Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-07-22

they hit the floor of the bank rotun' and clerks, nearly all girls, were vol
 Thousands of people saw the smoke f and flames that enveloped the bal loone followed by three parachutes, which dropped from the balloon. Two of the parachutes opened and the third dropped to the street.
 Drops Among Bank Workers.
 The dirigible exploded and dropped on the roof of the bank building and the gas tank and parts of the steel frame of the dirigible crashed through the skylight into the bank room, where the tank exploded. The fire which followed the explosion was extinguish- ed, revealing seven bodies believed to be employees of the bank The bal loon carried four passengers aside from the crew.
 The dead are: John Weaver, Akron, Ohio, assistant mechanic; Carl Otto, Akron, Ohio, assistant mechanic; 1 James Carpenter, Bank messenger; i Maria Florence, Edward A. Munzer, Joseph Scanlan, bank messenger; Evelyn Meyers, bank employe; Earl H. Davenport, publicity man; Two un identified women.
 All of the dead except Weaver and 1 Otto are residents of Chicago.
 Milton G. Norton, an employe of local newspaper, was in the dirigi- ! ble when it began to burn. He leap ed from the flaming airship and sui fered fractures of both his legs. Nor ton is not expected to recover. , Thousands See Accident. The balloon, owned by the Goodyear Tire and Rubber company, of Akron, Ohio, had been flying above the city for several hours when the accident occurred. When approximately 500 1 feet above the bank flame was seen to shoot from the top of the gas bag near the center of the aircraft. The crowds gathered on the streets to watch the flight saw the machine buckle and quiver as it started on it's fatal plunge.
 Four of it's five occupants jumped and two landed safely in the streets and the blimp, a ball of flames, struck the roof of the bank with a crash audible throughout the down. town district.
 l There was nothing to warn the hum dreds of employees of the institution of the coming tragedy. A shadow pass ed over the marble rotunda Where l5O were busy and crash followed. The banks closing hour for patrons had passed, but the clerks were still at work in various departments.
 It seemed, according to the survi- vors, that the entire bank was on fire. Breaking through the iron sup ports, holding the glass overhead, the fusilage of the balloon, with two heavy rotary engines and several gaso- line tanks smashed to the floor.
 Instantly, the tanks exploded, scat i tering wave of flaming gasoline over the works for radius of fifty feet. A panic ensued. There were only two exits through which they could leave the wire cage which surrounded the ] rotunda.
 Frantic and Ablaze, Fight for Exits. I Men and girls, with clothing aflame, fought their way through the exits. Girls on the second floor ran scream ing to the windows and several jump ed to the street. In an instant, the marble rotunda was cleared except for the dead, whose bodies were buried under the mass, and the dying, who crawled away from the scorching fire, their clothse burning off. T The intense heat made rescure work difficult until after the fire depart ment arrived on All alarm call. It was thirty minutes before the bodies, under the crafts fusilage could be dragged out. They were burned be- wound recognition.
 !, Meanwhile, ambulances from every hospital and undertaking establish ment, near the center of the city came, and the police threw cordons about the place. Dozens were found to have been more or less cut by the shower of glass which preceded the < explosion.
 \ Unprecedented Scenes. I Scenes enacted when the balloon ] fell were unprecedented in Chicago's
 Continued on Page Four.l