TERM IN NEW YORK

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2838, 1 August 1916, Page 5

TERM IN NEW YORK

APPALLING DISASTER GREAT SHIPMENTS OF EXPLOSIVES FIRED ; : HEAVY DEATH ROLL ', Anstralian-IJew Zealand Cable Association. fßcuter's Telegram.) ; New York", inly 31. A disastrous fire and explosions which ' ocownod on tho New York: waterfront early yesterday morning destroyed an enormous quantity of war munitions about to. be shipped for the Allies. The! 1 ' • explosions .which; resulted not only killed a number of people, but did extensive damage in the neighbourhood. One es'timate .places the total damage as liigh as i£15,U00,000. The death-roll is .variously estimated up to 800, and a great number, of people'wcro injured. The oonsternhtion following upon the disaster, and tho interruption of means of communication, have made it difficult for a connected story to' be compiled. It is believed that a fire broko out in . the National Storage Building, which .was used as a munitions factory, and it spread to a car-load of dynamite, and thence to other cars loaded with explosives, and to'.barges similarly loaded, in the river. The outbroak occurred ", about 2 a.m.,- and a series of about twenty explosions occurred, lasting till 6 o'clock. ,' , After the first alarm all-the police on "special duty and' all tho firemen and .. ■ ambulances were called out. Tho polico checked the panic, in the. crowds; but .in the mad stampede in the streets ■many were trodden down. Thousands who wore taking 6upper. and dancing in the Broadway cabarets rushed into the ■■_ streets shrieking with terror. Many ran ' into subways, with 1 the result that passages were : jammed with people. At the first explosion the Woolworth building and other skyscrapers showed ■up against the sky, intermittently lit up by the awful glare. The National Storage Company's : property is situated neat the Loliigh Valley . \- Railway Terminus, near Commnnipaw (in the southern part of Jersey City, across the Hudson Eiver from' tho.lower end of Manhattan' Island). Soven companies' warehouses in the; neighbourhood were wrecked. The Standard Oil. Company's works are close by, and the firemen had. '■: • a tremendous battle toprevent the flames reaching them. Some were actually set on fire, and'added enormously to the conflagration. ; The Lehigh Valley railway terminal is one of the'main points from which munitions for the Allies aro shipped. Terrific Explosions. • The explosions were of terrific violence, and were heard in. five States. They Shattered windows over a very large area in the "downtown" region; and the blaze of the conflagration lit up tho sky brilliantly. . Street after street resembled a sea of broken glass. ' After the.first ; explosion the firemen were attacking the conflagration at the National Building, when the second explosion Eappened, i . half an "hour. laterl The fire-fighters ■ were hurled in all , directions, and .. thirty-three were reported to'have been killed.. Al the warehouses in the vicin- , ity were wreoked. Atogether, it was stated, more than : six hundred tons of : exposives, all intended for the Allies, blew up. Fourteen Barges'loaded with Sigh explosives were berthed at a wharf to which, the fire spread, and blew 1 up,, making, a tremendouß pillar of Ire. '■' ■, Some of the blazing barges drifted' down the river towards Ellis Island, the immigration clearing; station, where many ) immigrants were living. The barges ran ashore,.and blew,-up, creating the greatest consternation. The authorities call- '. Ed up ferry steamers, and- rushed the immigrants to the city. The damage done at Ellis Island alone by the explosions of the barges is estimated at .£200,000. People Hurled Out of Bed. The scenes in New York and Brooklyn were unprecedented. . Such was the force of the first explosion that hundreds of people in alljjarts of Brooklyn, Manhattan, and the Bronx were hurled out of their beds, v People by thousands rushed out. of their apartments and hotels in their, night-clothes, and ran screaming through the streets. The breaking of telephone and telegraph communication made it impossible for information as to what had happened to be spread, and this added to tho ter- \ Tor and confusion of the people. The police trie'd to guard the jewellers' windows, but muoh looting occurred. The glass from the smashed windows . everywhere: showered into the streets, and many people were injured. Numbers were taken to the hospitals. It is feared that at .the scene of the catas-' trophe many, bodies are buried in the debris. It is known that a number of ■ workmen were blown to atoms.. The newspapers' estimates of the dead vary from 60 to 3000, whilo there are' hundreds missing and injured. An estimate of the total'damage is impossible. . The damage to the national plant alone is said to exceed a million sterling. Exciting Scone at the Liberty Statue. . Unopened boxes of shrapnel fell on the sT;eps of. tho Statue of Liberty. There was tremendous excitement as a burning barge floated_towards the statue nnd the adjacent" snipping. The firoboat crews, at great risk, pushed tho barge towards midstream till she had burned to tho water's edge. • Tho fires raged for five hours, but have now been quolled. The authorities have directed an .inquiry as to the cause. One report suggests that acid was used, and points out that this was one of tho largest shipments for the Allies. THE BOMB OUTRAGE IN SAN • / ,' FRANCISCO. San Francisco, July 31. Thomas Mooney, a Labour agitator, and his wife, have been arrested in connection with, the recent bomb outrage, these making eight arrests concerning the affair, CtftAFT SCANDALS IN CANADA - CHARGE AGAINST STATE MINISTERS. , . • (Router's Teleerram.) ] ■ ■ Winnipeg, July 30. ' Great' interest is being taken in the trial of Roblin, d former Premier of Manitoba, and othor Cabinet Ministers, who aro charged with tho' theft of one and a half million dollars in connection with the erection of the new Parliament Buildings. Mr. Horwood, Government Arohiloot, testified that he was asked to add fifty thousand dollars to his estimates for one wing, to provide a campaign: fund. TOWNS DESTROYED BY BUSH FIRES CONFLAGRATION IN CANADA. '! ■ CReutcr's Telegram.) (Rec. July 31, 10.30 p.m.) Ottawa, July 30. , Bush fires havo burned tho towns of Cochrane and Matheson, in' the Northern Ontario. Ono hundred people wero killed and many injured. , . ' J. P. MORGAN'S MILLIONS APPRAISEMENT OF HIS ESTATE. iAustralian-New Zcal.and Cable Association. New York, July 30. Mr._.Pierpont Morgan's estate has been appraised at fifteen million pounds, which ia five million less than supposed. His -Horary and art collection is valued at ■Ira ,*iiDanos.