Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1922-08-31

with a report that could be
heard all over the eastern and
northern sections OF the city and
"a shock that rocked houses over
wide area. especially in the Inn
mediate vicinity. 10 their founda-
tlons. dynamite. evidently In the
form of a bomb. was exploded ,h.s
morning at las O'Clock. standard
time--c.35 city time under the
south eastern end OF the Pennsyl-
vania elevated railroad bridge Mt
Fourteenth and Bowers streets.
one track. eide limo and not
the main right OF way was DAM
aged 20 such an extent that II was
deemed by railroad of,cials unsafe
for uee and no trains were run
over 1, today.
No person wac injured "a re-
sult Of the blast but many houses
along raAt Fourteenth street wcrc
damaged TO the extent OF having
the windows demolished, plaster
Knocked from the wallis. pictures
shaken from their faeteninss and
dtahee and Kitchen utensils spill
ed from the shelves and s,rewn
abou, the noor.
According 10 the statement ot rail-
road or,cisls this morning no trssns
wore In the vicinity ~ the bridge at
IN. timc cs the explosion and none was
due a; or near the time the blowup
occurred A survey by railroad en-
sln~~rs later In the morning chow
ell that the FcGteenth street bridge
was safe xnd nj for ,rNffsc. 90 that
there .wss no Interruption In the train
service over the main line north and
south. None N the Girdeu or sup
portS were thrown OUT Of line and
I, wAA estimated that what damage
wIA done 20 the bridge and the eide
track can be repaired In very short
time
Following an investigation the rail-
road company issued the following
statement concerning the explosion +:
Reports current this morning that
the main line tracks OF the Pennsyl-
vsnla Railroad through Wilmington
have been dynsmlted We're incorrect.
An explosion occurred At lbs a. m.
standard time. but n wss on n siding
D,.fl
Company and not on the railroads
main line. The scene OF the explosion
was near the bridge which carries the
elevated tracks OF the Pennsylvania
railroad across Fourteenth street. The
siding WAS damaged TO some extent.
After a careful inspection II WAS
found that no injury whatever had
been done TO the bridge or 20 the main
line track. No equipment was dam
as~d and there was no injury 10 per-
sons. No trains were passing over
tho bridge at or about the time OF the
explosion.
Railroad police arrived at the scene
az the explosion within a few minu-
tcr after It's occurrence as did al
40 members of the city police force Of
Wilmington. An immediate search OF
the neiehborhood was made but moth
sng was learned Of the Identity Of the
persons responsible A careful and
thorough investigation is being con-
Quoted by the railroad company and
the city police force"
AZ TO who was responsible FOR the
placing OF the bomb. that remains a
mystery. Railroad and city police were
within a short distance OF the spot a,
the time the blast went OF and they
were on the scene two minute. there
after. hut they claim they saw no per-
son IN the neiRhborhood: had seen nc
one around there for come time prior
20 the explosion and saw no one run
ming from the scene. all OF which con-
ylnces the railroad officials and the
city police that II must have been a
time bomb that WA used. When Il
wac set however. 10 not known az
far as an Investigation this morning
could reveal.
That dynamite wss used is evident
from the condition OF the torn and
splintered planking OF the bridge. the
twisted iron railings and the bulgins
rallo tO8etOeI WIN tne laCt lhdl DIE
section Of solid granite was torn from
the top stone In the bridge sbutment II.
self. 1t was literally blown a4unde,
from the rock by the force OF the blast
and afterward was found lying or
the sidewalk under the bridge. That m.
railroad structure WAS not damaged
20 a greater extent and thu entir.
trackage completely torn up is believed
20 have been due 10 the fact that IN.
force Of the dynamite was not con
fined. but blew out from under IN,
bridge instead OF going up or down
This is also responsible for the damag.
tha, was caused to all the houses or
East Fourteenth street east lof IN.
bridge. while houses on the west side
os the tracks were not damaged. al.
though they were shaken by the fore,
az the blast.
Police QsickIy on Scene.
The railroad company fixed the tim,
II the explosion 1T l.35 o'clock thi.
morning, standard time. This cor.
responds with the time fixed by IN.
people in the immediate vicinity. who
claimed today that the report the,
heard occurred about 230 o'clock. cit,
time. There were some railroad police.