1901 — Aug 5, gasoline container explosion, grocery store cellar, Locust st., Philadelphia– 8

—  20  Daily News Almanac and Book of Facts for 1902. “Events of 1901.” 1902, p. 337.[1]

–>20  The Times, Philadelphia. “Twenty Killed, Fifty Injured by Explosion.” 8-6-1901, p. 1.

—    8  Philadelphia Inquirer. “Blame for Explosion Placed on MacClemmy,” 10-1-1901, p. 8.

— > 8  Philadelphia Times. “Eight Bodies Out, Seven Identified,” 8-8-1901, p. 4.

 

Narrative Information

 

Daily News Almanac: “Philadelphia, PA., Aug. 5 — Gasoline explosion kills twenty persons.”

 

Aug 6, Philadelphia Times: “By the explosion of a tank of gasoline in a cellar of George MacClenny’s [MacClemmy] grocery store, at 1014 Locust street, at 9:35 last night, more than twenty people were killed and upwards of fifty injured.

 

“A moment after the explosion the entire south side of Locust street, between Warnock street on the west and Alder street on the east, a distance of 120 feet, was a mass of blazing ruins. Six houses had fallen in, and as many others were partly demolished. Buried in the debris was every occupant of the buildings, for there had been no warning and none had had a chance to escape. Up until early this morning most of the victims, living and dead, were still in the ruins.

 

“Just how many people were killed was not known with accuracy, but the police and hospital officials at midnight placed the minimum estimate at twenty. The difficulty of clearing out the ruins and of securing names from the terror-stricken survivors made the task of fixing an exact number one almost impossible of performance. But the accident is by far the most appalling of its kind which has happened in Philadelphia in a decade….

 

“According to the latest lists obtainable from the hospitals and the morgue those who lost their lives numbered —

 

“The dead were:

 

Unknown negro woman, taken to Pennsylvania Hospital.

Unknown negro child, 2 years old, supposed to be a daughter of Annie Harris; died at

midnight at Pennsylvania Hospital.

Remainder in ruins….”

 

Aug 7, Philadelphia Times: “Seven persons known to be dead, seventy-five injured and several unaccounted for, four houses razed to the ground as though swept by a cyclone, and half a dozen more damaged so badly that they will practically have to be rebuilt, is in brief the damage done by the terrible explosion which swept Locust street from Alder to Warnock streets Monday night, carrying death and destruction if its train.

 

“The veteran Insurance Inspector, Captain McDevitt, said: ‘This is the worst of the explosions supposed to be due to the effect of gasoline of which I have ever heard. Its destruction was so complete, the dead and injured so numerous and the escape from death by others so remarkable that it will have to fill a class all of its own. It was terrible, horrible, and if gasoline was the cause, as seems most likely, it shows that still more stringent laws and regulations are necessary to protect the public from death and the destruction of property.’

 

“Veteran policemen and firemen agreed with Captain McDevitt and expressed the belief that as the debris was removed more victims would be found in the restaurant and lodging house at 1012 Locust street….

 

“At half-past ten o’clock in the morning the fifth victim was discovered. His body was found by the firemen in the ruins of the building 1012 Locust street, where Dale’s restaurant and lodging house had been. It was that of a negro…It was evident that she had been killed by the falling of the front wall.

 

“At 4 o’clock in the afternoon the firemen, who had worked steadily on the ruins of 1018 Locust street, found the body of the only white person known to be killed. This was Elizabeth Mountain. Her body, terribly mangled, was discovered in the cellar of her store under the shattered front door, and it was evident that she had been trying to escape when killed. Her brothers, Albert and Samuel Mountain, were at the ruins with the body  was discovered….

 

“Another victim’s body was found at 8:10 o’clock last night on the sidewalk in front of 1012 Locust street, and was apparently that of a passerby. He was a negro, about 35 years of age, who had been crushed by the falling wall….

 

“Of the seven who are dead only two had been identified at a late hour last night. These are:

 

Mountain, Elizabeth, of 1018 Locust street.

Lee, Frederick, aged 45, of 1014 Locust. Died at Pennsylvania Hospital….

 

“One of the most seriously injured is George McClemmy, who conducted the grocery store at 1014 Locust street, in whose store it is supposed the explosion occurred. During the day Marshall Lattimer and Captain McDevitt went to the Jefferson Hospital and talked with him, asking him about the gasoline in his store. He said that he had had none, and that he had always kept the gasoline in the yard in a gallon can, with two lamps for burning it. This he did because his insurance policy prevented him from keeping any explosive oil in his store. Neither Marshall Lattimore nor Captain McDevitt would express any definite opinion on the cause of the explosion, nor will they until they can examine the cellars of McClemmy’s store and Dale’s restaurant. Many are sill of the opinion that the explosion originated in the restaurant….” (Philadelphia Times. “Two Explosion Victims Identified.” 8-7-1901, p. 7.)

 

“Pittsburg, August 6, Chief Miles Humphries, of the Pittsburg Fire Department, to-day discussed the explosion in Philadelphia last night. He asserts that the explosion was due to a lack of laws governing the storage of explosives. Chief Humphries said: ‘Our lawmakers have been criminally negligent. We have too little legislation requiring the use of proper safeguards in the storage and handling of explosives. The law governing the storage of explosives is out of date. It was enacted in 1850, limiting the storage of gunpowder within the city limits to thirty pounds. Since the passage of that law many dangerous explosives have been placed on the market and are being handled and stored in the large cities. There are many buildings in which are stored enough of the se gaseous explosive oils to wreck the entire district. I intend to bring the matter up at the coming convention of fire chiefs to be held at Indianapolis on August 27.’” (Philadelphia Times. “Law Makers Negligent,” 8-7-1901.”

 

Aug 7, Philadelphia Times: “Locust street’s frightful explosion directs attention to a law that seems to be generally ignored. This is the act of May 15, 1874, which in the most specific language prohibits the sale of gasoline for illuminating purposes. The act throughout regards the fluid as being as dangerous an nitro-glycerine or any of the high explosives. The text of the law is:

No refined petroleum, kerosene, naphtha, benzine, gasoline or any burning fluid, be they designated by whatsoever name, the fire test of which shall be less than one hundred and ten (110) degrees Fahrenheit, shall be sold or offered for sale as an illuminator within the limits of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

 

“The act provides penalties for violation. It is made a misdemeanor, with a fine, upon conviction, ranging from $250 to $500 or imprisonment of not less than one year.

 

“Gasoline first came into notice during the civil war, when, owing to the high price of turpentine, it was substituted for the mixing of paints. It evaporates a gas that penetrates the smallest crevice, flowing in an insidious way along the ground directly toward a flame, if there by any. It has peculiar powers of corrosion, and eats out the joints of pipes, causing leakage, resulting frequently in explosion of gasoline stoves. So volatile is it in its nature that an open barrelful has been know to evaporate entirely in a single day.

 

“The traffic in it is not restricted. The fluid is not susceptible to any fire test, and will explode at any temperature. It flashes like gas, explodes with the force of gun-cotton and burns as fiercely and with as intense heat as alcohol. Burns by it are more dangerous usually than from other causes. While they are superficial, the fluid spreads over the body, making a greater area of burned surface, accompanied generally by fatal results….

 

“The city of Philadelphia to-day maintains gasoline lamps to the number of nearly 20,000. In 1889 an effort was made in Select Council to prohibit the use of gasoline for illuminating purposes by the city. The bill went to a sub-committee…but it was never reported.” (Philadelphia Times. “Passed Law Against Gasoline. Legislature Prohibited its Sale as Illuminator in 1874.” 8-7-1901, p. 7.)

 

Aug 8, Philadelphia Times: “The eighth victim of the Locust street explosion was dug out of the ruins of the restaurant at 1012 at 1 o’clock yesterday afternoon. The body was that of a negro and was taken to the Morgue, where it was identified as that of John Tucker, 26 years old, a lodger at 1029 Locust street. The other bodies have now been identified as follows: Frederick Lee, negro, 45 years, 1012 Locust street; Adam Lee, negro, 17 years, 1012 Locust street; Lulu Curtis, negro, 3 years, 1012 Locust street; Armstead Jefferson, negro, 26 years, 1012 Locust street, and Lizzie Mountain, white, 1018 Locust street. The only unidentified body is that of a negro, the first man taken to the Morgue. He was six feet high and weighed over 200 pounds. All the injured in the hospitals are on the road to recovery….

 

“The general impression yesterday was still that the accident was due to explosion of gasoline in MacClemmy’s place. On the dividing line between MacClemmy’s and Quigley’s a five gallon can was found, and in the ruins of MacClemmy’s store was found a gasoline lamp. A brother of MacClemmy, who watched the excavation all day in an effort to find some money which had been locked in an ice box in the store, said that his brother bought three gallons of gasoline every Friday. It was used for illuminating purposes alone, he said. Quigley’s son said that the only gasoline used in the place was bought in small quantities for a gasoline lamp.

 

“Insurance Inspector McDevitt believes that the explosion occurred in the MacClemmy store. He thinks that it will be found that a larger quantity of gasoline than the law allowed was in the grocer’s cellar and that even more stringent laws than the present ones are needed to prevent recurrences of Monday’s tragedy. The latest city ordinance, which covers the having, using or storing of gasoline, naphtha, etc., is the one of April 39, which went into effect on July 1. This ordinance  briefly provides that in the district in which the explosion took place not more than one barrel of these materials shall be kept by any one not a manufacturer, and that it shall by a nuisance for any one to carry on a business in which naphtha, gasoline, etc., are used in greater quantities that a gallon a day without a license. The penalty is one hundred dollars fine.

 

“The Coroner will not make an investigation until the Fire Marshal has turned in his report or at least until it is absolutely certain that there are not more bodies in the debris…” (Philadelphia Times. “Eight Bodies Out, Seven Identified,” 8-8-1901, p. 4.)

 

Aug 9, Philadelphia Times: “No more bodies were taken from the Locust street ruins yesterday, and Fire Marshal Lattimer said that all the victims had probably been found….” (Philadelphia Times. “Lattimer Will Report Soon,” 8-9-1901, p. 1.)

 

Aug 14, Philadelphia Inquirer: “Grocer George M. MacClemmy was yesterday made a prisoner in his own house, 4548 Baltimore avenue, upon a warrant issued by Coroner Thomas Dugan, upon the affidavit of Detective McKenty, charging him with criminal negligence in the storage of gasoline at his store, 1014 Locust street. The offices in the execution of the warrant will remain on guard in the home until MacClemmy is able to appear at the inquest, the date of which has not been set.

 

“MacClemmy left the Jefferson Hospital last Saturday and went to his $7000 house and store property on Baltimore avenue, where signs proclaimed that he would open the grocery business September 16. The store part is now ‘for rent.’….

 

“‘We don’t have to prove any motive,’ said one of the officials who have been working on the explosion. ‘It is simply a matter of proving that the defendant negligently stored the gasoline in quantity and manner in violation of law. It is a violation of law to store it in the cellar in quantity over one gallon.’

 

“The MacClemmys yesterday repeated their assertion that they only kept gasoline on hand in the quantity allowed by law for the lights in front of their store. They said they could prove by dozens of people that they sent customers seeking gasoline across the street to another place, never keeping it for sale themselves. They denied all knowledge of the origin of the explosion….” (Philadelphia Inquirer. “M’Clemmy Put Under Arrest,” 8-14-1901, p. 3.)

 

Oct 1, Philadelphia Inquirer: “The blame for the Locust street explosion of the night of August 5, which resulted in the death of eight persons and the wrecking of a number of houses, has been placed upon George MacClemmy, who is alleged to have violated the law by keeping gasoline in the cellar of his grocery store, 1014 Locust street, where the explosion is said to have occurred. It was shown by the evidence that McClemmy had no less than ten gallons and probably twenty gallons of the dangerous fluid in his store basement on the fatal night, but none of the witnesses was able to explain what caused the explosion….” (Philadelphia Inquirer. “Blame for Explosion Placed on MacClemmy. Locust Street Groceryman Sent to Prison by Coroner Dugan After an Investigation of the Catastrophe of August 5 Last.” 10-1-1901, p. 8.)

 

Sources

 

Daily News Almanac and Book of Facts for 1902. “Events of 1901.” Chicago Daily News Company, 1902, pp. 335-338. Accessed 7-10-2018 at: https://books.google.com/books?id=7ZIaAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

 

Philadelphia Inquirer. “Blame for Explosion Placed on MacClemmy. Locust Street Groceryman Sent to Prison by Coroner Dugan After an Investigation of the Catastrophe of August 5 Last.” 10-1-1901, p. 8. Accessed 7-13-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-oct-01-1901-p-8/

 

Philadelphia Inquirer. “M’Clemmy Put Under Arrest,” 8-14-1901, p. 3. Accessed 7-13-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-aug-14-1901-p-3/

 

Philadelphia Times. “Eight Bodies Out, Seven Identified,” 8-8-1901, p. 4. Accessed 7-13-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-times-aug-08-1901-p-4/

 

Philadelphia Times. “Lattimer Will Report Soon,” 8-9-1901, p. 1. Accessed 7-13-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-times-aug-09-1901-p-1/

 

Philadelphia Times. “Law Makers Negligent,” 8-7-1901. Accessed 7-13-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-times-aug-07-1901-p-7/

 

Philadelphia Times. “Passed Law Against Gasoline. Legislature Prohibited its Sale as Illuminator in 1874.” 8-7-1901, p. 7. Accessed 7-13-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-times-aug-07-1901-p-7/

 

Philadelphia Times. “Twenty Killed, Fifty Injured by Explosion.” 8-6-1901, p. 1. Accessed 7-13-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-times-aug-06-1901-p-1/

 

Philadelphia Times. “Two Explosion Victims Identified.” 8-7-1901, p. 7. Accessed 7-13-2018 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-times-aug-07-1901-p-7/

[1] Perfect demonstration of why multiple sources need to be consulted.