Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1918-05-19

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! scores of men.
A great cloud of dust and smoke'
settled over the scene and through
It's deadly fumes torn and mangled
forms dropped to the earth, many
dead, but others to meet their end
IN the flaming debris.
The number of dead had not been
determined tonight and it is possible
that it may not be known for days,
if indeed it ever will be known. State
and county authorities agreed that it
would reach 200.
Many of the injured, some of whom
were found half a mile from the rem
nants of the factory, were brought
to Pittsburgh hospitals by special
trains and in ambulances, all OF them
SO badly hurt that in only a compare
lively few instances were physicians
able to hold out any hope tor their
recovery. The property loss was es-
timated at $l,500,000.
Blast Follows Blast.
Immediately after the second ex-
plosion the mass of broken beams and
twisted timbers broke out in a great
blaze, while the highly inf1amable
chemicals used in the manufacture OF
T.. N. T. and T. M ( A. added ample
! fuel to the flames. Blast after blast
followed as the heat reached the
tanks, each one scattering the burn
ing embers and endangering property
in the entire community. Noxlous
gases spread over the valley and sur
rounding hills, making perilous the
work of rescue.
Telephone and, telegraph wires
wires were wrenched by the explosion
and the tracks of the Pittsburgh, Gin
cinnati, Chicago and St. Louis rail-
road (the Panhandle route) were
blocked by the falling buildings. An
employe hastened to Carnegie, four
miles distant, where wreck and re-
lief trains were made up and hurried
to Oakdale, while every hospital in
PittsbuHd sent ambularces with
nurses and doctors. Company guards,
under the direction of state con-
stabulary, surrounded the burning
ruins and later were reinforced by
deputy sheriffs and deputy coroners.
Doctors and Nurses Brave Peril.
For a time it seemed as though it
would be impossible to reach the
wounded because of the heat, the con-
stantly widening zone OF gases and
the danger from explosions. But the
nurses and doctors, aided by the Off
GERS, made their way as best they
could.
Miss Meryle Aschelman of New
Philadelphia, O., member of the
staff Of St. Johns hospital, Pitts
burgh, who was among the first to an
swer the call for help, was perhaps
fatally injured. Other rescuers were
caught near little stream. into
which acid and oil had poured. 1t
exploded as they crossed, and a
number were thought to have per-
ished.
Sheriff William S. Haddock almost
lost his life during one of the late
explosions. A very heavy piece Of
steel, blown from the wreckage,
passed close to him and the force of
the blast threw him to the ground.
He was badly bruised but continued
his work.
Each succeeding explosion reduced
the blazing piles as embers and chem
icals were widely scattered. Soon
after o'clock, an explosion. louder
and more violent than any since noon,
swept away the remnants of the fire
and practically cleared the blackened
space.
Many Bodies Burned.
Many bodies were consumed in the
flames, the authorizes declared, while
parts, of others were so tossed about
it would be impossible to identify
such portions as might eventually be
;ound.
At the stations of various communi-
ties for Is miles on either side of Oak
dale were assembled women Red
Cross workers, on their way to Pitts
burgh to participate in parade.
Abandoning all thoughts of parade
the women focked to the afflicted
area by automobile and by trolley,
ready for any sacrifice or service. And
these women lent valuable aid in
bringing order and system out of the
chaos among the families of the
workmen.
Answering first cali for hospital
aid and ambulances went a corps of
nurses and physicians from ST. Johns
hospital One of the nurses. Meryl
Aschelman, whose home is in New
Philadelphia, o., was acting as a
stretche- bearer, carrying wounded
man to the ambulance when in one
of the explosions she was thrown to
the ground and the patient on the
Stretcher was killed. One of her legs
was blow of.