan, killed scores and
smashed windows in places as distant
as Manhattan and Brooklyn can occur.
80 impressive was the sum of Mr..
Hurlburt's testimony that the Commits
sion decided to make u comprehensive
survey of conditions of handling ex-
plosives in Now York Harbor and stor-
age methods practised in the neighbor-
ing territory.
Trace Subway Closing
Incidentally, the famous order which,
at the time of the explosion caused
subways leading into New York to be
suspended was for the first time traced
to its source. Fire Chief John Kenlon,
who also appeared yesterday on behalf
of New York City, was the man who
advised the Mayor to take that precau-
ton.
Il feared the subway rails might get
out of line and serious damage result"
said he, "for had been given to un-
derstand that another and greater ex-
plosion was expected"
Senator Frelipghuysen, who presided
at the investigation, wanted to know
just where this rumor arose. Again
and again mention of it was made.
From dozen different sources it kept
cropping up. But all efforts definitely
to fix the authority upon which it
gained circulation were fruitless. 1t
is expected, however. that additional
light will be thrown ON this point to-
day.
To-day the compliments plan tc
bring forward chemical experts, work
lngnen formerly employed at the Gil
lespie plant and leading local citizens
familiar with conditions there, to sub
stantiate the charges outlined to-day
Besides the accusations of persistent
carelessless and deliberate falsitica-
ton, these include the claim that in.
Vulnerable enemy aliens worked at the
factory and that unauthorized persons
had no difficulty in gaining access.
Wind Checked Catastrophe
1t Is also charged that it was mere
luck-hingng on the continuance OF
the westerly wind blowing on the night
of October 5-that prevented an even
more terrible disaster. One hundred
and fifty thousand pounds of TINT were
on the premises that night. Seventy.
five thousand pounds exp oded. It is
taken no adequate precautions to pre-.
vent the entire stores exploding. 1t
is further said that various units OF
the factory were clustered together in
an obviously unsafe fashion, with nc
stable barriers between to limit the
range Of possible fires. The materials
and location of the magazines were
also criticised at length.
The committee conducting the in.
vcstigation is a subcommittee of the
Senate Committee on Military Affairs
II is made up Of Senator Joseph S
Frelinghuysen, who introduced the bill
demanding an examination; Senator
Henry S, Myers and Senator J. C. w
Beckham. Owing to illness the last
Two were absent yesterday. 1t is ex-
rccted, however, that Senator Beckhan
will be able to attend when the ses
sion is resumed this morning at The
Perth Amboy Citv Hall