The sun. [volume], January 12, 1917, Page 5, Image 5

About The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1916-1920

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" THE 'SUN, ''FRIDAY, ' JAOTAItY J12,r 1017...
50,000 COMMUTERS
IN TRAIN TANGLE
Explosion Shatters Schedules
of Delaware & Lackawanna
. and the Erie Ituuds.
MISHAP AT ItUSlt HOUR
For Two Hours Grcut. Crowd
Scurries About for
Transportation.
.Map of Terirtory Shaken by Explosions.
TV rxpUHon In KlngMand yester
day tluiltcred the schedules ot tlio Del
Anarc ami I.aclcjwaiina anil tlio Krle
rnllroaJs and (.cnt not leu than BO.OOU
rntnmutcro rrurrylnir about the coun
lrl'li 50 that those who lived in the
vicinity of Lyndhurst reached their
homes after a delay of two or three
houn caused by taking clrcultoua
trolley routes. Others suffered propor-
tlonato Inconvenience
The road which appeared to Buffer the
most it as the Erie. The main line of
this wyatem runs from Jersey City
through Hutherford, about a mile and a
half to the north of the nceno of the
mlihir. and for an hour and a half till
trarno on this lino was tied up. Thl
occurred Just when M10 rush hour crowds
wire beginning; the homeward Journey,
when trains are customarily run on an
average headway of one mlnuto and
forty seconds.
Under ordinary circumstances during
the hour and a half when the passage of
trains was rendered Impossible by the
Are and rain of shells from the munitions
plant, about fifty trains are due to go
over this route. When the railroad offi
cials did endeavor to resume traffic about
5:10 P. M. the service was still crippled
for several hours.
Line Discontinued.
The line affected on the Lackawanna
wal the Boonton branch, where the traffic
Is only about half as heavy as on the
Morris and Essex division, the other sub
urban route from Hoboken. The Boon
ton line was dlsconUnued beyond Secau
cus and all passengers who lived In L.ynd
hyret and points beyond had to be
thunted off west on the Morris and Essex
line to Denville, wnere It met the Boon
ton road, and then transferred east agaln
on a shuttle train o their objective sta
tions as far as Lyndhurst.
Naturally this led to vast confusion,
and commuters who felt disinclined to
chance such a roundabout way and few
availed themselves of it cast their lot
with the trolley system. Copgcstlon re
sulted thereby on the trolley lines.
Many of them tried to telephone home,
tut the heavy load on the wires caused
a congestion in this quarter. The tele
phone and telegraph companies were also
htndicaped by the damage done to their
equipment by the concussions. On the
Lackawanna branch of the Western
Union twenty wires were down, though
the system alone the Erie was Intact
The telephone wires were likewise af
facttd. In'the vicinity of Klngsland and
Lyndhurst all the telephone service was
put out of commission, and wives who
wanted to assure their husbands that
tney were unharmed but scared, had to
walk through the biting gale to Ruther
ford. Even there connections with the
outside world could be made only after
long delays.
Very Little Ileal Daauaare.
Late In the evening the Rutherford
nunager. reported that the trunk lines
were working properly and no more
trouble was looked for from this end.
In New York city there was a heavy
iun of calls on the telephone following
the first shock, as thousands of persons
for two hours called up the centrals anu
newspapers excitedly to learn whether
another Black Tom explosion had oc.
curred. The Western Union had no Idea
when the damage to their lines could be
repaired,, as their workmen could not
venture near the stricken wires because
of the continued explosions.
On the Erie the only damage reported
was the breaking of two windows In the
tower house In Rutherford. The station
here lies about two miles to the north
west of the munitions plant, and until
late last night was still Intact. Fortu
nately neither the Erie nor the Lacka
wanner had a train close to the scene of
the disaster.
The nearest train was No. SO, east
bound on the Erie, and that was passing
by Paterson, twelve miles away, and was
held up In time. On the Lackawanna,
train No. 4, the Chamber of Commerce
Special, one of the few long distance
trains that use the Boonton branch for
entering Hoboken. was twenty miles
away when the blowup occurred. It
was recalled to Denville and sent over
the Morris and Essex division, so that
the train, due at 4. :18, arrived about five
hours late.
At 4:10. when definite word ot the
outbreak first reached Jersey City, the
Erie offlcialH decided to fuke no risks
K..Ko.iuu, ... j,, nucic me explosion in tne Carta-
dian Car and Foundry Company occurred yesterday,
is indicated on the map by a cross. The situation of
the town between the Erie and Lackawanna clearly
indicates how the accident was bound to tie up com
muter travel. The circles are eight miles apart. The
explosions were heard .and felt twenty to twenty
five miles away.
$5,000,000 BLAZE
INN. J.-MEADOWS
Continued from Ftrst Page.
a radius of twenty-five miles from the
plant. Manhattan, nine miles eastward
and across the North River, was shaken
and startled. The Bronx' waterfront
rocked to the steady roarlns, Even
Brooklyn, across two rivers, felt the con- Were even slightly hurt.
' of Injured would scarcely exceed a
dozen.
Six men wore being treated in the
I Jersey City Hospital for shock or for
slight Injuries. Two or three were In
I Newark. Uiie was in a hospital at
! Kearny. But so far as could be learned
' from police, medical services or com
pany olllclals, the casualties were mlrac-ulou.-Oy
slight.
J There wiih some talk of men missing,
among them Edward Huriicll. assistant
superintendent of the plant, but Burnell
showed up eventually. The general man
ager of the Canadian Car and Foundry
Company, E. W. Hurkness, told The
SjUN that he was positive there had been
no loss or lire and mat lie ocuevca lew
vuleed air.
.-.O.OOO Commuter. Strntiilril.
Two railroads, the Lackawanna and
the Erie, Just getting ready with strings
of castbound locals for the ruh of eve
ning commuters, were suddenly tlcjd up,
with the result that probably 30,000 com
muters were stranded In Manhattan or
rn the very fringe of Jersey. Hospitals,
a penitentiary, various public Institutions
had to deal with sudden panics.
Hundreds of thousands ot iersoti
upon this side of the river or somewhere
In scared Jersey dropped everything to
rush for tho telephone and demand In
stant news. The telephone tervlce
sagged and broke down under the rush.
It was Black Tom over again. In tho day
light It Is true, but with features scarcely
lees disturbing. .
At the time that the explosions were
going on In most savage violence the Im
pression conveyed to listeners some dis
tance, a few miles, away wan as If an
unending succession of heavy trucks
was rumbling over a wooden'brldge, tho
air shaking with the vibration of ;reat
He spoko of Miss McNamara with his
hat off, as hundreds of others who had
lied safely from tho sudden terror spoke
of her last night. It was emphasized
from a dozen sources that one girl's
bravery stood between many hundreds
ot men and shocking (')ath.
Job. though there was no need here, for
McArthur was already nprtntlng for the
Ilro house and yelling orders to sound tho
siren. So many thlnqs occurred within
the next five or ten minutes that no one
who was actually In the volcano could
remember the exact sequence of events.
They all remembered u great' stir of
warning with the siren blasting three
long whistles, with the men piling llko
rats out of the Imperilled buildings,
glancing around all startled for a mo
ment and then legging It as fast as they
could go toward the gates, with the
flames from shed 30 reaching the freight
cars full of T. N. T. and then leaping
lor the piled up shells In shed 28, with
the first ear rending crashes as the shells
In blied 28 begun to let go.
The last stragglers were struggling
clear, some of them terror stricken be
cause the Mames had barred their way
to the gates and had forced them to scale
the high gv rd fences. They remem
bered as a sort of bad dream the terrific
rataplan and crash ot explosions, the
Steady drone and rumble as shrapnel let
Itefiixers Are Succored.
A dozen Jersey
around Klnswdand cared for the refugees upr0Jr t0 tne ma chorus.
. trrt nnfl thf. fpnnllpnt inrrlne- nhuklnc- ,1a-
towns and cities f ,u i,., .t,.n. ih.i.
a munitions plant, gone to smash In the
Jersey meadows'. v .
Sheriff deputies from Klngsland and
the police from Rutherford, Lyndhurst,
East Rutherford and half a dozen. other
small towns hurried to the vicinity of
tho plant to a line as near the ruin as
they dared venture In that' rain of shells
and took cliargo ot a bad. situation.
First ot all they drew a circle around
the plant Itself, a big circle which finally
had Its clrcumfercnco two miles from
the (lames and Masts and they held up
every person, no matter' who, vrho tried
to get near.
In tho early evening two New fork
detectives sent out by rollce Commis
sioner Woods with a message of offered
help wero held up, and they admitted
they were glad of It, because It looked
like daring death to advance beyond the
police cordon. These men were Detec
tive Sergeants England and Taylor, and
one of them was very nearly laid out by
a spent shell fragment which crashed
down Into tho automobile they were
drlxlng.
The next step taken by the Sheriff's
deputies and police was to clear tho
town of Klngsland of every human being
or living thing. They even drove out tho
dogs and tried to evict the cats. By
night full Klngsland, growing sooty with
tlio dirt fall from tho pall over the plant,
Ra a deserted town.
Then the roadways were choked with
refugees, miserable that had hastily
snatched up a few prized belongings be-
foro being pushed onward by the police.
There was another reminder, and a vivid
omen. In this outcome of the fire and ex
plosion of some sidelights of, the war In
Europe tho flight from Antwerp for ex
ample. It was a smaller company that
turned backs upon homo over In Jersey
jesterday, but for the time being It was
scarcely less unhappy. Many of tho
women carried their babies. Children
ted hv the hand old nten and old women
Her and there was a child's toy wagon
piled with household necessities.
Dodge Shells Under Trees.
Occasionally as the rain of shell frag
ments Increased mothers fled to the
refuge of trees, holding their babies very
tightly toward the tree trunks, protecting
them with their own bodies. Frequently
bits of hot metal thudded upon the road
side or were seen to land In the meadows
or marshes nenr at hand.
Eventually most of. the refugees got to
Lyndhurst or Rutherford or, Newark and
were made more or less comfortable for
tho night In public schools or In private
houses. But their terror remained with
them. Many had relatives or friends
that had been employed In the plant, and
no word had come as to the safty of
these. At that time It was not known
whether many had been killed or how
many had been hurt. 'Women besieged
the police stations In theso towns for
Information, and when told there was
none wept and walled miserably.
Upon a hillside midway between
Klngsland and the plant was a colony
of perhaps 200 Italians. Scores of
broken shells fell upon that hillside. In
juring several persons. Then the police
came and herded the colony to safety,
though It was no easy task. Even In
the fa. o ot the shell peril the Italians
clung to their homes and even fought
to be let alone. The Rev. T. J. McDer
mott, the parish priest, went about urg
ing them to leave, and his solicitations
were of great aid to the police.
Half the Bntldlna-s Ablaee.
They remembered that half the build-
last night, providing them with places
to sleep, with warm clothing nml wltn
good hot food and coffee. They were
fnr ..v one. Its rows of houses stood '"K" ln ,he I,lace w burning as the
empty and black, many torn and shat-1 men swarmed panic stricken down the when thc flrst sneu crashes struck upon
tcred from the hhell rain that fell uon roads toward NewarK or Rutherford or the ears of the mourners they hastily
them In tho late afternoon. It occurred ncj to tho safety of tho meadows. They t lowered the coffin Into the grave and
recall..,! that hot shell fragments wero i " Trobably seventy-five, of the escap-
A Quick Burial.
The afternoon and evening teemed
with Incident. In a cemetery not 200
yards from the main gate of the plant
the burial of an Italian was being held.
to many who looked down upon the evac
uated town from a hteh ridge three miles
away that It must bear a sort of re
semblance to many a town In northern
France.
Thc Bergen county authorities started
an Investigation promptly put the ma-
dropping all around them, landing wltb
the ring of metal upon sheet iron roofs
or thudding Into the dust. They saw
workmen hit by these descending frag
ments and remembered that the last
they saw of some of the men was that
they were shrieking with the pain of
chinerv In motion while shells were still
ATnlndlnsT In tti plnud nalt over Ktnes- cuts as they ran
l.imiw It wnn imnnsHlhle. far mem tn i The peril from falling shell fragments
wheels, and frequently In the ominous, , . , . . , , t nih Ther was . was by no means confined to the vicinity
disturbing rumble, heavier than thunder, cu.i0tl Hlui confusion bevond imagination. I f the plant. In Klngsland dozens of
were appalling snocKs of explosion, ine ., ...,, ,.f. within lmlf
rumble of great wheels resembling thun- , mne 0f tle for Investigating o(ll-
houses are pitted and scarred. Window
ing workmen lost themselves ln the late
evening In the trackless marshes stretch
ing westward and northward of the
plant. These had been cut off from the
main gates by the sudden spread ot
flame and they dared not .attempt a rusn
through the fire. They manured to
climb the high fence, and then they
tried to work around to the Ridge road
Night came on while they were
ploughing In the marshes. It was bit
terly cold. They were in incessant dan
ger from shells. Many were waist deep
glass went to smithereens for miles I mU(j an(i water and some were barely
der was the chorus of small calibre shells I fi.ils to venture. They will try to begin around under the resistless concussion. I saved from drowning. When they
Incessantly bursting as the lire reached
them in their storehouses. The greater
shocks .were from thc lai ge calibre shells.
fewer In number, as they let o under
the expansion of terrific heat. They that
stood near to the roaring chaos caught
as they listened jCven thc shrill whistle
and shriek of shells In flight before
bursting.
Resembled Battle Noises.
The chorus was the combined noises
of a great battle. Paterson, East
Orange, Hackensack. Passaic, Arlington,
Newark twenty Jersey towns and
cities as well as Manhattan experi
enced safely In the late afternoon
alarms and echoes similar to thoHe fa
miliar to French towns -behind th
lines of a major battle. It was
the Inquiry to-day
Thomas J. Huckln, Bergen county
Prosecutor, took charge. Interviewed oftl- .
cers of tho Canadian Car and Found!)'1
Con iany and promised a statement for
to-day. The inquiry will begin of course
with an attempt to fix tho cause of thc
flrc
Blaze .started In Shed ItO.
It Is certain that the blaze originated
In shed .10, thc cleaning and polishing
shed, wheic thc big. shells are treated
with gasolene beforo being packed away
In the shell cases. One account has it
that theic was a "puff up" in a can of
gasolene. Another furnished to the
Kings)and police Is that a short circuited
electric wlro dropied lively sparks into
a can of gasolene. At all events the tire
:ilienrs to have started accidentally and
Paengers on Erie ani Lackawanna ; i cached the tracks of the Erie Railroad
trains were endangered. Persons riding i finally and found their way half frozen
In automobiles had narrow escaped.
Thc car shops of the La:kawanna
Railroad were scarcely half a' mile from
the munitions plant, and 200 men in those
shops had the fright of their lives when
the crashes bc.ian and shell fragments
started to hammer upon the roof or
smash windows. The shop buildings
were shaken and many windows were
broken, but no serious damage was done
at that spot.
Penitentiary la Rocked.
Thc Snake Hill Penitentiary, aliout a
mile distant. w.u rocked by the contin
uous heavy explosions, and thc 200 pris
oners were sick from fright. All the
at
3 :50 P. M. It reached Its crescendo height j Inflammable materials everywhere
at about 0 P. M,. then leu otr slowly, hand.
but was still rumbling and occasionally As has been said, there were thirty
exploding heavily through the night. six buildings In the great plant, whlrh
From the heights of Jersey land any- ! covered twenty acres of the meadows
where around the deserted town ' of i a mile and a half from tho town of
Klngsland deserted because the police ' Klngsland. Klngsland lies midway of
cleared it of its 7.000 inhabitants and . a north and south line between Newark
and su.Dende.1 Traffic About the same drew lines in a great circle two miles and Paterson. and about midway of an
litJ2L ihur? iXHS, from the volcano that Had been a cast and west lino between East Orange
time thc Lackawanna chiefs called off
all service to Klngsland. started a
shuttle service to Secauous and carried
all passengers dwelling beyond over the
southern division to Denville and back
without cxart fare. It meant much extra
mileage, however, and about 60 per cent,
decided to use the trolley.
The trolley lines were also blocked for
a time. The Hackensack line from New
ark, where many rural residents trans
ferred after riding from tho railway
terminals, passes at one point within
half a mile of the Klngsland factory
and trrvico was Interrupted 'until after
8 o'clock. After that more than a
dozen extra cars were run to copo with
the extraordinary loads of baffled com
muters. The other system, tho Passaic line
from llobuken, Is laid considerably .to
the north of Klngsland, and had lesi
trouble. But added cars were roqulrcd
here tro. After two or three hours of
halting travel the commuters discovered
what they frequently did not know bc
fore that practically every town from
.'eraucUH to Denville was accessible by
trollcv except Lincoln Park,
chorus that lasted for hours, though I to have spread so rapidly and completely j J'TIV . o n".
slowly lessening. Ueglnnng at about slmpl) lcauso ot the vast quantities of "In ,v ' ,',.
tentlary shouting that tho world was
coming to an end and that the day of
Judgment was here, tho troubled warden
was almost ready to believe It. Keepers
found It hard to control the men, who
wero In the wlldent of fright.
Kelley, the warden, went to the roof
of tho penitentiary, looking out toward
Klngsland, saw something which re
sembled all of the fireworks In tho
world going off gigantic skyrockets
piercing black cloud levels were among
the phenomena forced upon Kelley's un
prepared mind and made up his mind
that he would like very much to depart
from that part of Jersey. Of course he
didn't, Nearby also were several hospi
tals and the doctors and nurses found It
difficult to quiet patients who wero sure,
in their nervousness, that there wero to bo
burned alive or blown up.
There was literally, for an hour or
more, a reign of terror throughout Union
township of Bergen county, and the ter
ror was radiated In ever lessening force
over a mighty wide range of country.
From reports that came to thc news
papers otllccs ln the late afternoon, there
were a good many thousand badly scared
people in Manhattan. Tho trouble was
they didn't know and couldn't find out
Just what had happened. They wero
hearing a persistent uproar as If the
world was going to Hinanh, and there
munitions plant the eye comprehended
what the ear Had raiieu to unucr
stand. Toward evening, Just as dark came on,
the twenty aero plant glowed with
vicious red flame. Low, drifting clouds
of dirty yellowish and black Bmoko hung
less than 300 feet above tho red glare.
And incessantly the smoko was, riven
and split by vivid explosions as shells
were flung Bkyward,' to explode In the
smoke pall. '
Persons who had viewed the frightful
beauties of the Black Tom explosion live
months and a half ago wero sure In their
own minds that thc spectacle of last
evening was scarcely less Impressive
HOTEL MEN AT ANNUAL DINNER
Msjor Tells Them He Is Not fie-
imnnlblr for rr Vrnr'a ll r.
National prohibition, the H. C. of L.,
Sw Year's eve early closing laws and
"'',n.ry at tho ISat" were thc principal
'"Pi s of discussion last njght wjien the
Hold Association of New York held Its
'hir'y-elghth annual dinner in the Wul-dorr-Astoria.
Thomas D. Green, presi
dent or the association: Ma) or Mltchel.
! Wolf Hopper and Wilton Lackayo
ere the nrlnclDal sneakers.
"Heing a Southerner, I can't under
stand why the South Is anxious for pro
mbltinii," said Mr. Green, and com-
mentfrt on the message of flov. Whit
man urging that New Tork .have the
tame voice in local ontlon as the UP-
fitate towns by saying that "It la the
first time In'the history of the! Empire
folate that the Mirn. that toe have
suggested that this .city J should1 enjoy.
my or tho rights and privileges or up
state." r "
Mayor Mitchel told of the jlayora'
conference to control food supply .arM
Prevent Inflation and pointed out that
aoiei men. who would benefit, snoum
cooperate. He regretted their loss
proms through having to shut down on
New Tear" eve. but explained he was
not responsible, for the fact that the day
"a ounaajt
Plant Worth Oier f 1,000,0(1".
According to an olticlal of the com
pany, the total valuation ui-iuu nins"
land plant and Its stock of explosives Is
between 81.000,000 and 85.00U.00O. Two
huge magazine warehouses of nxploslvrs
on thc other side or me jrio nam.-.i
tracks were not destroyed. In thn rest
of the plant there were nhout 200,000
three Inch shells, valued nt $!." each.
Tho plant was bonded to the extent of
8100,000 for damage to ine unwis uimui.
At the time tho bond was Issjicd the
ramnanv applleii lor n,v''.v, '
came down to the lower tlguic.
and Weehawkcn,
Of the thlrty-slx buildings, every one
exactly like Its neighbor and all low, one
story affairs with concrete floors and
sheet Iron walls and celling, live were
magazines, each holding 600 tons of
T. N. T. or smokeless powder.
It is probable that E00.000 shells,
mostly of the 3 Inch variety, although
some wero of larger calibro, were com
pleted or nearly so.
A contract calling for that many was
to have been fulfilled within two weeks.
In addition to these ruin making po
tentialities there were, all manner of
explosive, or Inflammable substances or
chemicals, stored In thc numerous build
ings. It la Impossible to imagine a more
perilous spot for flro to arise.
Work Was (iolnic Pull Tilt.
Work was humming In tho late after
noon, with all sheds going full tilt,
Hurkness busy at his desk, Tessle Mn
Naniara chwlng her gum nt tho switch
board, black smoke pouring from the
high stacks, when the tlrst alarm came
through Tesslo's quick eyes and cool
Judgment.
At 3 M0 I' M. there were three men in
tho cleaning apd polishing shed besides
thn usual crew. These were Chief
Checker Ladlgk. M. D. McArthur, tho
lire chief of thc plant, anu V. imam L.an-
Among the losses were twnty-four; uhan. his assistant,
irloads of completed shells, which had I The workmen were busy with
been loaded onto a train on rail- shells, which were being cleane.
lnut l)An
nreimratory to being shipped
to an anchorage olT Tompklimvllle, ns
tho dally cufctom. The average
dally output of the plant has been thirty
carloads.
The plant, wntcn nan orcn mriiuiii um
munitions for Russia with financial as
sistance from tno Jiussiau Kuyruiiicio.
almost since the beginning of the war
In 1914, was running full blast. Total
of about $180,000,000 In shell contracts
with Russia had been fulfilled or were
in fulfilment. Nearly 2,800 men, at
least half of whom wero negroes and
Hie rest a.scatttrlng'of Italians, iEng
n.hn... oa nationalities In sympathy
.with ihe. allied cause, were employed -In
.L,. Aatt a4 TltvK
two equal muno j
The circumstances, were such that It
... i.i. t nlo-ht before any definite In-
'fprrniitlon waa available us to whether
or not any cmpiojes nuu umi nn, "
as lo whether or not many persons had
been Injured. . At midnight last night,
while there were still occasional detona
tions from the red ruin on the meadows,
It waa.jdeflnltejr stated, thnt there hart,
been no loss of life and that tho nupiber
exhausted and badly frightened, to
Rutherford they needed doctors' care.
One of these refugees, John Carbona of
Lyndhurst, was out of his mind when
thc police found him. His legs were
badly frozen.
Loss of Life Feared.
The police still feared late last night
I that a few- of the refugees . had lost their
lives in the swamps. Israel Williams, a
plant employee, told Supt. George W,
I King of thc Hudson County Hospital for
! the Insane, that he was sure several men
had broken through the Ice and had been
drowned. Dr. King had been having a
lively time himself.
Thc hospital Is near enough to the
plant to have endured most, of the ter
rors of the day, and the 900 patients
were tremendously excited. But they
were soothed not so much by words ns
by Ice cream, whtch, according to the
doctors, never falls to quiet them. Dr.
James T. Mcchan, chairman of the hospi
tal committee, rushed gallons of ice cream
to thc institution as soon as he heard the
state of mind they were In, and toward
evening Dr. King reported his people
were as quiet us lambs.
Looters dared death from exploding
shells In eagerness; to rob deserted
houses. Last night fifteen men who had
come forward and had offered their ser
vices as volunteer policemen were ar
rested by Chief of Police Mclntyre of
Klngsland. They were charged with
looting and were locked uji ln the police,
station at Union township. Mayor Clay
Issued orders to his policemen to shoot
to kill If they detected any more looters
about.
of ''a houie' In klngsland and' ripped Its
way;, out' through a wall, passing wunin
three Inches of a tittle girl's noad.
All Jersey for miles around, and Man-
hattan'as well, offered' help thc mlnuto
tho extent of the fire and explosion was
real zed. At tho timo It was assumed
there was a -Urge loss of life. Every
hospital In Newark sent doctors and
ambulances. 'Jersey City sent doctors
and ambulances from Christ Hospital,
the City (Hospital and St. Francis Hos
pital. It6boken contributed and New
York, Hudson, Paterson and several other
cities were quick to volunteer help.
rollce Commissioner Woods here In
Manhattan had a special force of picked
men with first aid kits ready to hike for
Jersey, btlt was assured soon that their
services wero not needed. Thc Commis
sioner kept the wireless plant on top ot
Headquarters snapping all afternoon try
ing to pick up bits ot credible news. It
was.dimcult to 'get tidings in tlio ordinary
way. The explosion and Its product of
shell flro had ripped all telegraph and
telephone" wires out of commission nml
had the electric light wires out of work.
Tho whole district around tho Imrnlng.j
plant was dark last night, lit only ty
lanterns and torches or by tho llarc of
bonfires.
nIstt Yorkers .See Fire.
From vantage points of Bkyscrapcr
roof tops thousands of persons In New
York watched fitful flashes from the
munitions plant ruin up to lato last
night, and even heard occasional detona
tions. In Jersey towns near tho plant
residents In tho early evening could see
shrapnel bursting high in air and fall
perhaps miles away.
All through the Oranges and tn Mont
clalr people felt tho disturbance and be
tleged police and newspapers for news.
Osslnlttg", away up the Hudson, caught
the echoes and wondered what had hap
pened. Mount Vernon speculated as to
whether or not a suddenly hostllo fleet
were bombarding Now York city. Yonk
ers sensed the explosion shocks and
could see the far off glare. Even Rock
land county was aware that something
big In the way of explosions had oc
curred and the heavy rumblings were
audible ln the yard of Slug Sing prison.
One of the many personal experience
stories told In the early evening was that
of Casper J. W. Krack, who Is a surgical
nurse in the plant hospital. He was at
his home, 512 East 165th street, The
Bronx, when he gave an account of his
experience. He said:
'The layout of the Canadian Car and
Foundry Company's plant is somewhat
like this: A quarter mile back from the
Valleybrook road entrance were the of
fices of General Superintendent W. E.
Ilarkness, the paymaster and the time
keeper ell little one story frames. Then
there was the hospital. Back of these
were the finishing and packing buildings.
Still further back were the manufactur
ing buildings, nearly twenty of them, all
full of hkh explosive shells ln process ot
construction. Back of all were the
meadows, which get marshier and more
Impenetrable the further you go.
Heard Danger Signal.
"As I started for the entrance, a quar
ter of a. mile away, I heard the danger
whistles start from all the buildings. In
back of me the, first runners were coming
out. There was only one way to safety.
the Valleybrook gate, guarded with Iron
doors and about thirty armed watchmen.
The plant, located ln tho meadow, Is some
distance lower than the road, and several
flights of stone steps lead up to the gate.
I was Just climbing these steps when
the first explosion came. It lifted mc off
my feet, blew my hat and glasses far
away and almost put me out of business.
Outside the gate a running mob of
screaming women and panic stricken
Italians, with a sprinkling ot little chil
dren, was gathering. I yelled to them to
run away. In back, down In thetcom
pany's grounds, the workmen were trying
to escape.
"It looked as though they were caught
like rats. As I say, the manufacturing
buildings were all located back of the
finishing building, which meant that If
the men wanted to get to tho gate and
escape they had to pass directly through
the Are. The only other course was to
flee to the meadows, where they could
only wade a certain distance and then
stand still.
SHELL CONTRACTS
FOR $133,000,000
Canadian Car and Fonndry Co.
in Big Denis With Rus
sian Government.
WORK IN THE LAST STAGE
Stock Ono of First 'War
Brides' lingo Trofits at
First Reported.
The Canadian Car and Foundry
Company's big Russian munitions con
tract calling for approximately 2,500,000
shrapnel and 3,500,000 high explosive
shells was In the last stage of comple
tion when the fire started yesterday
afternoon In Its plant at Klngsland, N.
J. The plant was an nsscmbllng point
for parts of shells manufactured In the
Vnltcd States, but waa only a small unit
of the company s properties,
Tho company obtained the plant
shortly after the outbreak of the war,
and since that time has practically
tripled Its capacity. The plant was
used almost exclusively for assembling
Its first big order, which amounted to
about J83,000,000, but when the company
obtained a second contract from the
Russian Government for $50,000,060
more of similar shells much of the work
on tho shells was done at Klngsland,
Canadian Car and Foundry sock was
oue of tho flrst "war brides." During
tho Initial boom in munition stocks It
so'I as high ns 119. It was then thought
that tho company had obtained the
"cream" of thc war contracts placed
hero by thc Allies. The concern got
Its flrst order for 5,000,000 .shells for the
Russian Government In the early part
of 1915, and at the same timo obtained
an option on future orders. Its first
order, because tho company was unable
to fill It at Its own plants within the
specified time, was shared with thirty
seven steel and power companies In the
United States. Some of the contracts
for parts of the shells were sublet In
Canada.
(irrnt Profit Reported.
All this time reports were coming
from thc Canadian Car and Foundry
Company's offices of great profits on its
munitions contracts, It bejnr estimated
that the total profits would be about
$20,000,000 on Its first order. At the start
the Russian Government advanced -the
company $20,000,000 to enable It to pro
ceed at once with the work of turning
out the shells, and the company was
heavily bonded to Insure the fulfilment
of its contracts at the specified time.
In October of thc same year .Nathaniel
Curry, president of the company, an
nounced to the stockholders that the
company had obtained another war order
from the Russian Government. II eitl-
mated tho company's profits for the year
ended September, 1015. at $15,000,000,
and at the samo time It was generally
understood that the new order waa for
$50,000,000 morn of shells.
All of theso profits, however, were re
ported beforo the company had begun to
hear from thu omrmnlca to which It had
sublet contracts for' parts ot the ahelti.
Somo of tho parts delivered to the com
pany did not tit the specifications de
manded by tho Russian Government;
iome of the companies wero late In de
livering their parte. All of this delayed
the Canadian Car and Foundry Company
In making deliveries to the Rusitan
Government.
The delays also cost the company
great deal ot money, maklnc It necessary
ln January, told, to seek $10,000,000
more working capital In order to carry
out contracts. Tho company canvassed
the banking Institutions In Wall Street
with a view io borrowing the additional
capital, but without success. Mean
while tho stock In two days trading on
the Curb foil almost 50 points.
nrassla Advances Money
In a day or two after It became known
that the company wan In need ot addi
tional working capital tho Russian Gov
ernment cimo forward with $10,000,000,
The company then submitted to a re
vision of Its contracts, throuch which a
new company, tho Agency of thai Ca
nadian Car and Foundry Company, was
formed to tcko over alt of the compxny'a
munition contracts. Tho Russian Gov
ernment at tho samo time practically
took over complete supervision of the
making of the shells and extended the
time for the delivery of the first 5,000,000
from March 1, 19!C, to September 1.
Several expert munition men were added
to the company's board at that time,
among them Col. Dunn of the United
States army.
The Canadian Car and Foundry Com
pany Is one of the largest Canadian In
dustrial concerns. It lias an outstanding
capital of $7,250,000 of 7 per cent, par
ticipating cumulative preferred stock and
$4,225,000 of common stock. In addition
It has a bonded debt of approximately
$10,000,000,
POWDER MEN INDICTED.
Grand Jory Action Follows Ex
plosion at Moraran'a Station, N. J.
New Bntl.vswiCK, N. J., Jan. 11, An
Indictment against officials of the
American Smokeless Powder Company
of Morgan's Station was returned by the
Middlesex county Grand Jury this after
noon. The Indictment charges the com
pany with manufacturing powder ln con
travention of law. It is expected the of
ficials of tho company will appear before
Judge Daly to-morrow to plead.
Clarence Patterson, a witness, waa
held in $1,000 ball to-day to appear
when wanted at the trial.
The Indictment was the result of an
explosion that took place In the works
of the company on December 15, when
Mrs. Nelson Grovcr, wife of the watch
man, who was sleeping on the second
floor of the place, was killed. Her chil
dren were also Injured, but recovered
later In tho Perth Amboy Hospital.
Shells Popping; Rapidly.
"The TNT shells were popping oft
rapidly. I don't know how- many thero
were In tho finishing building, but 1 saw
several carloads Just outside tho door
waiting to be sent to the packing build
ing. I believe i there were about 25,000
tons of high explosives in tho whole
plant. Thero was no shrapnel, for we
stopped making that a little while ago,
but these big sixteen pound TNT shells
sounded worse.
"Thero wero about l,6nn men In tho
tilant. L'p to a few da ago there were
2,500 employed, but then the night shift
of 900 was laid off. I don't know how
many of thc men made their way safely
through the fire to thc gate.
For Southern Golf
RED FLASH
GOLF BALLS
Recessed marking; 31 dwt.
75c each; $9 a dozen
A great ball against the wind.
Approaching and putting qualities unsurpassed.
Sole wholesale national distributor
JOHN WANAMAKER
Broadway at Ninth Street, New York
Shells Hurled Three Miles.
Pieces of shells were picked up' more
than three miles from the plant, A
saloon near Klngsland on the main road
about a mile from tho plant was bom
barded early in the afternoon and the
wnlk caved In. Four Of the porch
pillars were shot clean away. A dozen
curious stories were told of. the accidents
of this aimless bombardment A large
was nobody to tell them that it whs only . bheli fragment tore through the kitchen
FOUNDED -1856 ,
thirty
cleaned with
gasolene and lined with shellac In order
to make tho stulllng or explosive aunere
well to tho Inner shell wall.
It may bo remarked here that the
Canadian Car and Foundry Company,
according to tho statements of Its offi
cials last night, manufactured no shells,
but merely tills them. In other words, It
received almost dally shipments of new
empty sheila and of explosives, and the
limit whs used to nssemblo the explo-
slveH In the shells. This Is considered, of
course, to be the most dangerous part of
the whole munitions business.
McArthur and' his companions were
watching tlio shell cleaners when sparks
from a defeetlvo polishing machine, so
ono ot them' says, flitted souarely Into a
can ot gasolene. Thero waa a flash. One
of the men nervously kicked over the
blazing can. The flame ran like a brook
of flro lo puddles of puwlene upon the
floor, engulfed them, fed Itself, leaded to
tho big tank with Its 2Q0 gallons, and. In
an Instnnt the whole shed was roaring.
At that minute the telephone bell In HO
Jlnplcd Insistently. Tceslfl was on 'the
ETTING in on the
ground floor. Out
showing of Winter
suits and overcoats at
their present moderate
prices typifies maximum
value at minimum cost.
Prevailing conditions in
the wool market indicate
higher prices the tendency is upward,
.but our prices shall remain normal.
BrokawRiothers
1457-1463 BROADWAY
AT FORTY-SECOND STREET
To the New York Public
The present trouble with our drivers, resulting in
their lock-out, is due entirely to the fact that in our
eagerness to get started we employed the wrong
class'of men men who were inspired by other cab
companies that couldn't meet service and the rates
of the Black and White Cab. Now, we are going to start
all over again, and this time on the Chicago basis, the profit
sharing basis, or a commission with salary guaranteed
the basis which has made the Yellow Cab of Chicago cele
brated the world over.
We are going to employ new men whose aole thought will be for
The Black and White Cab Company and its patrons. Owing to the
peculiar working conditions in New York we had to employ New York
taxicab drivers. Now we are going to employ decent, ambitious men,
and see that they earn from $30 to $50 a week, precisely as they do in
Chicago. The fellows who have made the trouble are locked out foT
good. Had they been self-respecting men, eager to earn a living, they
would not have caused this strike. We will educate our own men
now, and make drivers if necessary, so for a few days we will be closed
up to work out our plan, and we ask you to be patient with us.
You aee, don't you, that it ia rather a difficult thing to give you the cab aer
rice you want? But we will fight it out on that line if it take all winter, and the
new men we put on will be educated our way, and they wQl stick to the last ditch.
Thanking you for past patronage and asking your mdolganeevwe remain
The BLACK and WHITE Cab Co.
MmS