Salt Lake Tribune | 1916-08-02 | Page 1 | Drastic Action on New York Disaster

DRASTIC ACTION ON NEW YORKDSSASTER Freight Cars Loaded With High Explosives Excluded From City Limits. NEW YORK, Aug. 1. Drastic action was taken by the city commissioners of Jersey City late today to make impossible impos-sible a recurrence of such a disaster as the fire and explosions on Black Tom island early Sunday morning. By a vote of four to one. the commissioners commis-sioners adopted a resolution ordering the removal and exclusion from the city of freight cars laden with high explosives. This step was taken after it had been found that federal and state authorities were powerless to act under existing laws. The railroads were given forty-eight hours' notice to obey the requirements of the resolution. If they fail to comply com-ply within that time Director of Public Safety Frank Hague, who is chief of the police department, is directed "to use all means within his power and at his command" to enforce the order. Hague announced that if necessary he will arrest ar-rest every railroad official or employee who fails to comply with the terms of the resolution. The order followed the report of detectives, detec-tives, which stated that more than fifty freight cars laden with high explosives remained within the city limits after Sunday's disaster, while a total of 2827 such cars had been transported through the city for shipment abroad during Juno and July. County Prosecutor Hudspeth said his investigation was still in progress, aud that .warrants for the arrest of responsible respon-sible officials of the railroads involved in the explosion might be issued within the next few days. Tho death list was increased to five tonight, when Patrolman James Doherty of Jersey City succumbed to internal injuries in-juries caused by being buried under tons of debris. Representatives John Egan and James Hamel of New Jersey announced this afternoon, at a conclusion of a conference confer-ence of city, county, state aud federal officials about the Black Tom munitions muni-tions explosion, that they would go to Washington tomorrow, accompanied by Mayor Pagan of Jersey City, to demand an embargo on the export of munitions from Atlantic coast ports.