Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-05-20
TOLL OF DEATH
GROWS IN PLANT
OF OAKDALECO.
Explosion Thought to Have
Occurred in Tank of
Tuolol; Pitiful Scenes

Pittsburgh, May eO.-Up to last
night Ill of the 45o employees of the
Aetna Chemical Company had reg
istered at the temporary headquar-
ters established for the purpose.
Fifty-SiN men are known to be dead,
ninety-four injured and thirty
missing as result of the nine eN-
plosions that on Saturday wrecked
the Aetna company's eNplosive-manu-
featuring plant at Oakdale. sixteen
miles from this city.
The cause of the explosion has not
been determined by the many Off
cials and explosives experts seeking
to solve the cause. although it was
stated that II. l.. Wollenberg. gem
eral manager of the company. who
arrived from New York. probably
would make a statement after a con-
ference with the various officers rep
resenting federal, state. city and bor-
oush governments.
Coroner Jamison questioned w. l.
Sanderson, assistant superintendent
of the plant. but Sanderson was un-
able to account for the explosion. He
said he thought it occurred in tank
of tuolol. He said some men were
unloading two cars of T. y T. when
the blast came and that the men
were all killed. Night Superintend-
ent Keller also was unable to ac-
count for the explosion and said
there were between 100000 and $780,
coo pounds of high explosives in the
plant at the time.
Among the identified dead are John
X. Lawhon, 16 years old of Brooks
Vile. Fla; Henry Plenty. negro, of
Scottsburg, Va; Patrick McManus,
Fitchberg, Mass; George Ross. Steu-
benville, Ohio; j. \. Todd. Alliance.
Ohio; Marshall Anderson, China
Grove, y. c; George Christopher,
Reynolds, Ga: II. l.. Brillinger. York,
Pa. J. r. Lane, Meadville. Pa.
Miss Meryl Aschelman. the gradu-
ate nurse from st. Johns Hospital.
who was caught in one of the eNplo-
sionS while doing rescue work Sat
urday, was reported to-day to be in
fair way to recovery. despite the
loss of one leg that was blown off.
All of yesterday a blue-brown
smoke continued to hang over the
ruins. considerably impeding the
work of the searchers. Its deadly
fumes are feared by the residents of
the community. and only when a
slight breeze would lift the smoke
would Searchers be able to get close
10 various plieS OF ueprlS.
There were many pitiful scenes.
One in particular was when Adam
Martz. one Of the Coroners workers
in the morgue. found in bucket a
bunch of keys and penknife which
had belonged to his son. who had
been employed in the plant.
The country is desolate for an area
of several miles around the plant.
where the. former beautiful green
hillsides have been scared and burned
by the blasts.
Federal officers. representing the
Department of Justice. ordered the
arrest of two men who were pho
tographing the ruins and who were
charged by a woman with making
seditious remarks. 4 special police
man employed by the Aetna Chemical
Company arrested two men as they
were about to hurry away from the
plant on a motorcycle. The names
and charges upon which these men
are held are withheld by officials
pending investigation.
Judge Thomas d. Prather, of
Crawford county. visited the scene of
the disaster in an effort to secure
some word of his son, Don X. Pra-
ther. aged 19 years, who was en-
ployed at the plant. The Judge Wis
tied one of the temporary morgues.
where he identified one of the man
gled bodies as that of his son.
Earl V. Bohn, of Lancaster. Pa, a
chemist in the T. y. T. building of
the plant. is listed among the miss
ing. He was a graduate of Frank
lin and Marshall College.