The Laurens Advertiser

Fragments of Human Bodies Picked Up Half a Mile from the Scene.

Barlow, N. Y., September 30.—A terrific explosion occurred at the Ditmar Powder Works at Baychester, on the Harlem river branch of the New York and New Haven railroad, about 10 o'clock this morning, resulting in the instant death of four men employed in the factory. The explosion occurred in the packing house, a one-story frame building 20x30 feet, in the center of the grounds and about two hundred yards from the main factory, a large building near the water, where the bulk of the giant powder and nitro-glycerine used in the aqueduct works is manufactured.

The men were hard at work putting up and packing cartridges, when suddenly an explosion occurred, shattering the building to splinters and blowing four men to fragments. The exploding powder, of which there was a large quantity, shot up in the air to a height of fifty feet, and the splinters of the building were blown a mile away. The names of the victims were Ernest Dralen, John Rusch, Max Shafboit and Reinbart. Nothing was left of them except fragments of their bodies. Hands, feet, legs, arms, pieces of skulls, backbones and charred bits of flesh were scattered in every direction from 500 to 600 feet from the packing house.

Max Crager, foreman of the works, says the explosion was caused by two men shooting into the building. He was in the packing house, and on going out saw two men who said they were shooting at squirrels. He says he threatened them with arrest, and they became impudent. As the explosion occurred the men were seen hurrying away.

R. H. Stansfield, Superintendent of the Theorite Powder Company near by, picked up a box full of fragments of the dead men. A number of others assisted in the work, and the remains were all put in a heap to await the action of the Coroner. One man had a family in Germany, and the others were said to be single. Their clothing was burned to shreds.

The main factory of the Ditmar works was nearly wrecked, one of the buildings being blown to pieces, exposing the interior. After the explosion the lower timbers of the building took fire and burned fiercely. A large tree near by was torn up by the roots, and a number of other trees were blown away. The ground for half a mile was strewn with fragments of the dead, splinters, packing paper, &c.

The violence of the explosion shook houses in Bartow, across the creek from Baychester. Many windows in John Elliott's Bay View Hotel at Pelham bridge, over a mile away, were shattered. Thos. Dinwoodie's blacksmith shop at Westchester was shaken violently, and windows in many houses in the same village were broken. This is the second explosion that has occurred in these works this year.