Show EXPLOSION CAUS E 6 LOSS OF MILLIONS I KILLED D SCORES INJURED AND SEVERAL SMALL TOWNS ARE WIPED OUT ammunition km awaiting the allies and stored on island in new york bay destroyed either intentionally or by accident newyork new york property loss estimated it was caused early sun lay jay by a series of terrific explosions df ammunition awaiting shipment to the entente allies and stored on black tom rom island a small strip of land jutting into new york bay off jersey city three are known to be dead and at least five are missing scores of persons were injured some of them probably mortally the detonations deto nations which were felt in rive five states began with a continuous rapid fire of small shells the blowing up tip of great quantities of dynamite tri nitro and other high explosives followed by the bursting of thousands of shrapnel shells which literally showered the surrounding country and water for many miles around fire that started soon after the farst great crash which spread death and desolation in its wake destroyed thirteen of the huge warehouses of tile the national storage company on black tom island in which was stored merchandise valued between and the cause of the disaster had bad not been determined officials of the national storage company and the lehigh valley railroad which also suffered heavily through loss of property declared however that reports to them showed a fire started shortly after I 1 sunday morning on a barge belonging to an independent towing company that had been moored alongside a dock used by the railroad company to transfer ammunition shipments from trains to vessels in the harbor the barge it was said was there without authority of either the railroad or the storage company edmund L mackenzie president of the national storage company declared that the plant of his concern was valued at while the contents of the warehouses probably were worth several officials and employees of the storage company have been arrested accused of having illegally permitted explosives to be stored where human life was endangered every window in the pedestal of the statue of liberty on beddoes island opposite black tom was broken and the main door made made of iron and weighing almost a ton was blown off its hinges the statue itself however was not damaged except from the rain of shrapnel which be spattered it il |