| Show i HEADLINE HUNTER ETITh 69 Thunder in m the Air By FLOYD GIBBONS S p UP and meet William Dill of Newark N. N J. J Bills Bill's got a arn 0 to tell us today and if it doesn't make him a Double Distinguished Adventurer with an order of blood and thunder on the side then Ill I'll be a Chinaman and so will my brother Ed It was during the early days of the World war war the the fall of 1916 to be exact exact and and Bill Dill was working in a place where trouble was in the air and danger perched on his shoulder every minute of the day He was a foreman Coreman in a munitions plant located In the Bush Terminal building in Brooklyn and In those days dars mysterious accidents accidents accidents ac ac- ac- ac were happening in munitions plants all over the country The big Black Tom explosion had occurred in July of that same year and md people said that German spies and agents had been responsible responsible responsible re re- re- re for It The United Slates States was expected to take a hand in inthe inthe the war any minute Germans were being watched closely by government government govern govern- ment detectives Munitions Factory Does a Shimmy German boats were being confiscated and all factories turning out war material for the Allies were swarming with guards watching for evidence of dirty work at the crossroads But just the same accidents accidents accidents acci dents and mysterious explosions were happening all over the country No one knew where trouble was going to o strike next It was almost nine o'clock on a chill September evening The plant was working 24 hours a day and the men were comIng comIng coming com com- ing back to o work after the supper hour Bill Dill was in the glass enclosed office checking cher over reports Everything seemed to be going nicely when suddenly the floor gave a lurch a terrific roar filled the air and glass began flying from Crom every direction The first thought Bill had was one of surprise to find that he was still sitting in n his chair He was cut in half hal a dozen places about the face and arms by bits of flying glass but otherwise he seemed to be ber r Bill Got to the Switch and Snapped It Off Oft unhurt He looked out over the floor of the plant For a second or two everyone stood still Then all at once they began a mad screaming rush for the exits Bill dashed out of the office shouting to the men to stay where they were At the door stood a guard his jarms arms outstretched trying to still the fears of the stricken panic-stricken workers The men stopped for a second and Bill thought they had calmed down But at the crucial moment moment moment mo mo- ment a new menace threw them into a second frenzy of fear Smoke A heavy black pall of it was issuing from the direction of the sand sandblast sandblast sandblast blast room t There Was Sabotage in In the Sand Blast Room Nothing could stop those frightened men then They stampeded for forthe forthe forthe the doors Bill was knocked over on a tray full of shrapnel shells A guard tripped over a fellow carrying two pails full of oil and both of them went down while oil ran all over them and over the floor Bill scrambled to his feet and ran toward the sand blast room room He had a pretty good idea of what had happened There were two giant compressors compressors compressors com com- in there that stored air in great tanks five feet wide and and eight feet high Someone had been tampering with those compressors and one of the tanks exploded Bill had bad gone about three steps In the direction of the tho sand sandblast sandblast sandblast blast room when suddenly the lights went out At the same time several lesser explosions rocked the building and a dull red red glare lit up the great room as great tongues of flame licked out across the floor At the first flash of light Bill stumbled through the door to the sand blast room and saw the body of the blast operator stretched out on the floor But Bill didn't stop to pick up the blast operator Suddenly he was Vas feeling weak and he knew that big explosion had hurt him more than he first suspected While he still h had d his strength he had to shut off the compressors which were still pumping air into the second still unexploded tank How Bill Saved the Day for Bush Terminal The smoke was so thick that Bill was gasping to get his breath The acrid fumes s drawn deep into his lungs scared seared and burned them His Ins eyes smarted His knees buckled beneath him Wm Flames were shootIng shooting shooting shoot- shoot Ing up all around him He had just about enough strength to reach the power switch and turn off the compressors How he was going to get out of that swept flame-swept room he didn't know He wasn't even thinking of that First of all the compressors had to be turned off Bill got to the switch and snapped it off oft Then st suffocated and exhausted he sank in a heap on the floor while tongues of flame lapped around him coming closer and closer with every second A black curtain descended over his eyes Bill fainted fa He came to to find some one bending over him holding a bottle of smelling salts to fo his nose He asked about the sand blast operator and was told that hed he'd been taken to a hospital In the sand blast room the company's firemen were getting the blaze under control All AU was well wellin wellin wellin in Bush Terminal But the accident was not without Its effect ct We discovered says Bill that the explosion had been caused by someone someone someone some some- one who tampered with the pass by-pass safety valves and the next night more than half hal my force refused to return to work Fear and panic had done their jobs only too well o Service |
