Evening star., 1950-05-22
Clearing South Amboy
OF Live Ammunition
To Take Several Days
BY the Associated Press

SOUTH AMBOY. N. j., May %.
--Blast-torn South Amboy was
nearer a business-as-usual basis
today, but Army officials said it
would be three to four days be-
fore the danger Of live shells is
removed.
Demolition squads combed the
waterfront area and the mile
square city for shells and fuses
which were scattered everywhere
In Friday nights blast disaster.
1t. Hugh Casey, in charge of
the demolition team, warned that
there would be more blasts as
mines are detonated during the
next few days.
He said more than 5000 land
mines already had been picked
up amid the wreckage of the
weekend disaster that took q
lives.
Schools on Holiday.
School children, meanwhile,
were on a holiday, their class
rooms damaged beyond immedi-
ate repair.
Officials said there would be no
more classes for the remainder
Of the school term. but seniors
would be graduated despite in
completed courses.
Cheerful shopkeepers returned
to their boarded up stores in the
business district this morning and
carried on as usual behind scenes
Of debris and wreckage.
The state of emergency con-
tinued in the city, with Army,
State police and Red Cross units
still on the job.
Police said there were no hard
ship cases and no residents suf-
fered from lack of food or shelter.
Join in Cleanup.
All were joining in the big
cleanup program.
The remains of a 20-ton phos-
phorous fire, which f1ared up yes
terday, smouldered near the dock,
scene Of the explosion Friday
night.
Four barges, laden with NUM-
tionS en- route from Newark, Ohio,
to PakiStan, exploded Friday with
. roar heard across the State. The
blast wrecked the waterfront of
this port 81 miles southwest of
New York, injured $50 persons
with flying glass in all parts of the
town, and did property damage
estimated at $7.5 million.
The phosphorus fire startled
residents anew as a fast-spreading
blaze zigzagged through about so
drums, raising a column of white
smoke over the stricken city.
State police said the phosphorus
drums may have been cracked
open by Fridays blast, or by al
mine detonated by Army men.
Phosphorus ignites when exposed
to air.
The burning chemical set off
about 100 more mines. The fire
was in the blast-shattered grounds
Of the American Agricultural
Chemical Co., adjacent to the
area Of Fridays explosion.
For a time it was feared that
shift in the wind might blow
harmful fumes over the city.
However. police said later that
there was no panic and no danger
OF a general evacuation.
Firemen Kept at Distance.
Exploding mines kept firemen
ut a respectful distance, but the
fire was brought under control
within short time. 1t was finally
decided to let it burn itself out
overnight.
Firemen played their hoses
from behind nearby bank build
Ing for protection.
The ~ men lost in Fridays
blast were mainly employees of the
Jersey City stevedoring firm which
contracted to load the munitions.
Only four bodies have been re-
covered, one of them mangled be-
yond recognition, and officers said
1t was doubtful if any more would
be found whole.
Insurance men looked over the
smashed water front structures
and broken windows throughout
the city and made the SIS million
damage estimate.