| Show from reynolds newspaper AWFUL EXPLOSION OF TWO POWDER MILLS NEAR ERITH at a quarter to seven yesterday morning the two powder mills af hall and sons at low wood belvedere rent kent exploded with it is feared a loss of finny fifty lives ani ana and immense damage to property within a radius of seven miles at the time named three successive explosions occurred completely demolishing the two milis mills and three houses near the bricks and machinery were thrown a distance of a mile while portions of buildings in erith Bea bendenfield denfield and belvedere were shaken down and there is scarcely a bound sound pane of glass to bo be found within a radius of four miles at plumstead and woolwich shop windows were shaken out and the goods thrown into the street at these places the scene was indescribable those in the streets were shaken staggered and several fell whilst those asleep asleep were thrown almost out of bed after the first impulse of an earthquake had subsided it became current that a terrific explosion had occurred burred in the arsenal where people were at work the people employed there on feeling the shock became uncontrollable able and ana rushed out oui in the air whilst thousands from the town be the arsenal gates women and children shrieking in ex expectation pec bec tation of relatives killed the excitement being only increased increased by several men being brought out bleeding who had been hurt by broken glass falling ac in about ten minutes after the shock the excitement was allayed by the invoices and other papers of rall hall hali and sons dropping in the arsenal showing that the explosion was neither in the arsenal nor at the government powder maga zine plumstead marshes A large detachment tach ment of arsenal and the town police were at once to halls powder mills and on arriving 1 and rendering assistance they thep found nineteen lulled missing and wounded twelve wounded were conveyed by train to guys hospital where it is is feared several will die the dead including mr rayner the foreman thomas hubbard in ae the employ of mr cavey contractor elizabeth wright a young woman daughter of a man employed on the premises and others were conveyed home four men and a boy in two powder barges alongside the mills in the river thames are missing the barges and the occupants disappearing with the explosion being undoubtedly sunk it is also feared several others are buried burled in the debris two human legs and portion of a skull being picked VO eked up at distances varying from loo to yards and for which no owners are found amongst those most seriously injured is the daughter of mr walter silver the manager manage whose house is blown down mrs york Y ork and two children and a girl named elizabeth i osborn daughter of a man employed and living on the tiie premises whose cottage was also blown down mr rayner and son wife ife and son of the foreman killed are also in a precarious position the southern outfall works point had a narrow escape of being blown down and are somewhat injured on hearing of the catastrophe mr webster sent his men to the assistance of the wounded the damage by the explosion including the demolition of the low wood wood powder mills and premises and mills adjacent is not less than audit is doubted whether a million will cover the total damage including the thousands upon thousands of squares of glass destroyed in erith belvedere plumstead woolwich charlton chariton eltham shooters hill blackheath Black heath ac the shock was distinctly felt at london logdon bridge and the fright to persons persona in delicate health henith has been most disastrous the damage by broken windows ac in the rayal arsenal dockyard dock yard arti artl artillery fiery flery aedma and marine barracks and other government establishments is very large the southeastern railway company having also experienced considerable loss by damage done to their stations on the north rent kent line it is computed compute d that barrels of gunpowder exploded and the smoke did not subside for half an hour the embankment of the river thames was blown down and the most earnest and strenuous exertions were made to repair it before high water THE tre SHOCK IN 11 THE metropolis no rous some idea of the force of the sion bion maybe may be gleaned from the fact that the shock was distinctly felt in every quarter of the metropolis i and its suburbs causing the utmost consternation c onster nation it being the general opinion it was the shock of an earthquake in esbine some places women and children rushed from their houses hundreds hun ureda of homes houses being more ore or less damaged from careful inquiries made the following information has been collected but does not represent one iota of the damage which was done even at the distance of twenty miles in the neighborhood of newington Cam camberwell berwell dulwich bulwich Dul peckham ham sydenham ac the shock was felt with tremendous violence in the walworth road at sutherland chapel a large number of the windows were shivered and at a shop in the same game t thoroughfare he ro uehl r ethe the shutters were hurled d down 0 wn into nto th the road roadway the plate late glass front at the same time split spilt splitting splitting ring in all directions in the streets in the vicinity of kennington park the people rushed into the streets from their beds and the utmost consternation prevailed the windows of the houses were in many places shattered and many describe the shock as of that violence that heavy articles of furniture were rocked about at a large buil bull building dink in the wal worth road the brick work was found tobe to be split spilt up randsome and some men going to work describe the shock as something terrible lasting several minutes as though the ground up heaved infrank in fran cis street newington a gentleman describes the effect as truly alarming the doors of his house being dashed open locks and bolts being torn away at at other dwellings the result was the same in the lucas lueas road rodd I 1 walworth I 1 the house no 22 was so shaken that part of the roof was displaced and tle tie the furniture in a back bedroom moved from its position in kennington road and kennington lane the windows in several houses were shattered in the neighborhood of norwood some houses in course of construction were so injured tired by the shocks that they will have to be shored up io to prevent them falling and in the norwood lane iane some newly i erected stabling was so shaken that fears are entertained of its giving way the inhabitants of clapham and wands worth also felt the terrible con concussion cassion many persons persons stating that it resemble resembled 4 an earthquake one man states that it seemed as lie he passed over the common to roll along and shake the ground beneath his feet the effect of the explosion was felt at the crystal palace and surrounding neighborhood at the house of mr simkins tailor of new church road southam southampton ton street camberwell Cam berwell two young ch children illien belonging to a lodger were literally tilted out of bed and annd the building 9 itself much shaken mr D smith boot ma ker of edward street road states that he was stan standing dink in his passage when he was seized with a sensation as if he was about to be suffocated and believed at the moment that the house was about to fall in the same neighborhood at the woodyard wood yard of mr H fielder a large barge stock of timber was thrown down and a portion fell upon the roof of a small house adjoining it and dashed in the roof fortunately although several persons dersons er sons were in the house no one was injured with the exception of a little boy who was asleep in the top room and was somewhat severely bruised about the head and face A somewhat singular incident occurred at the house of a poor man named hughes living in locks I 1 fields it seems that he was warming some coffee for his breakfast when the stone mantle mantie peee pece was broken to pieces part of which fell upon his head and inflicted a somewhat severe wound the man states that when the shock took place and before the stonework struck him he felt unable to move from the strange feeling which came over him |
