Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1922-07-19
EIGHT CHILDREN ARE KILLED
Instantly When Shell, Thought to be
Dead" Explodos In, Yard.

"ateFlOWu, n. :, July 12.-UlSnt
children, ranging in age from II to
l6 years, were blown to pieces late
to-day by the explosion Of 7'5-mil-
limeter shell on the back porch of a
house in Dimmick street, occupied
by Edward G. Workman and William
l. Salisbury. The dead are Morris
Salisbury, 16; Frances Wiley, 13;
Vivian Jones, 12; Olin Brown, II;
Anson Workman, 13; Edna Work
man, IA; Sarah Barden, 13, and
Donald Horton, -, Of Pulaski, N. Y,
who was visiting the Brown boy.
The she'll, which was owned by
Mr.. Workman, was one which he
had kept as a souvenir and used on
the rear porch to hold the door from
closing. 1t was believed to be q
dead" shell.
The children were playing croquet
in the back yard. The shell Is be-.
lieyed to have either been set off by
the hot sun or to have been struck
by one Of the victims with a croquet
mallet. Windows within radius of
two blocks were shattered by the
explosion.
Bodies Mwtilatca.
Practically all of the clothing was
blown off the bodies Of the children.
Fragments Of it lodged in trees and
housetops in the Vicinity. The
hnt
| Identification was possible in every
instance.
One Of the first physicians on the
| scene was DR.. II. w. Jones Lifting
covering which had been placed
over one Of the forms, he recognized
the body OF his 12-year-old daugh-
| ter, Vivian, by means of an adhesive
dressing he had placed on a cut on
| her leg barely half an hour before.
He did not know his daughter was
in the group, and was almost over
! come with grief.
The bodies Of the children were
found apparently at places near
where they had been standing in
their croquet game. Near them lay
fragments Of the croquet mallets.
| Several Of the balls used in the game
were blown to bits and the wickets
were torn from the ground.
Without Warming.
The shell apparently let go with
out warning. Two carpenters at
work on house next door to the
Workman home said shat second
| before the detonation they had heard
the voices Of the children laughing
at play. The two men were the first
to reach the scene
They were greeted by a scene OF
utter dcsolation. The Workman
house is of concrete, and the con-
cussion had reduced the entire rear
Of the house to powder. On the
! ground lay The eight bodies, and
over all Il gray pail OF concrete dust
was beginning to settle
Fragments Of clothing were sus-
pended from trees and housetops.
| TWO automobile tires which had
been on the back porch were blown
to the roof Of building two hun
dred feet away. Blocks Of concrete
were blown against neighborong
houses and into the streets and sur
rounding yards.
Shell Was "Dud."
The shell was what is commonly
known as "dud." The proiectile
had been fired from one OF the six
inch Howitzers during target prac-
tice Of the 104th field artillery at
Pineplains reservation last summer.
1t had not exploded by fuse or con-
tact, and lay in the sand fully charg-
ed when Mr.. Workman found it and
brought it home as a souvenir. He
kept it in his home during the win
ter, and this summer used it as a
weight to adjust the screen door on
his rear porch.
Capt. G. II. Schumacher, construc-
tion quartermaster, temporarily with
The first field artillery at Madison
barracks, was asked by police to in
spect the remnants Of the shell to-
night. Capt. Schumacher believes
the excessive heat beating down on
the projectile caused the INT charge
to expand and made the shell liable
to explosion at much less concus-
sion than normally.
The presence Of the concrete wall