Auburn, NY Fireworks Explosion, Aug 1912

MOTHER AND THREE CHILDREN DIE WHEN FIREWORKS EXPLODE.

ONE OTHER IS KILLED OUTRIGHT -- SMALL GIRL VICTIM DIES AT THE HOSPITAL.

SEVERAL HOUSES WRECKED.

FIREWORKS STORED IN AUBURN RESIDENCE EXPLODE EARLY THIS MORNING, HURLING THE OCCUPANTS OF THE HOUSE INTO ETERNITY -- EXPLOSIVES WERE STORED FOR AN ITALIAN CELEBRATION.

Auburn, Aug. 13. -- Five people were killed, four of them instantly, in an explosion of fireworks and high explosives in the home of RAPHAEL CHECHE at No. 19 Coon Street early today. The victims were:
COSMO CARMELENGO, a maker of fireworks, whose home is in New Jersey.
MRS. MARY CHECHE and three children, EMMA, aged 11 years, ARMANDO, aged 9 years and CARMELA aged 7.
The fireworks were being prepared by CARMELENGO for a big celebration planned by the members of St. Francis D'Assissi Church in observance of the feast of the Assumption on August 15th.

Brought Four Boxes of Explosives.
CARMELENGO came here last night. He brought with him four boxes of a high explosive to be used in making the fireworks. Although it was said that this was gunpowder, the police and fire department, both of which worked on the case, believe that it was dynamite.
The CHECHE house, a two-story frame structure, was completely annihilated. After the explosion it was a mass of splintered wood and stone. The bodies were horribly mangled. Several of them were blown to pieces. The youngest child suffered a fractured skull and died at the City hospital to which she had been rushed with all possible speed.

Series of Detonations.
The explosion took place between 6:30 and 7 o'clock. There was a series of detonations, one succeeding the others in rapid order. They were heard for miles around. Houses within a radius of a quarter of a mile or more were damaged by the flying timbers and stones and by the force of the explosion.

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