Evening star., 1947-07-30
Faulty GosPipe BIomedinD Death
Of7O in Beauty PorIor Blast
"a Others Are Injured as Explosion
Destroys Beauty PorIor and jewelers.


jewelry store and had left just a
few minutes before the explosion.
Less than a block away, he rushed
back to help rescue the injured.
Full Inquiry Planned.
Mayor Bernard T. Denton said he
did not know how long 1t would take
to complete the investigation, In
which he will seek to establish the
cause OF the explosion and the nec-
essary steps to prevent any similar
accidents in the future.
Witnesses will be heard at the ex-
plosion scene, and the hearing later
will be moved to the City Council
chambers, Mr.. Denton said. A rep
resentative from the State fire mar
shal's Office is expected here, he
added, to participate in the 1nvesti-
CATION.
More than 100 men worked for 8
hours digging the dead and injured
from the rubble.
One of the first acts Of Harrison
burg firemen was to dig to the gas
main at the rear Of the beauty shop,
cut it OFF and plug it to prevent ad-
ditional explosions.
Owner Had Left Shop.
Mrs. Pauline Kline Sullivan, own
er of the beauty shop, escaped
serious injury or death when she
left the shop about five minutes
before the blast.
Mrs. Ruth Rhodes, operator OF the
iewelry store, said she had slowed
her automobile to park in front OF
her store when a truck driver blew
the horn for her to move on. She
did so and was about block away
on South Main street when she
heard the blast. Mrs. Rhodes is a
former holder of the women's State
golf title of Louisiana.
Three ambulances and two hearSes
were used to take the dead and in
jured from the scene.
G. T. Lotus, administrator OF
Rockingham Memorial Hospital, said
blood plasma was flown in from
Richmond within an hour after
the blast.
Last Bodies Recovered.
The last three bodies were re-
covered at GAS pm. Mr.. Mullen was
the last injured person to be freed.
He was placed in an ambulance at
4:45 pm.-approximately two and
one-half hours after the explosion
r MIR. LOTUS said the first injured
began to arrive at the hospital
about five minutes after he heard
the explosion The hospital is about
three -fourths of a mile from the
/ jewelry store.
Squads of firemen from New
Market, Staunton, Bridgewater
Elkton and Charlottesville aided ir
the rescue effort.
Aiding them we're powerful search
lights and electric bulbs hung from
wires strung above the powdered
brick and plaster. A construction
firm furnished steam shovels te
shift the wreckage, and mechanical
equipment from the telephone COM
pany was. used to pull aside the
rubble.
A crowd estimated by police as
high as 5000 lined the ropes put
up to give the searchers room tc
work.
Alvin Mullenax of radio station
WSVA operated a public address
system from the porch of a house
across the street from the blasi
scene. Periodically he appealed te
onlookers to keep back of the ropes
and advised them he had list Of
the dead and injured which they
could see If they feared any rela'
tives were among them.
The telephone switchboard wa.
swamped with calls and the hospita
and funeral homes were unable tt
handle their incoming calls for sew
eral hours after the explosion.
! The bodies of the dead were taker
to the Lindsey and Higgs funera
homes.
Two Clerks Killed.
OF the dead, Mrs. Rebecca Cra
bill Sherman and Mrs. Elizabeth
Seigle were clerks at the jewelry
store. Frank Duncan, who was in.
4 jured, was a janitor at the store
The other victims, according to Po'
lice Chief Julius r. Ritchie, were
in the beauty parlor.
Mayor Denton announced he woult
call a mass meeting publicly Il
thank the citizens of Harrisonburt
j and other communities who helpet
with the rescue work.
/ Chief Ritchie said similar dis
aster. with one killed and severa
injured, happened on North MAR
street IL years ago. Escaping ga.
was blamed for that explosion.