The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1922-07-15
SHELL EXPLO OSI0N
KILLS EIGHT
Children Were Playing Gro
quet With Souvenir of War

quet With Souvenir OF War
Watertown, n. z, July 12.-
Eight children, ranging in age from
{ ii to 1e years, were blown to
pieces late today by the explosion
Of rs nlillimeter she'll on the back
porch Off, house in Dimmick street,
occupied by Edward W. Workman
and William L. Salisbury
The dead Morris Salisbury, 16;;
Frances Wilney, IS; Vivian Jones,
Ia.. DIN Brown, II: Arson Work
man, 13s; Edna Workman, IA; Sa-
rah Barden. Is, and Donald Hor-
ton, Il, of Pulaski, n. Y, who was
visiting tie Brown boy.
The shell which was owned by
M. workman, was one which he
had kept as. souvenir and used
on the rear porch to hold the
door frora closing. It was believed
to be dead
TIE children were playing cro-
euet in the back yard. The shell
is believed to have either been set
off by the hot sun or to have been
struck by one of the victims with
+ croquet mallet. Windows within
a radius Of two blocks were shat
tered by the explosion.
Practically all Of the clothing was
blown off the bodies Of the chill
dren. Fragments of it lodged N
trees and house tops in the vlcin-
ity. The bodies we're horribly nu-
tiiated, but identification was pos
sibIe in every instance.
One of the first physicians on
the scene was DIR T. w. Jones.
Lifting a. covering which had been
placed over one of the forms, he
recognized the body OF his II year
old daughter, Vivian, by means of
an adhesive dressing he had placed
on a cut on her leg barely a half
hour before He did not know his
daughter. was in the group and was
almost overcome 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
wiekets were torn from the
ground.
The shell apparently let go with
out warning. Two carpenters al
work. on a house next door to the
Workman home said that a. 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 scene OF
utter desolation. The Workman
house is of concrete and the cen
cussion had reduced the entire
rear of the house to powder, Or
the ground lay the eight bodies and
! over all a gray pail Of eoncrete
dust was beginning to settle.
fragments, OF clothing were sus-
pended from trees and house tops
Two automobile tires which had
been on the back porch were bloWI
ftozthe roof lef a building .2o9: fee
away. Blocks o4: concrete were
blown against neigh boring hofses
and into the streets and surround
ing. yards. "a 80
The shell was waat is common.
Ily known as a adud. The pro.
jeetiie had been fired from one OF
the three. inch. guns during target
practice of the One Hundred ano
Fourth Field artillery at Pins
Plains reservation last summer. !,
had not. exploded by fuse or con
tact and lay in the sand full,
charged when Mr.. Workman found
{ it and brought it home as a seuve-
mir. .s...s... ....s 81.
He kept it. in his. home during
the winter and this summer used j.
as weight to. adjust the screen
door ON his rear porch.
Capt. H Schumacher, con-
sstructjon Guarternaster temporar-
ily with, the First Field artillery at
Maisen barracks, was asked by Po-
lice to inspect the remnants Of the
shell tonight. Captain schumach-
I er believes the excessive heat beat
ing down en- the projectile caused
the INT charge. to. expand and
made the shell liable to explosion
at a much less conclusion than
! normally,
Presence of the concrete wall OF
| the. house. behind the shell, Capt
Schumacher said, threw the force OF
the explosion forward and direct
| " against the eight children. al,
most as if they had been standing
directly in the path Of the gun. Po-
lice tonight are honeycombing the
city for souvenir shells and already
have found six. all of which were
picked up last summer on the sands
at Pine Plains They were drop.
ped in the Black river on advice OF
Captain SchumacheE.