REALISTIC
ACCOUNT
Tells of Scenes Follow
ing Explosion In
Wall Street.
The following, a realistic account of
some of the scenes following the bomb
explosion in Wall street last Septem
ber, was written by Clifford Way a
cousin of 'Mrs.- W. F. Green, of this
place, to his mother in Elmira, N. Y.: .
Friday Evening, Sept. 17, 1920.
Dear Motherr.
I am all right, and no one seriously
hurt in our office, but I hope I shall*
never see such a day again as was yes
terday.
“I could write all night of what
happened around us, but will tell
briefly my impression Ai 12:01 p. in.
I was sitting at mv desk, when |there
wus a flash in the street, and with a
terrible crash, sharp and snappy, with
no rumble, followed bv the crash of
tons of glass into the street from the
first to the twenty-fifth floors of the
surrounding buildings. The street was
foil of smoke and dust, and at tirsi I
thought the building opposite had
fallen into the street and ouis would
collapse next. The deluge of glass
lasted perhaps a half minute, then ab
solute silence for peunaps a quarter of
a- minute, and then from the street
earne the- most heartrending screams*
groans and wailing. This more than
anything unnerved me.. Our whole
glass front was blown in, and I think
every window in front of our building
was broken. We all looked around in
3 id a zed sort of way to see if any of us
were killed, and then quietly picked
up all the stocks, bonds, cash and
papers and put them in vault and
closed the door. By this time men and
women came rushing into our hall and
banking room, with two-thirds of them
dripping with blood, and we turned in
to help. We put women in the board
room and men downstairs and on the
third floor; took care of perhaps thirty
or forty. Our banking room floor was
covered with blood* as was stairs and
lavatory.. Th8 wash room looked like
a slaughter house, floor literally slip
ping with blood. One poor fellow, ter
ribly burned, . bis clothing on fire,
hands and face-terribly lacerated, came
in with help. We got him into an am
bulance, but he died at the- hospital.
Another man in about the same condi
tion we took to our third floor. He was
a Mr. White, who wasour stationer for
years and-known-to most of us in the
office, but hie-oldest friends did not
know him. - He diad in the hospital
today.
■‘I did not go into the street' farther
than the doorway until later in the
day, as we had plenty to do inside. But
the view from our window and front J
door I shall never forget. Perhaps
twenty-fivo or thirty bodies dead,.dying
or unconscious, lying on walks and in
street, overturned automobiles, a dead
horse, wreckage in every direction.
Then the entire street was two or three
inchss deep with broken glass, small
pieces mostly, down to powder. Saw
one man with all his clothes blown off
except trousers, apparently blinded,
gropiug his way along the walk. He
was so burned on one side I thought he
was a negro as first, but bis back
showed me he was a white man.
‘‘The firemen came first, followed by
police reserves and then the regulars
from Governor Island, and I will say
they handled things beautifully. Am
bulance^ from all lower New York
Cnme down,, and dyad and dying were
loaded in and driven away. >Jany piL
vate automobiles were used as ambu
lances. I think I saw as many as IS
bodies loaded and driven away, mostly
dead, for they were covered over with
newspapers, towels, burlap, curtains,
etc., anything handy. A great many
physicians besides the ambulance men
rendered fine service. The newspaper
reporters would work in helping the
wounded. Later, photographers and
moving picture operators were in evi
dence. .
“We were all greatly puzzled as to
what really happened. Some said a
boiler explosion in J. P. Morgan &
Go.’s. Some said a truck of dynamite
for a building near by had blown up.
We got our first clue when a police
inspector came in and asked to use a
telephone. I put him at my desk and
he got headquarters at once, although
the service was partly out of commis
sion. He ordered a lot more reservas
and the best photographers they had.
1 then asked him what he thought of
it, aud I was surprised when he told
ms in all frankness that it was un
doubtedly a bomb of T.N.T., driven up
to the curb in a wagon or Ford car, and
timed to go off at noon. This was his
dope at 12:30, and he had looked over
the ground thoroughly, amd I guess be
got it Dearly correct.. S-was very much
surprised that be would- venture any
opinion tb ms, a-stranger.
“-Now-1 have set. dowD. briefly^ what
occurred’ around our place. The de
scriptions in the papers are very cor
rect, and Dot overdrawn.. Pictures in
papers were, of course, taken after the
real excitement at the start was past. I
was impressed with what gravity most
people acted. Saw only one woman
who was hysterical and’carried od. I
have the highest praise for firemen,
police, troops, newspaper men, ambu
lance doctors, physicians. The situation
was handled admirably.
“Today the street is entirely clean,
glass all removed, glaziers at work,
crowds of sightseers (all automobiles
barred) from curb to curb, all day,
kept moving by police, no loitering al
lowed, and everybody nervous and on
edge. All business stopped in Wall
Street yesterday.
“Several in the office werec uts light
ly with glass. You have no idea how
our offica looked, glass everywhere,
and quantities of soot blown down the
chimneys and out in the room through
the open fireplaces, bushels of it. The
most remarkable escape was that of
Mr. Stewart, chairman of the Board,
97 yeers old. He sat four feet from the
front window, four thicknesses of platfc
glass, 10x12 feet. This was blown in
on him where he sat. and we could not
find that he had even been scratched.
He calmly got up and walkad back
some 16 feat and took a chair amid the
wreckage. His desk was piled three
inches with small pieces of glass, and
the rug was entirely covered. I should
say there was more thau 100 pounds of
it on his desk and rug. Mr. Kingsley,s
desk was covered with glass, but he
was not hurt. Mr. Sheldon, the presi
dent, was away. Ais desk is ail gouged
and chipped. It was lucky he was
away. Willard.”
Owen Gray left Sunday for Iditarod,
to be gone for several days.
Chris Nelson left Sunday for Nixon.
Notice of Forfeiture.
To Arnold Hals, Hans Sorensen, P.
Olson, C. Hansen, G. Kooniz, F. E.
Levy, James Hansen, P. Cristensen,
John Grifiin, Fred Vogelsang, their
heirs, executors and assigns:
You and each of you are hereby noti
fied thatduring the years 1310.1911.1912,
1913, 1914, 1915, 1910, 1920. I expended
the sum of ($100.00; One Hundred Dol
lars upon your interests in the Nugget
Association and the North Pole Asso
ciation. situated on Yankee creek, in
the Inoka Hecording Precinct. Terri
tory of Alaska, in order to hold said
claims under the provision of Section
2324 of the Revised Statutes of the
United States, and the amendments
thereto concerning amnual labor upon
mining claims, being the amount re
quired to hold said mining claimsfor the
period ending December 31, 1916, 1920,
and if within ninety days after the pub
lication of this notice you fail or refuse
to contribute your proportion of said
expenditures, as well as the cost of
recording and publicatihn of this
notice, as co-owners, your inter
ests in said claims will become the
property of the undersigned, your co
owner, who has made the required ex
pend iturs under ihe terms of said sec
tion of the Revised Statutes of the
United States.
John A. Olson.
First publication, February 2, 1921.
Last publication, May 4, 1921.
THE KUSKO TIMES
Twice a Week :: Wednesday and Saturday
Two Dollars Per Month
UNION CONSTRUCTION CO
SHIPYARDS :
14th St.,. Oakland.
MINING DEPARTMENT:
604 Mission St., San Franciseo
■
Dredges Drills Concentrators
Mining Machinery of All Kinds. Assaying.
Union Gasoline Drills of various types now universally used for ground up to one hundred
feet in depth. Arranged for transportation by dog team or pack animals.
Send for Catalogue.
«