The Waterbury Democrat., 1937-03-19

tor. said after an examination Of
the wrecked building.
IN the first place." Jones said
~tkere is no explosive but gas thai
could have wrecked the entire
building with one blast. In the
second place, only gas has the
spread and the area to be capable
OF lifting the roof from the build.
ing. Other explosives act differ
emily"
LAS the work of identifying the
bodies Of children progressed the
community radio station broadcast
q request for 90 grave diggers.
Albert Evans, regional director Of
the Red Cross, arrived and set UP
relief headquarters at Henderson
five miles from the disaster scene
A large supply Of anti-tetants serum
arrived from Dallas and will be adj
ministered to the injured.
Rain Started at Dawn
The rain began at dawn, which
revealed an appalling scene. Bodies
recently taken from the wreckage
cluttered the field morgue, await
ing distribution among dozen
nearby towns. The blaring Of loud
speakers, rumble Of trucks, scream
ing of ambulance sirens and tramp
of National Guardsmen was pierced
occasionally by a scream, as some
parent identified a child. Several
thousand spectators crowded at the
guard lines, eager but helpless to
aid.
1lOO Students Enrolled
OF the 100 students enrolled in
the school, less than half escaped
death or injury, and the dead far
outnumbered the injured. More
bodies were believed buried under
the great heaps Of steel, wood and
concrete. Several hundred work
ers tugged att he debris. piling 1t
onto trucks for hauling away. The
latest count OF dead by United
Press listed 425 and estimates of the
injured exceeded $50. Many OF
them were children, NAMED and
dying. The death toll was expected
to pass 500 by noon.
Cause Established
The cause OF the explosion that
crumbled the three story block long
yellow brick main building Of the
New London rural school seemed
definitely established. Gas from
leaking fuel mains In the unused
sub basement had accumulated for
.t..,. ..a~iaa S,p fnr SunnkC
Yesterday afternoon by some
means as yet unknown 1t was ignited
and the floors sank from beneath
and the walls crumbled upon APP
proximately i,l00 students and
teachers. Some, perhaps half, cs-
capped miraculously alive, the others
were killed
CT the 1875 known TO have been
mi rred at least 20 we're IN such
desperate straits early today that
physicians expected them to die. The
others suffered all yarities Of hurts
from broken limbs TO cuts and
bruises from flying glass.
Injured About $50
ned Cross authorities, emergency
nurses and doctors, who came from
hundreds OF miles around, believed
that he final account would show
the number OF injured TO be ap-
proxinately $50.
The United Press accomplished a
definite check on the dead with the
greatest difficulty. The bodies had
been taken TO hospitals, funeral
parlors, TO morgues iinproviscd In
grocery and hardware stores within
a lO-ndle radius.
And yesterday afternoon when
the explosion reared out over the
clanking pumps Of the East Texas
oil field which surrounds the school,
hard faced workers. their clothing
sticky with black oil, came running
up from their derricks, lifted the
broken bodies OF their own children
into their arms and carried them
off To their homes.
The first and probably inaccur-
ate checks OF school authorities
showed that approximately 20 bodies
had been carried off by this means
without having gone through the
identifying channels Of morgues and
hospitals.
New London, Tiny Hamlet
New London Is a tiny hamlet in
the heart Of the east Texas oil field.
AS Far as the eye can see in any
direction Is a sea OF derricks, all
pumping black crude from the
earth.
1t comprises a few stores, hum
dred or SO houses and the plant OF
the New London rural school - the
main building with two wings "U''
shaped and a gymnasium and an
auditorium fixing the mouth Of the
"U". To one side Is recreational
center the superintendent's home
and faculty building.
The school Is supported by taxes
on the valuable oil tanks. 1t has
the best and most modern OF
equipment and score Of buses
carry the students back and forth
to their homes, some as far away as
40 miles. It's students ran in age
from seven to 10. Parents are
almost all workers In the oil fields
The schools total enrolment in
GLIDING grades from kinderkarten 10
The final high school years total