The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1920-11-14
NITRO FOR
FERNDALE BLOW
Believed Robbers Was
Making Soup" in Rear
of Cafe

PONCA CITY. Nov, is.-That
nitroglycerin caused the extensive
explosion In Ponca CITY early last
spring. which resulted in the death
Of at least five persons and property
damage amounting to more than half
a million dollars IL the understand
ing now among many OF the business
men OF the city Notwithstanding the
fact that the cause. as a rule, has
been laid TO either an accumula-
ttor OF natural gus or OF sewer gas.
And that the ntroglyoorln or "soup'
was being made by n man who un-
douhtcdly lost his lifo I'm the cNplo-
siot for the express purpose ~
Intended bank robbories IL also main
tanned.
king up these ASSERTIONS that
the FCrndalc cafe explosion result
ed from nitrOglycerin, the statements
are made that the man who was In
torostcd Ia the manufacture of the
soup" had n record that connected
him with the robberies OF banks and
other business concerns, and that IL
WAS with the Intention ot pnlling Off
another of these, perhaps In the
Ponca City 'ucality, that the concOc-
ion for blowing open safes was being
made. In the meantime, and wait
ing until he wotiid have an oppor-
tunity 20 use the soup" he was
working at odd jobs around cafes
and elsewhere.
The explosion at the Ferndnle
cafe occurred al midnight The
Murray theator, next donr, had been
crowded durin Rthe evening and the
last crowd had gone hut short time
when suddenly the explosion In the
cafe occurred bursting out the ends
Of the buildings. wrecklng y roomiug
house overhead aud greatly damag-
ing the adjacent wall OF the theatcr.
Several persons were In ths rooming
house upstairs and some OF them lost
their lives. Tn the entire business
district. which vas rocked by tho
explosion. the property. damage was
great. scarcely building escaped
Nitro Not Thought OF
AZ the time OF the explosion, and
In fact not until some time after
ward, WAS nitrOsiycerif thought OF
In connection with the explosion. IT
was natural TO believe that II was
caused by natural ghs, the result
no doubt OF defective plumbing, and
some have always maintained that II
was sewer gas accumulation instead.
The first suggestion that nitro
Flycerin was to blame for the sxplo-
sion was obtained, IL IL said, through
Joplin. Mo. sources, coming from
mon who knew the. career OF the
fellow who is now charged with the
manufacture Of the soup" The
rear end OF the cafe, at the midnight
hour. when the place was closing for
the night. gave an excellent oppor-
tunity fo- making the soup" which
perhaps was To- have been used right
away on some job. since the first
suggestion waa received II is under
stood that the investigation has been
continued and That the theory of
nitroelycerin now seems practically
certain to many. =
Have Many Suits.
The extensive property damage
that resulted from tho explosion
has led 10 numerous suits being HE'D
in court. Some of these are against
the city. alleging that the pr0per
regulations were not followed In hav-
ing the plumbing in the building
tested following its completion and
prior to the gas being turned info
tho lines. Other court actions are
against the gas company on the
grounds that its officials turned In
the gas without knowledge that the
lines had been tested. These are
principally by owners Of the build
ing. which housed the Ferrdale cafe,
and some OF the insurance com
panies that were forced 10 pav dam
ages to owners OF building that SUI
fered.