The Adair County news., 1922-03-14
One Man Injured When Magazine
at Stone Quarry Near ArgO.
ILL.,, Goes Up.
PEOPLE FLEE FROM THEATER
Residents of Many Small Towns Near
Scene of Explosion Thrown Into
Panic-ThoUsands of Win
- 6oWs Broken.

in the Consumers company quarry at
McCOOk, H., was estimated at more
than S1,OOO,OOO by police and fire Off
cials. The blast. which rocked the
south and west sides of Chicago and
the suburbs, threw thousands into
panic.
Following a night of investigation,
Assistant State Fire Marshal r. NJ
Perbohmer announced that he be-
lieved the explosion at McCoOk to be
the result of plot.
Chicago, Feb. 27.-Powder magazine
containing several tons of dynamite ex-
ploded at the McCOok stone crushing
plant of the Consumers company,
southwest of the city, between ArgO
and La Grange, and the cOncussiOn
therefrom literally shook Chicago.
In many parts of the city and espe-
cially on the South and Southwest
sides residents were thrown into near
panic. Thousands of windows were
broken in an. area covering many
miles. The reverberation was felt as
far north as Waukegan and as far
south as Kankakee.
Only One Man Hurt.
But, in spite of the vast area Of
land and air affected by the blast,
there was not fatality. But one
man-at McCook-was seriously in
jured.
In one outlying theater there was
q panic. Thousands of people over
the city thought the explosion was an
earthquake The damage is not ac-
curately estimated, but will run into
the hundreds of thousands.
People Flee From Theater.
For half an hour the search was
fruitless. Calls to the ArgO police
brought the first news of the real lOca-
tion of the blast And in ArgO the au-
dience in the Grand theater, with
plaster and broken bits of glass fall
ing all around them, ran madly for the
exits. One woman tainted. Only hero
ic efforts on the part of the theater
staff saved many from injury.
Alongside the stone quarry are the
tracks of the Santa Fe railway. Parts
of a freight train on the line were
battered by a hail OF stone. And the
Missionary" a crack train of the
Santa Fe road, passed within 80 Of
the powder house ten minutes before
1T blew up.
Labor Trouble Reported.
The quarry where the explosion oc-
CURED is located just few yards from
the McCook depot of the Santa Fe.
It was purchased by the Consumers
company from the United States gov
ernment. It has been in operation
about IA years. 1t was about two
years ago that the Consumers entered
the stone business and this was one of
the properties It absorbed.
Recently, it is said, there has been
labor trouble at the plant. Officials,
however, would not give this as the
cause of the explosion.
T. H. Pierson, treasurer of the Con.
sumers company, said he believed the
magazine to have contained not more
than 1,500 pounds Of sawdust soaked
in nitrOglycerin. One workman at the
plant said there were ten tons there
Workman's Arm Broken.
At the time Of the explosion -four
workmen were within half a mile OF
the magazine. One of these, Alfred
Kendall, a crane operator, who was in
the quarry itself, so feet below the
surface, received broken arm. The
others, Walter Clark, fireman, and 10
seph Monti and Frank Whitley of Argo
night watchmen, were uninjured.
Two train crews who ordinarily are
AIn
three-quarters of a mile away, at the
stone crushing plant. So, too, wa:
night foreman Edward Dowd and 6
crew Of - men. None of these wa:
injured; strangely, the windows in the
plant were not broken, though window:
in shops, banks and houses miles away
were shattered.
Houses Rocked Liked Cradles.
Panicky scenes were enacted in tn,
twin villages of ArgO and Summit fol
lowing the explosion, which shattered
windows, spilled chinaware ant
glasses, tipped over stoves, and emp
tied the shelves of stores. Houses ant
other buildings were rocked like era
dies.
In the Grand motion picture theate
in ArgO, 400 persons were engrosse
in a thrilling three-reeler When tn
conclusion came, some one shoute
that the roof was falling. There wa
rush for the doors. One woma
tainted and two were trampled. Thei
Aames were not obtained.
"The picture held our interest" sal
Roy T. Mould, a ChicagOan, until
mighty thunder of sound greeted III
The building vibrated. The light
went out. Then some one shoute
and the rush was on. They reache
the street to find the town in darl
ness and to hear a rain of shattere
window glass. That added to the e.
citement. | shall never forget it."
Street lamps were extinguished an
electric light bulbs were shattere'
The only warning was a thunderin
roar like salvo of "Big Berthas"