The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1928-04-14
SO KNOWN DEAD;
MANY OTHERS
STILL MISSING
Injuries to Sixteen So Serious
That They Are Cared For
In Hospitals
RUINS BEING SEARCHED
Explosion Comes without
Warning While Merrymak.
ing Was at Its Height

Westplains, Mo-, April 14.-(AP)
Death stalked into this little
Ozark city and turned dance hall
with its merrymaking throng into
q holocaust.
With 36 known dead, rescue work
ers today were tearing away the
debris where laughter changed to
shrieks Of terror as an explosion
wrecked the building last night,
seeking 18 persons missing and
thought to have perished beneath
falling walls.
Sixteen injured are in hospitals,
many in q serious condition. The
cause Of the explosion has not been
determined. It is believed that those
listed as missing may be included
among the unidentified dead.
Fire followed almost immediately
and destroyed three buildings before
it was brought under control by
volunteer bucket brigades assisting
the fire department. Property loss
was estimated between 100000 and
$150,000.
Seventeen unidentified bodies arc
in two undertaking establishments.
Many Of the injured were picked
up on the streets far from the scene
Of the blast. H. C. Allen, merchant,
was blown IS feet and found with
both legs broken and IN arm torn
off.
The intense heat Of the fire and to.
tai darkness, caused when the power
plant was damaged, hindered rescu-
crs. Soon after the explosion the
walls Of the building collapsed.
The dance was being held on the
second floor Of q two-story building.
The ground floor was . garage and
motor car salesroom. Officers to-
day are investigating . report that
a large gasoline storage tank,
thought to have been under the
building, was the cause Of the blast.
The injured were picked up in the
streets or were taken from the win
dows of the upper story as the
flames licked their way through tbs
tottering walls.
National guardsmen from the To-
cal unit were called out to assist in
the rescue work and preserve order.
Many Couples Dancing
Thirty to 40 couples were dancing
when the blast came. It was the
regular Friday night dance Of West
plains younger set. Among the
merrymakers were many Of the
prominent young men and women Of
Westplains.
At 1880 the dance was 1t Ito
height. The three-piece orchestra
was nearing "Home, Sweet Home"
Miss Dimples Martin, at the piano,
was pounding out the strains Of Z
popular melody-nobody remembers
the name.
At that moment J. N. Weiser, own
er Of the building, opened the back
door Of the garage on the floor be-
low. A motorist had called him
from his home to supply some gaso-
line. As the garage door swung
open there was the thunder Of ter
rifle explosion.
Comes With Tragic Saddenuess
The floor Of the dance hall above
was lifted almost to the ceiling. A
moment Of terrible silence followed.
Then the floor crashed in fragments
into Z raging gasoline-fed furnace
below. Into it went the forms Of .
score Of humans who . moment be-
fore had been carefree dancers.
Some were blown through the win
dows and survived. Three or four
were able to crawl away from the
hungry flames to safety. Others
were blown free Of the ruins to the
street below, cut mangled, burned
and bleeding.
The pianist was believed to have
been killed instantly. Bail Allen, the
trombone player who was sitting
next to her, was blown through .
window and lives. The third mem
Der Of the orchestra is believed also
to have perished.
The blast awoke sleeping farmers
for . radius Of three miles, and the
leaping flames guided them to the
scene Of the disaster.
Gasoline Explosion Blamed
An explosion Of gasoline in the
garage is generally blamed for the
catastrophe. Weiser was found not
far from the wreckage, his hand
grimly holding the doorknob Of the
shattered garage. Nobody seems to
know what happened to the notorist.
The common belief prevails that
Weiser must have lighted = match
into the fumes Of escaping gasoline.
According to pliny, Cato belisv.