Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1918-04-03
STRONG SUSPICION OF
PRO-CERMAN PLOT
Valuable Machinery, Necessary to
Manufacture of Gas, Broken
and Torn.
GAS SUPPLY MAY Be
SHUT Off TONIGHT
Company at Once Engages Force
of Experts to Repair the
Damage.

An explosion, evidently the work OF
pro-German plotters. at SIS o clock this
morning, completely wrecked what Is
known as the turbine department Of the
works of the Wilmington Gas Co, located
on Justison street just south Of railroad
avenue, and. in addition 10 causing n
loss that viii reach At least S25, 900, put
an Immediate stop TO the manufacture of
gas and injured one man badly.
Fortunately, the company had in It's
storage tank at the time OF the explosion
1000, 900 cubic feet of gas, which IS
being used today. but as the daily con-
sumption is between 100000 and B.
100000 cubic feet, and rs it Is hardly
possible TO make temporary repairs in
time to resume manufacture before late
tonight or early tomorrow morning, the
indications early this afternoon were
that there would be no gas tonight.
Officers and employees Of the company
who were seen today IN regard 10 the
explosion. could give no explanation.
George Murray, the only person seriously
hurt, was alone in the turbine room at the
time. He was blown against brick wall
and stunned, besides being injured. He
IS at his home, 1914 West Fourth street,
under the care of physician. He was
lacerated and is believed 10 have been
internally hurt He is the foreman OF
the plant. He WAS unable to give any
clue TO the explosion, as ii came without
warning and he saw no other person Id
the room and nothing suspicious.
John c. Newell Of 1226 Elm street,
the operator Of the machinery in the
room where the explosion occurred, when
seen at his home later IN the morning said
ne was IN the adjoining room, on the second
floor, and he had no idea as TO the cause.
He complained OF being injured about the
head. but was able to be about the
house
EVIDENTLY WORK or PLOTTERS
Somebody undoubtedly put up Job
on US" said Harold S. Schutt. general
manager Of the company, following hur-
ried investigation OF the wreck. 4
have never seen an accident OF this
kind and cannot figure out any way such
AT explosion could accidentally happen.
because Of the safety devices and pre-
cautions at the plant"
Then there is possibility OF plot
TO wreck the works." he was asked.
That seems to be the probability" he
replied Everything indicates that
There has been no friction between the
company and its employees. who have
been met on every ground and taken care
of. so If there WIS 2 plot It evidently
came from outside. The company has the
plant guarded, one watchnan being on
duty all night every night, while the plant
Is lighted all around. which however.
would make It difficult to slip in unob-
served.
NECESSARY MACHINERY OUT OF COMMISSION
The explosion occurred In q 30-inch
uhnaf r,IFAa d5r,fr frorfa bo turbine
blowers TO the furnaces IN the generating
room, where there should be no pressure
of any consequence. To guard against
danger from pressure, should any develop,
there are safety valves In which the forca
IS held back only by cardboard so as
soon as the pressure becomes too strong
Tor cardboard, the latter Is blown out
and the pressure relieved.
In the explosion this morning the pipe
was torn into bits, the blower next to it
was completely wrecked and the other
one III the room-there being tWo-was
50 badly damaged that 1t could not be
Used. Bits of pipe and machinery were
hurled around the room and out OF the
roof, all Of the slate of which was blown
of with the force of the blast.
In the room, which was about 3OX50
feet, In addition to the turbines, there
were SIX pumps, three for water, two for
OIL and one for tar. All Of these were
damaged, but how much will not be
known until steam connection can be
made and an attempt made TO operate
theni. The trouble was lot confined to
thIs one room, and because the force
Of the explosion followed the blower
pipes, which led all through the generat-
ing room, adjoining. there is reason to
believe that the explosive used was placed |
IN the blower pipe purposely. rather than |
IN some other part oi the plant the plot (.
tiers probably believing the damage !
would be oi more extent because of the /
pipes leading TO other parts Of the works /
Dynamite or some other high cyDlo- /
siye was evidently used, but IN what man /
ner it was placed In the pipe is q mystery. |
which nobody about the plant appears |
to be able to explain.
The turbine room adjojns the generat- /
ing room, which has the large gas making
retorLs The two turbine blowers IN this /
room are used for tanning the furnace /
fires IN the oil generators IN the next room. |
and they are SO arranged rs 10 work /
automatically, being shut of when gas |
Is being made and running when none |
is being made. The reason for this is that /
as the cold oil, from which the gas is |
i1dde, II poured 4HtO the TtIOItS ~ lowers !
the temperature. This necessitates boost |
ing Of the fires and the blowers start After /
for about four minutes the tenn |
perature reaches the gas4making stage |
and the blowers shut off automatically, |
idle until new oil cools the gen
orators so that boosting Of the fires |
is again required
The intake for the blowers Is from |
the fresh outside air, with which no gas
y mixed, and while they are IN operation /