Kingston, NY Explosion, Jan 1894

A FATAL EXPLOSION

Four Men Killed and Three Buildings Blown to Pieces.

An explosion that shook nearly every house in Kingston N. Y., and in all directions within a radius of ten miles from Rifton occurred at 7.55 o'clock, a. m. The explosion occurred in the works of the Laflin-Rand Powder Mills, in the building known as the drying rooms, where 650 kegs of powder exploded. This was a frame building, eighty by 100 feet, and was torn in thousands of pieces. GARDINER FREDENBURGH and JOSEPH SOUNDER were torn in shreds, and pieces of their bodies were picked up a quarter of a mile away.
The concussion of the explosion in the drying room exploded 200 kegs of powder in the Corning Mill, 200 feet away, and MICHAEL GIBBS was burned to a crisp in a second. Back of the drying room was a brick boiler house, and this was shattered in pieces, and GEORGE KIPP , the boss of the powder makers, was crushed to death. Several other buildings were shaken and badly damaged. In different places scattered near the works were three magazines containing 18,000 kegs of powder, but fortunately the powder did not explode. None of the thirty exployes[sic] besides those killed was injured.
As Rosendale, three miles away, five plate glass fronts and hundreds of panes of glass were broken.

The Cranbury Press New Jersey 1894-01-12
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!