Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1918-05-19
Explosion in Soda House of
the Aetna Company at Oak
dale, Pap Wrecks Works
and Takes Heavy Life TOLL
INJURED ARE FOUND
HALF A MILE AWAY
Fire Breaks Out in the Wreck
age and Adds to the Con-
fusion Property Loss Is
Estimated at S1,500,000.

10y MORNING JOURNAL SPECIAL LEASED WISH
Pittsburgh, Pa. May 1S.--Probably
200 men were killed today when an
explosion of T. n. T. demolished the
plant of the Aetna Chemical company
at Oakdale, on the Panhandle division
of the Pennsylvania railroad, sixteen
miles from here.
Five hundred workmen were star
tied at noon by a report, not much
founder than the crack OF pistol 1t
came from the soda house, but they
knew its deadly import and they
rushed for the nearest exit. Before
they could gain the open the air
seemed to burst into flames, the earth
heaved and rocked, and with a roar
that was heard for miles, the long fac
tory buildings were hurled high into
the air, carrying with them ponderous
equipment and scores of men. A
great cloud of dust and smoke settled
over the scene and through ii deadly
fumes torn and mangled forms drop
ped to the earth. many dead but
others to meet their end in the flam-
ing debris
The number of dead had not been
determined tonight and il is possible
that it may not be known for days, II,
indeed, it ever will be known. State
and county authorities agreed that 1t
would reach 200.
Property Loss Sf.500,OOO.
Many of the injured, some of whom
were found half 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
tiwa,ts4.4S atasssses o. ] ln's'csit'sH
able to hold out any hope for their
recovery. The property loss was est-
mated at S1.500,000.
Immediately after the second eX--
plosion the mass Of broken beams and
twisted timbers broke out in great
blaze, while the highly inflammable
chemicals used in the manufacture of
T. N. T. and T. ~ A, added fuel to the
flames Blast after blast followed as
the heat reached the tanks, each one
scattering the burning embers ana
endangering property in the entire
community Noxious gases spread
over the valley and surrounding nils,
making perilous the work of rescue,
Telephone and telegraph wires
were wrecked by the explosion and
the tracks of the Pittsburgh, Cincin--
natl, Chicago & st. Louis railroad
(the Panhandle route) were blocked
by the falling buildings. An employe
hastened to Carnegie, four miles as
tant, where wreck and relief trains
were made up and hurried to Oakdale,
while every hospital in Pittsburgh
sent ambulances with nurses and doc
TORS. Company guards, under the
direction of state constabulary, sur
rounded the burning ruins and were
later reinforced by deputy sherlfts
and deputy coroners.
Heat Is Intense.
For a time it seemed as II 1t Woulu
be impossible to reach the WOUNDED
because of the heat, the constantly
widening zone of gases and the danger
from explosion But the nurses and
doctors aided by the officers, made
their way as best they could.
One young nurse, Miss Meryl Asch-
Gilman of New Philadelphia, o., a
member of the staff of st. John 81
hospital, Pittsburgh, who was among
the first to answer the call for help'
was perhaps fatally injured. She was
acting as a stretcher-bearer. carrying
wounded man to the ambulance,
when in one of the explosions she
was thrown to the ground ana the
patient on the stretcher was Killed
one of her legs was blown off
other rescuers were caught near q
little stream into which acid and OIL
had poured. 1t exploded as the!
crossed. and number were thought
to have perished.
Sheriff Narrowly Escapes.
Sheriff William S. Haddcck almost
lost his life during one of the late
explosions. A heavy piece of steel |
blown from the wreckage passed close !
to him and the force of the blast
threw hin, to. the ground. He was
badly bruised but continued his work
Each succeeding explosion reduced
the blazing pile as embers and chemi-
calls were widely scattered. Soon af-
o'clock an explosion, louder and
more powerful than any since noon
swept away the remnants of the fire
and practically cleared the blackened1
space Many bodies were consumed
in the flames, the authorities declared,
while parts of others were so tossed
about it would be impossible to iden-
tify such portions as might eventually
be found.
Among the dead Coroner Samuel G.
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