The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-01-25
TEN KILLED AND SCORE INJURED IN
 MEMPHIS BLAST
Property Damage From ExpIo- sion of Gasoline Tank Car Is Estimated at Two Hun-
 dred Thousand Dollars
By Associated Press

Memphis, January 24.--Ten negroes dead, approximately a score injured, some probably fatally, and property damage estimated at s200,000, made up the known toll tonight of an explosion of easing head" gasoline awaiting un loading from tank ear to the plant of the Colyar Reese company, in North Memphis, which let go this morning with a blast that wrecked part Of the oil plant leveled a block of frame dwellings and shook rhe entire north end of the city.
 Of the injured two are white per- sons--L c. Scott, superintendent of the Reese plant and l.. c. Wilder, truck superintendent. Both were badly burned, but physicians stated tonight they will recover.
 Colyar Reese, president of the oil company attributed the explosion to spontaneous combustion. due to the contact of vapor escaping from the tank car when the metallic cap was removed preparatory to unloading the car, came in contact with the atmos- phere. The tank car, which contained 5000 gallons of casing head gasoline produced by the absorption process. was shipped here from Kelleyville Okla, MS. Reese stated, and was loaded in low temperature. When the cap was removed, according to this theory the vapor came in contact with much higher atmospheric conditions here and the explosion followed.
 EXPERTS ON WAY
 It was stated that representatives of the United States bureau of explosives and experts from the refinery from which the car was shipped will arrive tomorrow Nto definitely determine the cause of the blast
 When the explosion let go a row of frame tenement houses along an entire block were splintered and the occu- pants blown to the street or caught under the falling timbers. Most of those killed outright were badly man. gled while several of the injured were so badly burned they died soon after firemen reached the scene. the streets and alleys in the vicinity were lit- tered with splintered tlmbers and torn and twisted household goods, with the dead and injured caught in the tangled maze of wreckage.
 Andrew Mckinley, the negro who was removing the dome from the tank car when the explosion occurred, was hurled several hundred feet through the air. He was badly burned and died tonight Mckinley was quoted as say ing that when he removed the cap gas rose to a height of 20 feet and formed a pail of black smoke whic hignited and exploded. Almost simultaneously pools of oil on the ground caught fire and a second explosion occurred. One report was that Mckinley used chisel in attempts to remove the cap from the car
 This. however, was not been verified. Mir. Reese stated that his investigation disproved any theory other than that the explosion was caused by spontan- eous combustion.
 Besides the damage in the immediate vicinity, window glasses within ra- dius Of several blocks were shattered by the concussion. which was felt a dis tance of half mile from the scene. Two sheds at the plant of the Colyar Reese plant were lifted bodily frosn their foundations and fell in a heap.
 Fire which followed in the wake of the explosion completed. the work of destruction. The flames were checked however. before they spread beyond the splintered wreckage of the ill-fated dwellings.