The Hutt Explosion

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 259, 31 March 1914, Page 5

The Hutt Explosion

ANOTHER VICTIM DIES. By Telegraph-i-Prcss Association. ' Wellington, Last Night. Everard Pelling, aged 18, one of tliose injured in the Upper Hutt explosion yesterday morning, died in, the -hospital this afternoon. James Hogan, another of tho3e in the hospital, is still in a. serious condition, and not out of danger, but Virgil McGovem is progressing favorably.

THE CAUSE A MYSTERY. Wellington, Yesterday. The police are making diligent inquiries into the cause of the explosion at the Upper Hutt fire, but so far no light has been thrown on the mysterv. Pelling, one of the injured men, is lying in the hospital iffi'a serious condition, and is still unconscious. MeGove.n is much better, and Hagan is doing fairly well. THE GOVERNOR'S SYMPATHY. Wellington, Yesterday. The Hon. H. D. Bell, Minister for Internal Affairs, has received the following message from- the Governor: — "Please convey her Excellency's and my deepest sympathy with the relatives of those who lost thejr lives' in the disaster at the Upper Hutt.—Liverpool, Gov- . ernor."

. EYE-WITNESSES' NARRATIVES. "OPENED UP LIKE A DOME." We take the following from the Wellington papers:— An old resident of the Hutt, who played an active part in the rescue work, gave his experience to a Times reporter. Noticing smoke issuing from Benge and Pratt's building, he assisted in removing some of the furniture. Together with Mr. Bert. Benge, he had just .removed Borne of the bakehouse plant when suddenly the roof of the building opened up like a dome, and there wa6 a deafening explosion, and the roof collapsed inwards. He got hold of a young fellow named J. Nash, and pushed him into safety in a near-by shed, thus escaping the rain of blazing debris. The fiery column which pierced the murkiness of the sky would have been a magnificent sight were it not so tragic, be said. However, no one .had an eye for the picturesque then, for the excellent reason that they were all momentarily stunned. When he recovered from the shock, he went, outside, and- heard groans and screams which appeared to come from the direction of the remains of the bakehouse. Tying his handkerchief around his eyes and nostrils, the informant endeavored to reach the bakehouse, but was forced back by the heat and smoke.

'•IS THAT MY BOY?" Then, in company with Mr. G. Taylor, he walked round to. the front of tire

building. Suddenly he stumbled across a body lying in the roadway. His companion stopped also, and in a queer voice said: "Is that my boy?" He answered in the negative, 'but Mr. Taylor, stooping down,"recognised by the clothes that it was the body of his son—with his head almost blown off. At this time | great excitement was prevailing in all the surrounding houses owing to the screaming of women, whom the men were endeavoring to pacify. • "WHERE WAS THE HOSE?" "The question which is exercising the minds of some," continued the resident, "is. where was the hose? And why did it take such a long time to be procured* It came in the nick of time, and only for the fact that it arrived when it did, the whole district on the western side of the road Would have been destroyed Also, had there been a tire brigade, it would be certain that Benge and Pratt's place would have been the only building damaged."

MICHAEL TOOHEY'S DEATH. Michael Toohey was found by Walter Gales, porter at tbe Provincial Hotel, who informed a Times reporter that while stamping eut the fire on the balcony of the hotel he stumbled upon the body of a nun who was lying in a pool of blood, with his head frightfully cut about, presumably through being hit by a fragment of wood or iron. Gales called Mr. Crabtree (the licensee of the hotel), who recognised the body as that of Michael Toohey, who had boarded at the hotel for eighteen mouths and had just returned that afternoon from a holiday visit to Auckland. "SEND FOR THE 'PRIEST." Mr. J. Twohill, tlio engine-driver of the train from Wellington which arrived at Upper Hutt about the time the lire started, was another who gave his version of the tragedy to the Times' representative. He stated that the lire had just got a start when he arrived, and looked no more serious than a chimney blaze at the bach of Heuge's. He ran up the road calling out, "Fire! Five!" Together with one oxtw,o other

men and Constable Mahoney, he gave a hand at clearing Mr. Edward's office, situated in Benge and Pratt's building. As the place was old., the fire soon obtained a good hold. He expressed himself as being extremely fortunate in get' ting out of the way in time to save himself from injury, as the whole building burst upwards and outwards. No one could approach the lire until the water from the main was got to play. Then four or five men with wet towels around their heads went in and got Mr. Comcskey out. He was evidently in terrible pain, and was groaning. Someone said: '■Send for the priest." As it happened. Father Daly was at Kaitoke, and by the lime a messenger was sent up on a motor-bicycle and relumed, all hope was past.

For a time there was great confusion. Mainly owing io tlic concussion ef the explosion many of the woincut were prostrated with fright, ami the men had to attend to them. Another cause of their alarm was that no one knew exactly who was, or who was not, injured. A FEARFUL EXPLOSION'.

When the explosion occurred, several men (Messrs E. (1. Thomas. P. Ntott, W. Wilkinson and Collett) were standing at. or very near Messrs l.cnge and Pratt's shop door. Thev were hurled across the street and lay where they fell, as one eye-witness expressed it, "rolling and rocking." They were dazed, and it was minutes before thev realised what lmil happened. Mr. Thomas wa.s struck in the back by a bit of iron or something of the kind. He has only a vague notion of his progress across the street. "1 simply Hew," he dechircd. The elVcct of the explosion upon the building in which it occurred was to crumple it up. Within a few minutes the place was a collapsed mass of blazing ruins. A striking indication of the force of the explosion is to be found in the fact

that a piece of wood from the blown-np building 'was drivim through a window of the. house occupied by Sir.. Jacob George, which stands about a qnarter of a mile away southward from the scene of the explosion. Several women, who were standing on the road or running to the fire when t.lie explosion occurred, were ertliev thrown to the ground or hurled a little distance in the air. "WHEN THE PCWDER GOES OFF. - ' WHAT A BOY SAID. It is alleged that a boy named Alocrt Cooper, employ oil in the store by Messrs IScnge and Pratt, said he knew of the presence..of explosives in the building, and spoke about it to witnesses. The police, are in possession of evidence to the effect that the boy Cooper, speaking licforc the explosion occurred to i. number of women who were gathered under a shop verandah, said: "There will be a line scatter when the powder goes off.'' One of the women asked, "Is there powder there?" and Cooper, it is stated, replied, "Yes, there is a barrel." Mr. Samuel Hill, the Govern Valuer (who is well known in the New Plymouth district, where he way t!o----vernment Valuer), who had been valuing lands in the Mangaroa district, was also lucky in not being seriously injured. He was staying at the Provincial Hotel and went downstairs to get some papers. He went, to his drawer, nml tne next in stant the papers were blown in all dircc tions. while broken glass fell thicklj around him. He was considerablj shaken, but otherwise was uninjured.