Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-12

- ASS-AAAfaAh ~1eAAGAN@
The shells which had rained their
death-dealing steel fragments upon
the countryside since asboit of light
ming first ignited stores of INT
Saturday ceased their intermittent
thunder this morning and it was
hoped that the worst had passed.
The scene was reminiscent Of a
battlefield after withdrawal Of shock
troops of an enemy.
1t was not believed an accurate
check of the human loss could be COM
pleted today.
In the Army's Picatinny arsenal,
adjoining the naval ammunition dump,
there still remain vast stores OF ex.
plosive which might be ignited by q
vagrant shell fragment from Lake
Denmark. If this should occur Of
1cers admitted that's I'll Mhole grim
disaster might be re-ezaeted.
a detachment OF soldiers. sailors
and marines, after making q haety
survey Of the devastated area, said
they had seen IL bodies and part OF
another Identification would be q
difi1cult. problem, they said, because
OF the mutilated condition OF the
bodies. The work was carried on
during the popping Of small ammuni,
ton.
Damage Put 1t loO.oOe,O 900.
Damags was estimated at $780,
100000 by Army and Navy officials
For a. radius Of 80 miles houses
were shaken and automobiles over
turned on the highways. Shells.
smoke and fire checked the entrance
of investigators, and hampered relief
work for hundreds of civilians in q
peace-tirne no.man's land.
The depot was the Navy's largest
ammunition storage establishment,
covering more than 500 acres. During
the war It was extended by the erec-.
storage place where ammunition and
supplies were received and forwarded
to other points upon demand.
Flames started when lightning
struck q INT magazine. Some 200
buildings were demolished within the
reservation limits, and danger from
further bombardments continued to-
day as new ammunition storehouses
were menaced. Many other reserva-
ton buildings were damaged.
Roads Under Guard.
Roads leading to the devastated
area were under close military guard
today. Some 400 or 500 refugees from
the villages Of Mount Hope, HiDernia,
Rockaway and Denmark, who stun
bled from their homes as they began
to fall, Saturday were content to re-
main out of the danger zone.
One Official estimate was that the
refugees from residential areas near
the depot totaled 900, of whom 900
are at Morristown and 800 dn and
around Dover.
In many instances families were;
widely separated. but nearly all had
been reunited today. Two cases Of
fathers still seeking wives and chill
dren were known to relief workers
today. ss
The injured numbered about 200,
of whom SO were severely but not
"a suddenly came the initial blast
that precautions for safety could not
be taken. Al marine, who escaped by
crawling along the ground after be-
ing hurled 40 feet into the air, said
that after the flash Of lightning he
saw flames 400 feet high and the con.
cussson crushed brick and stone am
munition houses like egg shells
showers Of Shells.
Ast There IOllOWeQ cuOWSAb. VA - GIN
is inch shells They were stacked,
oficials said, on the base, thus cans
Ing them to shoot straight into the
afr. Had Il not been thus. the sur
rounding towns would have been cut
to pieces by direct shell fire.
sits like scene from the western
front" Brig Gen. Hugh A. Drum
explained after an inspection Of the
reservation from Picatinny Peak.
nearby. All evidences Of the green
grass and shrubbery which had made
the place q beauty spot had disap-
peared, he said. and instead were
brown, ghastly shell holes. some Of
them 100 feet across and 80 feet deep
Buildings smoldered and as the
names. creeping slowly, reached new
supplies, there would be = flash and
q burst or flames as the shells were
hurled skyward. Then the shells
would rain down, starting additional
fires.
secfetary of War Davis arrived at
the Picatinny Arsenal. smaller
Army arsenal adjoining that Of the
Navy, for an inspection. bute was
forced to remain just within the en-.
trance. He said there had been no
explosion ct the Army reservation.
a change IA the wind apparently
Sa1ed the Picatinnv arsenal. ae tlanes
01pnttuuod on pnNA Column "a