New-York tribune., 1918-10-07
Refugees From Morgan and
South Amboy Expected
to Return To-day
Bodies of Only Five
Victims Identified
Work of Rebuilding Huge
Plant Will Begin This
Morning

AS a grim aftermath Of ,ae disaster
which destroyed the government she'll
loading plant of T. A. Gillespie e. Co.
at Morgan. \. j., came 4 report last
night that Department OF Justice oper
atives are searching for two enemy
aliens who fed from South Amooy thc
evening of the first explosion.
Operatives from every Federal uvesti
eating agency have been thrown iEto
the devastated region, it was learned
from reliable source. A stranger
found in South Amboy. said to be al
Austrian. was arrested and is being
held under close guard. A series of
arrests are expected at any time, and
it was intimated that the government
had not abandoned the original theory
that the explosion might not have been
due to accident.
The Department OF Justice and the
Customs Intelligence Service have had
special agents stationed in the plant
for more than a month. The authorl-
ties refused official information con-
corning their investigation.
Ninety-four workmen killed. fifty Sc
Yiously injured and property loss up
wards of $4,000, 600 was the estimated
toll OF the series of explosions that
wrecked the plant and spread havoc
through the surrounding country.
Government officials reported last
night that the fire was under control,
and said the danger Of igniting the
thousands of tons OF trinitro-tuloul
stored in nearby magazines had passed.
Before the fugitives from Morgan
and South Amboy had returned to their
homes, while flames still smouldered
Ii =
shell blasts reechoed through the de-
vastated area, the War Industries Board
met and planned the immediate recon
struction of the plant. The work of
rebuilding will begin this morning. and
it was announced that virtually every
man and woman of the thousands Of
employees will return to the new plant.
Five Bodies Identified.
With the exception of three men
VINO have been found in ncighborng
hospitals. it is believed every member
of the night shift III Unit 61-1-1 was
killed. This building was the scene
of the original explosion.
Thirty charred bodies were taken
from the wreckage during the day.
Fifteen we're taken to Perth Amboy
at South Amboy. Only five of these
were:
John Miller, of Newark. identified
by chauffeurs license made out to
him and by a memorandum in his
pocket from a Newark local draft
board putting him in the deferred
class.
David Zimmerman, watchman's.
identification card marked ell
building. He lived in room 40 in one
rP rho hor orfarkc of tho o1ont In,
pocket was gold watch with the
hands blown off.
Patrick McGraw. sixty-onc, of PAT
Nassau Street, Newark; had badge
2401; died at City Hospital Satur-
day night from shock.
j.; workman's card 1916 in pocket;
also card in pocketbook marked &C.
C. Flick, 536 Bath Avenue, Long
Branch"
Roy f. Nickerson, twenty-four, in
spector in the plant, son of William
Nickerson, 53O2 Eleventh Avenue,
Brooklyn; identified by ring given
him by his mother
Officials of the company were making
every effort to identify the remaining
victims. The books and payrolls were
destroyed in the plant, and it is prob
able the full list Of dead will never be
known.
The names of fourteen government
inspectors caught in the first explosion
were given out by company officers.
Two are in hospitals, seriously injured.
The others are believed dead. Those
missing are:
William Badvurn, Flushing; J. Cuca
rono, New York; W. A. Cole, nc ad-
dress; S. w. Holland no address, w +.
Manley, no address; A. Belto. New
York; Francis McGucken, Perth Am
boy; Alex Vice, CAT Seventh Street,
Brooklyn: Frank Harding, ID East
11lth Street, Manhattan; Vail,
no address.
The body of Inspector Henry c..
Ryrnes has been recovered Peter
Lawler and Herbert Piser are in the
Perth Amboy Hospital
Roy r. Nickerson, son OF William H..
Nckerson, New York furniture manu-
facturer, was killed at Morgan by a
flying fragment Of she'll. He retired
from business few days ago to enter
the government service.
Mayor Alfred T. Kerr of South AM
boy is in local hospital suffering from
she'll shock, and the towns business
. was transacted by subordinates.
a number OF injured employees are
under treatment at the Perth Amboy
City Hospital under government direc
ton. Among the victim, is Father Jo
seph Miller. a Catholic priest, of Nor
gan. who was struck by i piece OF she'll
while attending to the wounded.
A trail of increasing ruin spreaI
itself along the highway as Morgan
was approached from the Amboys. The
. force of the explosion shattered virtu-
ally every pane OF glass in Perth AM
boy; it tore off roofs in South Amboy;
it entirely wrecked many houses at
Morgan
With the exception of few barracks
end the building occupied by the com
pany Offices, the enclosed area ct the
plant was swept clean
The executive building, n fmsy,
wooden structure, stood IN the heart
o. shc devastated area, and ordnance
experts pointed to its outstanding walls
as al example o. the freakish humors
o. great explosions.
Nine Units Destroyed.
The tire and the series Of blast
destroyed nine of the thirteen units
of the plant, which covered an area
of about twelve square miles. The
four units untouched are situated on
the farther side OF Cheesequake Creek.
They were recently finished, and had
aot been placed in operation. Four