The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920, 1918-10-06
TINT BLASTS CAUSE
DAY OF TERROR
Continued from Psrst Puoa

Conftnued FROM FWst Pu9e
In no immediate danger and probably
would not be exploded
Late last night an army ofiicer re-
ported that the danger Of another ex-
plosion was remote, provided the wind
did not change. At that time the
wind was blowing away from the
underground magazine, where many
tons of INT are stored.
Major-Gen. C. C. Williams Chief Of
Ordnance, u. 8. A.; Capt. Wilson, also
OF the ordnance division, and Lieut..
Nufilize arrived In Perth Amboy from
Washington last night and consulted
officers who had been on the scene all
day. All declined to talk at the end
of their conference.
Fire Chief Severely Hurt.
Among the injured at the Lakewood
Hospital are Chief Hayes and Capt.
Ainsworth Of the guards who protected
the Gillespie plant, and Chief Dona-
hue Of the Perth Amboy Fire Depart
ment. All were hurt while working
ut the scene OF the explosions. Chief
Donahue's wounds are serious.
After several hours OF comparative
silence another explosion shook New
Jersey at 10 o'clock last night. A
series Of three more were felt, begin
ming at 10:45 p. M.
The property damage win probably
run up to almost $30.000.o00. The
plant, owned by the Government, cost
$4,000, 900. NThe explosives stored for
manufacture were worth $4,000, 600.
The village of Morgan, near the plant
on Raritan Bay. was wiped out. The
town Of South Amboy, where most Of
the $500 Gillespie employees lived.
French villages after long lombard
ment by both sides.
In Perth Amboy, q city Of $4,000
persons five miles from the scene
of the explosions, there are window
less houses and streets filled with
broken trees. On all the area of land
within fifteen miles Of Morgan the
hand Of destruction was lad. In New
ark, Elizabeth; New Brunswick, across
Raritan Bay on Staten Island. UP the
Jersey shore, and even in downtown
Manhattan, real estate suffered more
or less.
Exodus Of Families.
All this apart from the terror OF the
munition workers and other families
Of South Amboy driven from their
homes, streaming through a night il
Illuminated by monstrous orange col
ored torches that cleft the sky above
Morgan, tugging at their babies and
chattels, beaten to earth by new and
greater explosions as they toiled
along, stumbling across the long
bridge that spans the Raritan between
South Amboy and Perth Amboy, fnd-
ing shelter where the Red Cross and
hundred other agencies Of relief and
the people of Perth Amboy could sup
ply II, or sleeping huddled In shawls in
the public park.
Observers who have been in France
said the scenes were comparable to an
exodus of refugees from the war zone
and the likeness was probably exact.
Just as in France, the refugees are
forever begging the authorities to let
them 60 home, or where their homes
were, SO the exiles from the shore Of
terday and told of chickens that had
not been fed, of cows that had not
been MIXED. and sought permission to
return.
"And It would have done your heart
good" an army man said. ito see the
number Of these poor devils from the
TN T plant who said they would go
back there to work the moment the
new plant was built"
Inquiries for Relatives.
Women with children who had been
homeless in South Amboy all day re-
ceived the new warning OF danger IN
the afternoon Historically. but were re-
lieved when told that as far as could be
ascertained the danger was passed. In
the meantime those who had not been
driven from home by fear of the explo-
sions or marched to safety by the mill
tary forces who took possession OF the
district were running about inquiring
for word as to their relatives. who were
reported to have been working In the
plant last night when the FIRST explosion
occurred.
Army officers said that they thought
the dead numbered about fifty and the in
jured not more than hundred. Workmen
from the plant said this was a very low
estimate but could not give figures to
support their own belief. The Gillespie
company employed about $500 men and
women. They worked In three shifts
The shift on duty at 7:45 on Friday
evening when the great blowup started
was smaller than usual No women were
there and only about 900 men. About
seventy men were in the building where
tho fire started.
As there was no immediate explosion
the company believes that most of them
got out and that the rest Of the 500
workers had time to run q safe distance
before INT began spouting. They ad-
init that this Is guesswork.
Fourteen Bodies Recovered.
Fourteen bodies are known to have
been taken from the plant thus far
Major Smith, in command OF the Elev-
enth Battalion Of the United States
Coast Guard. was reported last night as
having not been seen by his men since
3 A. NJ. yesterday, but was not definitely
reported missing.
The Department OF Justice took charge
of the investigation Of the cause Of the
catastrophe. Its agents swarmed all
around the wire fence that surrounds the
Gillespie enclosure. So far as known
they have not yet reached anything like
a conclusion. Nor has Mr.. Gillespie or
his partners.
A workman who says he was in one
of the buildings asserts that a kettle
OF chemical mixture which should be
heated only to 80 degrees, got up to
105 degrees, that the mixture exploded
and set FIRE To the interior of the build