Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1918-10-06
PERTH AMBOY'S DEATH LIST
is NOT YET ASCERTAINED
May Number Hundreds, as MANY
OF Gillespie Employees Are
Not Accounted For.
PROPERTY Loss OF $4,000, 900
rearing Catastrophe, New York Has
Closed Tubways and Brooklyn
Bridge Temporarily.

D.
i"eiVe square miles Of territory. which
had been the scene OF one of tho busiest
OF the nations war activities, tonight
bears close resemblance TO an cnor.
nous battle field torn by German shells
and devastated as retrcating Germans
nave laid waste French lands. The
great sheil-loading plant OF the r.
y Gillespie Co. at Morgan Station.
near here. has been practically de-
slroyeo In a series of explosions not
exceeded probably on any battle field.
rho toll of lives lost, known TO be
fourteen. may run into the hundreds.
ihe explosions of thousands OF shells
.oaard WIN nigh explosives. and the
stqoyndS ot o,,a iarSe rSG cal:6er, has de-
at the plant and ss.ooo.0oo in govern,
.hent ammunition. 1t has rendered
iy depn1n,a,ed homefss' les has pTae,ieal
wounded. w"
Not until $50 tonight. ovor twenty
WAS the announcement made that the
danser was passed. The announce
ment was made some time after Major
son. army aviators. had flown over The
entlre plant and reported that an enor-
nous IN danser seere of Of + N r. was no longer
pected, and fears were entertained bv
experts In explosives that the concus-
sion would crumble in heaps OF ruins
buildings for miles around
South Amboy. a town four miles
north o Of Morgan, having population
OF 1900. was virtually wrecked by
the series OF blasts.
NAY Not KNOW NUMBER
OF LIVES LOST FOR DAYS
The loss in lives may not be known
for days. The officials of the Gillespie
either at work in and near the scene
OF the initial explosion or were gath
cred at the recreation center and other
places within the immediate danger
zone. Tonight IL was estimated that
fifty are dead and $50 Injured.
About 1000 OF the persons TO be ac-
the exodus which began AS soon as
i, was realized that the danger OF the
disaster continued. This viii increa Sc
the difficulty in ascertaining tho ac
tual number killed.
Late last night. all day to-day and
well into the night the roads leading
in all directions from the plant, where
The intermittent explosions from shells
were punctuatcd at intervals by car
splitting detonations as some storage
unit or high explosives was.iSntcd by
the spreading flames, were filled with
tcrror-stricken thousands. They had
fed from their homes and cwcre evac-
the terror depicted in their faces. i'm
the burdens they bore, these refugees
might have been lifted bodily, so far
encmy-occupied France and set down
in this unusually quiet section Has
ti!y gathered household belongings.
,.hins oio,ihins, ] tood' Jewels and other val
into automobiles. carriages carts, baby
carriages. wheelbarrows children's ex-
cording to the station in life Of the
refugees. Residents In the townships
OF Perth Amboy, South Amboy and
ayr sayrevilre =, poured forth In eontIn-
from the scene OF disaster as they
could get.
HOMES THROWN OPEN
TO PANIC-STRICKE PEOPLE
AS the long almost unbroken limo
threaded it's way homes were thrown
open outside the immediate danger
zone, and hundreds found shelter.
s.s The exodus odss, was as estimated est to have
made their way to the homes of friends.
Thousands were without sheite" or
food.
1t was not until word was passed
along: the surginE line tonight that
the danger had passed that the re-
turn journey started, and up to late
skirts ciung tired. crying children.
we're still toiling along the backward
trail to their homes. The extent Of
n its oss Of e but sefn sor far far
efficient ma inner in which the military
authorities handled the situation. The
guard at the plant and the local con-
stabulary first rushed to the scene fol-
lowing the initial explosion were ut
terly unable to cope with the throng
OF excited, hysterical women, who, dis
regarding all danger from bursting
shells, pressed forward to learn IL
their men had escaped.
Immediately upon the arrival of tho
soldiers from Camp Vail Gordon was
thrown around tho vast plant, and all
save rescucrs. fire fighters and physi-
clans and nurses were driven back
Martial law was declared during the
day.
WORK of RESCUE
ATTENDED ny DANGER
The work of rescue was attended by
danger. Injured men werc recovered
from she'll holes akin to those on a
battle field in Europe. Parts OF bodies
were found 1000 feet from the sceEe
OF tho first explosion. r4.H.a
Shells continued to explode nearby
as the rcscucrs worked, and their he
flames as the Tfire leapcd from build
inE to building and grow into a merry
furnace which no one could approach
nearer than 800 feet. l 3itS u = ~
Colonel pouglas. I. Mckay, in charge