The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1923-07-12
Fearful Loss of Life Fol
lows Explosion in Powder
Plant at Alton, Ill.,
SCORE BADLY INJURED
Mother of Ten Children Who
Went to Work Yesterday
Morning Among Victims.
tBy Associated Press Leased wire)

(By Associated Press Leased Wire)
Alton, Ill.-Twelve persons, seven Of
them women, were killed and twenty
three were injured in the explosion
at the plant Of the Western Cartridge
company, at East Alton, yesterday.
Buildings within radius of five
miles were rocked by the blast which
occurred in the building at the plant
where the men and women were work
ing at machines for decapping and re-
moving the powder from shells.
! A long fame shot from one of the
machines and there was deafening
roar, the survivors said.
Loose powder jammed in the pockets
of the machine was mentioned as a
probable cause of the explosion.
Five victims Of the explosion were
killed outright, while the others died
at the hospital, The dead are;
William Drummer, East Alton.
Miss Anna German, Alton.
Frank Bennes, Alton.
Howard Hunter, Alton.
Mrs. Minnie Warren, Alton.
Charles Reyborn, Alton
Charles H. Hankins, Brownsbridge.
Miss Hazel Young, Rockridge.
/ Mrs. Sadie Larkin, Alton.
1 Ruth Green, Alton.
| Minnie Wagner, Alton,
BESSIE Jenkins, Alton.
Mother of Ten Victim.
The explosion occurred in a fire.
proof building built of concrete and
steel. Aside from tearing the fixtures
from their fastenings and wrecking
the four decapping machines, the ex-
plosion did lit4e physical damage.
| The flames licked the ceiling of the
structure and converted the large
room into a caldron Of fire.
Mingled with the screams Of the in
jured came the shouting Of those who
had remained uninjured and who rush
ed through the smoke to remove the
dead and injured out of the debris
of shells which had been scattered
by the blast.
| Mrs. Warren, who was killed, was
the mother of ten children and had
started to work at the powder plant
yesterday. Of the twenty-three in
jured, Mrs. Maude. Butler, was re-
Iported to be the most seriously hurt.
Because of the confusion that fol-
lowed the explosion, it was difficult to
obtain the names and addresses of
the injured especially of those whose
injuries were serious.
All of the injured, it was stated, were
from Alton and neighboring towns.
/ +l,.c MOSQUE 1,vo,.lv -,
the lives a the employees spared from
the explosion were endangered by the
constant bursting of shells which were
discharged by the fire that followed
the defamation.
| Of the dead, seven were women and
girls, all having been employed on
cartridge salvaging machines, similar
to the one in which the explosion oc-
cured. Death was caused by powder
burns and fragments Of metal from
the demolished machines that pierced
their bodies.
! Eleven other men, women and girls,
who were seriously injured, are still
in the hospital. Anto-tetanus serum
was administered today to the injured
Deputy Coroner Streeper of Alton
said he would defer the inquest, as
| it is believed others of the more seri-
ously injured may die.
! The probable cause of the explosion
was confinement of about ten pounds
of powderSin one of the machines that
became ignited in an undermined man
ner, according to John Olin, vice presi-
dent of the company. Officials of the
company began an investigation, but
Olin said the cause of the explosion
probably never will be known, as the
machine in which the evrlosion oc-
cured was blown to fragments.
Survivors agreed that the u4ast was
preceded by sharp rip and burst of
fame in machine operated by a girl.
The ffty-five employees in the building,
about half Of whom were women and
girls, were knocked down by the ex-
plosion and the coneussion View out
all the windows and wrecked nearby
similar machinesn Fire that followed
was quickly extinguished.