The Birmingham age-herald., 1920-12-06
HIGH EXPLOSIVES
 BONbARD HOMES;
 FEW CASUALTIES
Six and Ten-lnch Shells on Steam Lighter in Brooklyn Creates Wartime Thunder.
 Many Throng Wharf
By Associated Press

l New York. December 5-Hundreds Of homes in the Fort Hamilton section of Brooklyn virtually were under heavy ar tillery bombardment this afternoon re- sulting from intermittent explosions of 6-inch and 10-inch shells on steam lighter which caught fire while moored to the army reservation wharf.
 1 Gathering together their belongings, in belief that the naval arsenal at Fort Lafayette, small island near Fort /, Hamilton, was ablaze, terrified scores fled their homes for safer zones, driven | to frenzied haste by the series of de- 1 donations which were heard for miles around. An official statement from Fort
 Hamilton tonight said lives had been
 lost and that only four persons had been ! injured and these slightly
 AUTO PREFERRED
 | One of the terrifying incidents of the | barrage was the 400-yard flight of a 1 10-inch shell clear over the reservation
 and into house in Fort Hamilton park
 way. The heavy projectile tore huge | hole in the roof of the dwelling, passed
 through two floors and buried itself in 1 the cellar. The house which was oc-
 cupied by August Galtern and several
 members of his family, all of whom
 escaped injury, was shaken with the I violence of an earthquake.
 | The lighter, which was laden with 300
 shells for shipment to Boston, was torn | from it's moorings by the violence of the | first explosion about $40 D. m. The men were on board but they escaped. ] About this time a naval tug reached | the scene and in desperate effort to prevent the flames spreading to the
 wharf the commanding officers delib-
 erately headed his craft for the blazing | lighter and it's exploding cargo. He stuck her nose against the side of the l lighter and pushed her away to a sand
 bar in imminent peril of his own craft l being blown from the water The naval ! tug scarcely had withdrawn when a heavy explosion occurred which tore the l lighter apart.
 TEAR HOLE IN HOUSE 1 Two of those slightly injured were a l man and a woman who had a miraculous | escape from death They were motoring I past the wharf opposite the lighter when l the first explosion occurred! Fragments | of shell peppered their automobile, but | the occupants suffered only slight wounds 1 and after receiving medical aid at the l Bay Ridge naval hospital, were able to 1 go home. The glare from the explod- 1 ing ammunition and the flames from the /, burning wharf illuminated the lower har- I bor and attracted thousands to the
 Brooklyn and Staten Island waterfronts l As explosions followed explosion and | the danger to craft passing the narrows
 between Fort Hamilton and Fort Wads- worth grew menacing "Blinker Light
 signals were flashed from the fortifica-
 tions, warning mariners to give the 1 threatened area a wide berth. Soldiers | from Fort Hamilton were dispatched by | their commanding officer into the res. 1 idential section to aid those who were l fleeing their homes and to allay panic. The army wharf, about 200 yards long
 was destroyed. The loss was estimated { by army officials at approximately $100,- 1 600.