Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-09-17
BURNED VICTIMS
DIE ON SIDEWALK
Wall Street Throngs Unnerved
sa,Seared Forms Struggle
- With Death
CRASH SHAKES BUILDINGS

New York. Sept. lit was a
crash out Of blue sky--an unex
pected. death dealing bolt which in a
iwinkling. turned into a shamble the
busiest corner of Americas financial
center and sent scurrying to places Of
shelter hundreds Of wounded. dumb
stricken. white faced men and women
fleeing from an unknown danger"
A reporter for the Associated Press.
who was a witness Of the explosion
in New York's financial district. thus
described the scene.
'I was Just turning into Wall street
from Broadway he said. when
first felt. rather than heard. the explo.
sion. A conclusion Of air, similar to
that experienced by a passenger on the
subway when a train dashes into one
OF the under river tubes. was felt. Its
force was sufficient to all but throw me
of my balance.
Instantly, following the conclusion.
came n sharp rcsounding crash which
shook to their foundations the monster
buildings facing either side Of Wall
street. With the roar Of the blast.
came the rattle sf falling glass. and
from the junction OF Wall, Nassau and
BROAD streets--a block distant-scrcams
OF injured men and women.
II docged into convenient doorway
TO escape falling glass and to reach :
telephone and call my Office. Looking
down Wall street later. I could see
arising from the vicinity OF the Sub
treasury Building and the J. p. Nor.
gan K Co. Bank a mushroom shaped
cloud Of yellowish green smoke, which
mounted to a height Of more than 100
feet, the smoke being licked by darting
tongues Of fame.
II reached the scene a few moments
after the explosion. The smoke par
tally had cleared from the street, but
from the Morgan Building there was
belching forth through the broken win
dows clouds Of dust and white vRpor.
In the street an overturned automobile
was blazing fiercely and nearby, close
to the body Of L dead horse, was another
fire, evidently among a pile of wreck
age.
Flame Scared Forms on Street
almost in front of the steps leading
rp 70 the Morgan Bank was the mutt
lated body of a man. Other bodies,
most Of them silent in death, lay
nearby. AS gazed horror stricken at
the sight, one of these forms, half
naked Gnd scared with burns, started
to rise. 1t struggled, then toppled and
fell lifeless into the gutter.
"On the opposite side of the street
were other forms. One Of them was
that Of n young woman-her clothing
torn and burned away. It was NOV
ing-not in an effort to rise-but in the
agony of death. started toward her.
httf did IL hara Gill (.ta ~ pcsn0
down | saw that the pavement was dis.
colored with blood. In plain sight,
within radius Of thirty to fifty feet,
were nine lifeless forms.
The body OF the dead horse in the
middle of the street showed plain evi
dence Of having been in very close prox
unity to the center Of the blast. 1t was
torn literally to pieces.
Buildings Badly Battered
'"The windows of the Morgan building
were blown out, and through the open
ings could be seen the smoke blackened
interior of what but a few moments
previous bad been one Of the most hand
some banking rooms in the city. Oppo-
site the newly completed white ex
terror of the subtreasury annex was
battered and torn as 10 having been
subjected TO bombardment Of machine
gun fire. The doorway, with its mas
sive steel grillwork, was shattered and
the stone surrounding the door cracked
and battered away.
"By that time the crowd was press .
ing in, held in check by The hastily
gathering police. At the doorway Of
the Morgan bank was uniformed
guard, apparently half dazed, but stick
ing to his post and holding back those
who sought to enter the structure.
Statue Commands Calm
1.-THE crowd was strangely silent and
over it seemed to hang feeling Of awe
and horror. At the commands OF the
police It moved and fell back silently.
On the steps of the old Subtreasury
building, the spot where years ago
stirring scenes connected with the Amer
ican Revolution were enacted, stands a
statue of George Washington. Looking
down from its pedestal between the
massive granite columns. Scared by
missiles from the explosion. the out
stretched hand OF the Father Of His
Country seemed 10 carry a silent com
mand to be calm.
"Then came the ambulances. Nearby
trucks and automobiles we're first
pressed into service. Volunteers, heed
ing not blood smeared hands and cloth
ing, tenderly lifted into the vehicles the
bodies OF the dying and the dead. The
dead that remained for additional con
veyances were charitably hiden from
sight by coverings torn from awnings
or by robes from arriving motorcars.
1T was such a scene as ] had pic
tured as a possibility during the war
should the enemy succeed in dropping
on the financial district one OF his deadly
aerial bombs