Carney's Point, NJ DuPont Powder Company explosion, May 1898

EXPLOSION AT A POWDER MILL.

One Man Killed and One Injured in an Accident at Carney's Point, N. J.

PENNS GROVE, N. J., May 28. - By the explosion of a mixing mill at the smokeless powder works of the Dupont Company at Carney's Point, near here, this afternoon, William Brown, a workman, of Penns Grove, was killed, Thomas Shoulders of Penns Grove was injured, and three mills were destroyed.

Brown's body was found in a croner of the mill. It was horribly mangled. One arm was found twenty feet away. Thomas Shoulders had his shoulder fractured by a piece of flying iron. David Dancer, another workman, had one of the sleeves of his coat torn off, but was not injured.

The explosion is supposed to have been caused by a pebble in the mixing trough. The mill caught fire, and the flames were communicated to two other mills near by, and they were also destroyed. Francis G. Dupont, Alexis Dupont, and Pierre Dupont, superintended the work of putting out the fire. While the sparks were flying about the Duponts dashed into a small storehouse near one of the burning mills and removed 200 pounds of gun cotton to a place of safety at the risk of their lives.

The mills were about thirty feet square. They will be immediately rebuilt, as the company is rushing important Government work. A detail of the Second Battalion of the Second Regiment, Pennsylvania Volunteers, is guarding the works.

The New York Times, New York, NY 29 May 1898
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Transcribed by Tim Taugher. Thanks, Tim!