Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1921-08-25
TWO MEN KILLED
AND TWO INJURED
IN JERSEY BLAST
Sixtv-four Thousand Pounds OF
Black Powder Exploded in
PerkintoWn Fire.
BULLETS SHOWER BELLEVUE

Special Correspondents Every Evening
renn's Grove. n. j. Aug. 25.-The
explosion OF a copper fuse containing
illuminate of mercury, powerful ex'
pl.,sive. is believed TO have caused the
nre in an ammunition dump at the
Delaware Ordnance Depot. at Per-
klniown, tive miles north of here, yrs-
terday afternoon. which resulted in
two men being killed. two injured and
$1,000 pounds of black powder de-
struyed.
The dead are Daniel Wolf and VIII
lam McCni OF Penn's Grove.
The injured are Charles Houser OF
Dcepwater Point. slight Wound in alb
sirfnen. and Thompson sharp of Bridge
port. geft arm fractured in three places
At }le Memorial hospital at Salem
whcfc the men We're taken after re-
eeivag first aid treatment. ii was
said lIouser can be moved 10 his home
today Every effort is being made to
save Sharp's arm. although amputa-
tion may be necessary.
A shower of bullets fell in the Del
aware river opposite the dump while
many were reported to have fallen al
Bellevue and Gordon Heighte Motor
launches patroled the river and FOR
threa, hours established a dead line ON
each side of the path Of the falling
missiles. stopping all river traffic. For
some unexplained reason no bullets
Nere discharged I'm the direction OF
rtnn's Grove. although occasionally
falling pieces of shrapnel endangered
the lives Of persons on the street.
A gang OF workIsen employed by the
Columbia Salyaging Company was en-
l.aged in dismantling the shells and
t.mptyinE the powder into boxes. As
fast as the boxes were filled they We're
carried by conveyors to Two railroad
cars. gondola type, about 80 feet away,
Thlrty-two tons of this powder WAS al
ready loaded on the cars. McGill was
engaged in taking out a fuse from a
thrcc-inCh shell. when there was a
fash and explosion. McGill was seen
o. stagEer a few steps and fall. I'm
taoaiately the fash spread TO the boxes
of p,ywdor on the conveyoE.
ncalizing their danger, 12 men work
iug Ia the cars. their escape To the
road cut of by the exploding shells on
the dump. ran for the river. In a short
Time the cars were a mass of flame
and shells on the dump exploded, send
tx out many bullets and pieces Of
shfapnei. with this rain Of missiles
about them. the 10 men sought refuge
under pier running several hundred
yards out into the river.
The other workers scattered toward
tho road. an eighth of mile away, A
nying piece Of shrspnei struck Wolf,
and he fell about 20 feet from the
dump AZ the risk OF their own lives
George Moffat and Benjiman Feather
~ turned back and picked up the i'm
iurcd man. escaping without a scratch
themselves. An ambulance took Wolf
e. the office of DIR. r. c. Sutherland
on South Broad street, but he died hs
the physician was examining him.
Beat from the burning powder and
aanget of exploding shells prevented
resi- uers going TO McGiil.
IN eAe meantime "A launch. lin charge
81 an officer from the ordnance depot,
set out a half mile below the scene
az the explosion to rescue the men
pnder the pier. Bullets We're falling
thick as these men moved to the end
of the pier The men huddied along
thc hank was forced to crawl over
lirtiers and wade through water up
g. their necks to reach the boat. Their
strength had given out. so they were
uhable 10 climb into the launch with
ont the help Of the crew.
= Shells exploded for two hours, and
the powder cars burned until o'clock
last night. when iirenien ventured' close
tliought to pour streams OF water and
chemicals on them. AS soon as the
explosion started guhrls Of the ord
nance depot formed It dead line within,