New-York tribune., 1918-05-19
200 Are Killed
By Blasts in
T. N. 7: Plant
Continued from page l

little valley and surrounding hills,
making perilous the work of rescue.
Telephone and telegraph wires were
wrecked by the explosion and the
tracks of the, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati,
Chicago & st. Louis Railroad (the Pan
handle route) were blocked by the fall
ing buildings. An employe hastened
to Carnegie, four miles distant, where
wreck and relief trains were quickly
made up and hurried to Oakdale,
while every hospital in Pittsburgh sent
ambulances with nurses and doctors.
Company guards, under the direction of
a detail Of the state constabulary, sur
rounded the burning ruins, and were
later reinforced. by deputy sherffs and
a large party of deputy coroners.
Nurses and Doctors Brave Death
For time it seemed as though it
would be impossible to reach the
wounded because of the heat, the con-
stantly widening zone Of gases and the
danger from explosion. But the nurses
and doctors were not to be deferred,
and, aided by the officers, they made
their way as best they could.
whose home is in New Philadelphia,
Ohio, was acting as stretcher bearer,
carrying wounded man to the ambu-
lance, when one of the explosions came.
She was thrown to the ground and the
patient on the stretcher was killed.
When help reached Miss Aschelman it
was found that one leg had been blown
off.
Other rescuers were caught near a
had poured. 1t exploded as they
crossed, and number were thought to
have perished. Sheriff William S.
Haddock 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 him to the ground.
He was badly bruised, buS continued
his work.
Blast Skaters Ruins
Throughout the afternoon the fire
burned. Each succeeding explosion re-
duced the blazing pile, as embers and
chemicals were. scattered widely. Soon
after 6 o'clock an explosion, louder
noon, swept away the remnants Of the
fire and virtually cleared the black
ened space. Many bodies were con-
sumed in the flames, the authorities
declared, while parts Of others were
so tossed about the Coroner's deputies
said it would be impossible to identify
such portions as might be eventually
found.
Among the dead, Coroner Samuel C..
Jamison found, was Samuel Diecht, as
sistant superintendent Of the Heidei-
berg plant of the Etna company, while
John B. Johnston, superintendent of
the Oakdale plant, was among the badly
injured.
Red Cross Workers to Rescue
At the stations of the Interurban
streetcar lines and at the Pennsylvania
Railroad stations of the various COM
munities for fiften miles on either side
of Oakdale were assembled women with
/ the headdress and costumes of Red
Cross workers on their way to Pitts
burgh to participate in monster pa
rade.
News of the explosions flew from
borough to borough, and as with one
impulse the thought was inspired that
the Red Cross worker was needed at
Oakdale more than at Pittsburgh.
Abandoning all thoughts of parade, the
women focked to the afflicted area by
automobile and by trolley, ready for
any sacrifice or service tor which they
they might be called.
And these women lent valuable aid
in bringing order and system out of the
chaotic condition among the panic
stricken families of workmen.
H. Fl. Canaan, employed as starter
at the plant, was eating his lunch with