| Show Death and Destruction Scattered In Pittsburg By Gas Tank Explosion I All Hospitals Jammed and Firemen Pull Bodies From Debris After Fearful Blast in Lower North Side Dis- Dis District District Which Spreads Horror Over Area Mile Square PITTSBURG Nov By 14 The Associated TwentY Press one persons were known to have met death and more than boo were injured some seriously here today when a a. giant natural gas storage tank at the Manchester works of the Equitable company exploded spreading death and destruction over a north side area one mile square Firemen police and volunteer rescuers were digging into the ruins of scores of buildings in the belief that others had been killed and their bodies b buried in the debris that the death toll would Increase was found In one wrecked building the alone plant of the Pittsburg Clay Pottery com com- compan company pany pan One hundred and fifty men escaped from the building with cuts and bruises braises while eight or ten otheus trapped In the basement were believed to have han been dro drowned droned ned by water rushing In from Irom broken mains in the street streeL Firemen were ere pumping out the basement In an effort to located additional bodies SEARCH DEBRIS FOR VICTIMS Meantime hundreds of firemen and rescuers were digging into other piles of debris searching for victims a shock like that bt bf an earthquake the huge tank containing several million cubic feet of gas was rent asunder It was believed that the blast was caused by workmen who were repairing the tank with acetylene torches George Rowland safety department representative of the Equitable com company pan expressed the belief that gas leaking from ono one tank lank Into another supposedly empty tank upon which workmen were making some repairs caused the disaster Twelve men and a foreman were using acetylene torches to make the repairs when the blast occurred he said lIe Ile thought that gas from the tilled filed tank leaked to the other con con- container talner and was ignited by the torches SEVERAL WORKMEN ARE MISSING A checkup of workmen known to have been near by when the tank let go showed more than a score missing Of the Conley Liter company men at work on the tank at the time eleven were ere unaccounted for In the city asphalt works near by br a dozen employee were listed as missing Rescue workers expressed the belief that some of these men stricken with tear fear escaped from the district and failed to report they were safe Hampered In the work of rescue by wrecked buildings streets flooded from broken water mains and dangling electric wires police and firemen finally l penetrated ted a part of the devastated area They recovered reco seven bodies bodies' within a few minutes and newspapermen at ath atthe the h scene f Sad ld they had counted at least at-least s lel twenty de dead a In In the tho streets and the wrecked houses The tank containing cubic feet of natural gas as let loose with a terrific blast Practically every ery building In the immediate vicinity vi- vi vicinity was wrecked and and over a wide area were shattered Including some la in downtown department stores and office t tures ures BALL OF FIRE ASCENDS When the tank burst a ball of fire higher thau the adjacent tip of Mount Washington shot Into the air spreading out In a fan fan- shape Firemen and police volunteer workers expressed the belief that scores of persons in their homes and In factories of the region had been heen trap trapped ed when the tho buildings collapsed d. d The scene or of tine the disaster was as one of wild confusion Residents of the thickly settled district rushed about the the- streets as It mad madWomen Women so sought their children while men delved Into the debris of their homes In an effort to bring out some loved one they believed trapped there The force of the blast ripped down do all telephone and light wires knocked over poles and caused housEs housE's to collapse Streets in the Ill fated region bulged breaking sewer sewer and water pipes EVERY HOSPITAL IS JAMMED Every policeman In the tho city was ordered to duty They roped off nn an area one mile square to keep back the thousands who rushed to the scene Private automobiles and trucks were commandeered to take Injured to hospitals and within vi thin a short time every hospital In Inthe inthe the city was jammed and the firemen were forced to set up Ul emergency cy C first aid stations at the scene The first eleven cleven bodies taken to the morgue were workmen Pieces of the tank steel stel supports some weighing more than pounds pound were vere found a mile from the scene A street car three blocks from the tank was wrecked and every passenger aboard was hurt Many school children in a nearby school were cut by flying glass when the windows in the structure were shattered It was estimated by hospital officials that between and were injured some seriously The hospital of the elt city were taxed to capacity Many of the Injured staggered to the Presbyterian n nand and Allegheny general hospitals and at the latter institution so many of the the victims walked in that the steps leadIng to the main door were spattered with blood Most or of the Injured had been cut and hurt by flying glass and debris INVESTIGATION IS BEGUN The gas works on street north side was said to em em- employ ploy more than three hundred men but just how man many of these were at work at the time Ume was not known Coroner W. W G G. McGree for Allegheny county Fire Chief R R. L L. Smith for the city of Pittsburg and officials of the Philadelphia company com com- company pany of which the Equitable company Is a subsidiary Immediately launched investigations iD of the fatal blast In some Instances where factories did not collapse all were hurt This was true trU 3 of the Pittsburg Ir Iron n Red Bed company where the entire personnel or of 50 men needed hospital attention Entire families fam fam- HIes fathers mol mothers hers and children residents of the district who escaped death were removed to hospitals some very badly hurt Some of the larger plants wrecked Included the UnIon Paint com com- company pany th Standard Plate Class Glass Glass' company warehouse and the Warren Rooting company company- Begrimed firemen working withIn the radius through which the explosion shot death and anel destruction said words would not describe the scene They were fighting their way ny through the debris choked streets aided by volunteer rescue workers but their progress was slow They were menaced by tottering walls ails dangling wires and flooded streetS streetS' BABY BOY PICKED UP Here and there thero the firemen halted baited to pick up an Injured victim At one p point they stumbled upon an Infant baby boy lie He was rushed to a hospital Another little fellow cut b by flying debris toM told the fire firemen men he was Jack Smith aged 4 years but he didn't know where he lived He was sent to a hospital I When rescuers reached a point near the tank they found that the large factory building occupied by the Union Paint company had caved In trapping nil all the workers in the plant Hero Here a number of dead were dug from Irom the debris An additional victim was added to the death list when George died of Injuries In Allegheny hospital Among the Injured at one hospital was Mrs T T. J. J Mullen and her old months twin sons James and William Several hours bourl after the blast occurred rescuers were finding It hard to get Into the center of tho wrecked district In the midst of the section was the city asphalt plant and here it was reported 15 had been killed or Injured The plant across the street from Irom the tho tank was a a. total wreck UNDERTAKERS CALL FOR HELP Even pedestrians on downtown streets did not escape the blast Many persons persona were cut by glass when large department store wIn wIndows dews dows were wele shattered The Joseph Horne department store warehouse near the tank was crushed like an eggshell by the force lorce of the blast With eleven bodies at the morgue the regular unde undertakers akers were Continued on Pare Page Two To Death and an Destruction Scattered In Pittsburg By Gas T Tank auk Explosion Continued From Page Pace One forced to summon outside aid A number of morticians from private undertaking houses were put to work while others were held In re re- reserve reserve re- re reserve serve to handle additional bodies as they were recovered from the ruins The death list continued to grow TV when ben two other victims C. C M M. Michels and a Mrs Marty succumbed to their injuries in hospitals A vivid description of ot the explosion was given by Fire Chief Richard L. L Smith who was driving his automobile over the Manchester ter bridge at the Junction of ot the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers In full view of the blast when it let go EXPLOSION DESCRIBED BY CHIEF The great steel tank rose hundreds ot of feet teet into the tho air like a areat great reat balloon He said It remained intact for an Instant and then hurst burst like a great fireworks tire works bomb As it let go with a terrific roar tho the hundreds ot of tons ot of steel went hurtling through the air as so much pasteboard and then crashes of ot buildings and glass filled the theair air Chief Smith was the first of ot a hundred city cHr state and county of of- officials officials to reach the scene |
