Evening star., 1942-02-13
Naval Plants
Fuse BuiIdinq
House Wrecked
No Sign Of Sabotage,
Officials Soy, but
Probe Is Ordered

Two men and a woman were
killed in an explosion about 8
pm. today that wrecked a small
building at the United States
Naval Research Laboratory and
Magazine at Bellevue, in South
west Washington, and the Navy
Yard reported -four or five"
others were injured.
The dead we're:
Frederick Laser, 1888 Hazel street,
Baltimore, Md, killed at scene
Helen o. Thomas, 3048 Blaine
street NE, killed at scene.
James H. Garst, 2l25 Annapolis
avenue, Baltimore. died en- route to
Providence Hospital.
Injured we're:
Charles A. Krecek, 10 Ocean
Green, Bellevue, taken to Provi-
dence Hospital.
Even Blevins, 231 Eleventh street
Sc, also taken to Providence.
A number of other workers were
given first aid at the scene.
Board Starts Probe.
An investigating board, ordered by
the Navy, went into immediate ses-
sion.
Rear Admiral George Pettengill,
commandant of the Navy Yard, said
the explosion would not interfere
with the Navy's production schedule.
The demolished building, Navy
Yard officials said, was an 8-foot
square detached structure on the
naval reservation in which fuses
were loaded The three victims
were working inside it when the ex-
plosion occurred.
Those injured were said to have
been hit by debris
The office of the Navy Yard CON-
mandant said there was no evidence
of sabotage, but the Navy Depart
ment Immediately ordered the board
to investigate the blast at once.
For more than an hour after the
conclusion rocked the adjacent area.
wives of men working within the
reservation stood at the gate to learn
if their husbands were among the
injured.
The explosion could be heard as
far as 2 miles away and the con-
cussion knocked pictures from the
wall, ratified windows and bounced
objects on tables.
Alexandria Shaken.
Directly across the river, in Alex
andria, Va. police reported numer-
Gus inquiries about the blast. VIM
dows were ratified in the managers
Office at National Airport.
The Bellevue magazine is about
a mile below Boiling Field on the
river front Nearby is the Home
for the Aged and Infirm at Blue
Plains.
All motorcycle police were ordered
from the fourth, fifth and eleventh
precincts and were instructed to
halt all traffic approaching the
| magazine at fourth and Chesapeake
streets SW.
At the gate leading to the naval
reservation, about Is wives gathered
quickly to await news of their hus-
bands.
The conclusion shook the housing
development, adjacent to the reser-
vation, built for enlisted men and
civilian personnel working at the
laboratory and magazine.
Reporters, barred at the gate,
could see no smoke. Fire engines
which rushed to the scene remained
only short time and we're heading
back to town while the crowd was
still gathering at the entrance to
the reservation.
Details Refused.
A fire box at the Bellevue maga-
zine was pulled to give the first
notice of the accident. The Fire
Board refused to give any informa-
ton about the explosion or the
amount of equipment sent to the
scene.
Police Supt. Edward J. Kelly, As
sistant Supt. Harvey F. Callahan
and Capt. Barrett, assistant chief of
detectives, rushed to the naval res
ervation.
A worker at the airport said she
heard a great noise about 3 pm.
and remarked to another worker
that the sound seemed to come from
Boiling Field. Alexandria police
said nothing could be seen of the
explosion from their side of the
river.
The last serious explosion at the
powder factory occurred December 81.
1881, when one man was killed and
another injured.
George Julian, IS, of l Eighteenth
street Sc, laundry truck driver. was
delivering a package at the hous-
ing development when the explo-
sion, he said, nearly threw him from
the truck as he rounded a curve.
The conclusion, he said, felt like
a heavy weight falling on the roof"
of the truck, which was half a mile
from the blast.
At the office of the Federal Bureau
of Investigation it was said that F..
B. I. agents would not be assigned
to the case unless requested to do so
by the Office of Naval Intelligence.
They have jurisdiction on mat
ters arising within their own prop
erty," an F. B. l. attache said.
They have not requested our as