Paragould soliphone. (Paragould, Ark.) 1918-1950, 1921-09-26
City in Ruins.

| dIOujlQ.
| City in Ruins.
J Mannheim. Germany, Sept. %
1Desolation ana ruins alone remain
of what once was the flourishing
town OF Oppau. The town had
$500 residents. A majority of the
,men were engaged in the chemical
works, and all were killed or wound
ed. Soldiers in French uniforms
are clearing away the wreckage.
pickins up the dead and injured as
after a big battle.
| Eleven hundred dead and 1000
is the latest estimate Of ca
lsualtics in The disaster Wednesday
which caused greater loss in the
! Mannhcim-Lu isshatcn district,
THAN the four years Of war. The
scsolation around Oppau equals any
thing seen at Verdun or Flanders
lover d similar area. Hundreds OF
persons are digging in the ruins for
| the bodies Of relatives or friends,
nearly 1000 Of which have been re-
covered.
Thirty-six hours after the ex-
plosion, from the gaping. funnel
like hole where the Badische works
formerly stood, still may be heard
meanings and cries of the wounded
while the soldiers search for posi-
" r q
injured are reported to have passed
through the hospitals of the sur
rounding cities.
F., The vast crater is slowly filling
known bow mauy victims found /
Igrave there. All mutilated but still
living animals crawling amidst The
twisted Girders and blocks Of con-
crete arc being put out Of their mis-
cry. The firemen and RELIEF work
crs have not yet been able to dis
card their gas masks.
The Thirty-second army corps oil
the French army, is in complete
Icharsc of the area, and every avail
able French medical officer arrived
learly yesterday morning to cooper
ate with the German physicians
land surgeons. The French and
German Red Cross units are coop
Grating. and a big German sanitary
train has brought large quantities
lof medical supplies. The German
lofficialS have thanked General dc
Gouttc for the prompt manner in
which the French army came to the
assistance OF the victims.
The French high commission on
the Rhine, NJ, Tirard, and his entire
staff took charge Of the relief work
Members of his staff were sent tc
all the surrounding towns TO enlist
1.-The mayors and people in the relel
Iplan, which the labor unions arc
uniting. Several of tho funds have
assumed large proportions.
From Frankcnthal. four miles
laway. there was steady exodus OF
the population, in which bandagcd
heads and arms in sings were con-
lspicuous. The village OF Edinhcim
was badly wrecked, and 1t has not
yet been possible to rescue some of
the victims who arc under the
debris,
At Oppau whole families were
eliminated, about 500 bodies already
having been placed in the adjoining
cemetery, awaiting burial. The
Mannheim hospitals are crowded
with injured, more than 400 per-
sons having suffered from the ex-
! plosiou here.
| Several French soldiers were kill
cd and many wounded when the
force of the Oppau explosion wrecked
the French barracks at EiseAheim.
A train which had just left the
station was blown off the tracks,
blowing through the wooden sheds
where French soldiers of occupation
were quartered.
| General dc Goutte decorated a Mo-
roccan soldier who rescued II
wounded from the wreckage the
African being severely burned about
the hands and neck.
The experts who are inquiring into
the cause said that the explosion