Sandusky, OH Dynamite Explosion, Jan 1908

DYNAMITE “THAWED” ALL RIGHT

Nothing Left of Shed But Bits of Wreckage While Nearby Houses Were Much Damaged. Strangely Enough, No One Was Injured.

With a roar that startled people for block around, several sticks of dynamite let go shortly after 4 o’clock Friday afternoon on Warren street near the Finch street crossing, blowing into bits a work shanty used by the gang employed by contractor Michael J. Burke and doing considerable other damage. It is considered wonderful that no one was killed or seriously wounded by the explosion. Just how the explosion resulted is something of a mystery. The shed is used by men employed on the Warren street sewer job. It was located in the street in front of a vacant lot between the residences of Lewis W. Herbel and Policeman John C. Molz, the latter’s home being on the corner of Warren and Finch street. A large boiler and the men’s supplies and tools were kept in the shanty and in one corner; a small old-fashioned heating stove was located. At the time of the explosion, but two men, both foreigners, were on the job. Both were in the trench when the explosion occurred. From a third workman, it was learned that the other two had been thawing out several stick of dynamite on the stove. There was no evidence after the explosion, that there even was a stove in the place, but several pieces of it were found in the vacant lot and the melted snow around where the pieces had fallen indicated that the stove must have had a fire in it. Persons who witnessed the explosion from a distance say the air was full of flying wood, iron, and broken tools. The Herbel resident was the most badly damaged, the windows being broken, the storm front knocked in and dishes broken on the inside. The windows in Molz’s resident were also broken. Charles Wiegand’s and other residences across the street also show effects of the explosion. A large plate glass in Marguart’s grocery store at the corner of Scott and Warren streets was broken and more or less damage done at other places some distance from the scene of the explosion. Windows in the Children’s Home were cracked. A piece of the shed was blown onto the roof of Molz’s house. Fortunately, no one was passing the shed at the time and no children were playing near. This circumstance no doubt saved some lives or at lest prevented more serious accidents.

The Sandusky Star Journal, Sandusky, OH 25 Jan 1908
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Transcribed by Kris Clow. Thank you, Kris!