1917 — Apr 10, Artillery shell munitions plant explosion (mostly girls), Eddystone, PA– 133

— 133 Ballentine, R. “Eddystone Disaster Victims Monument.” Findagrave.com. 10-29-2003.
— 133 Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). 1982, p. 281.
— 133 National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996.
— 133 Pennsylvania Bureau of Mine Safety. World’s Worst Fires and Explosions.
— 133 PennsylvaniaMilitaryCollege.org. Eddystone Disaster (webpage).
— 120 NFPA. Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Assoc. V10, No. 4, Apr 1917, p. 341.
— 119 Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book for 1918. “Chronology of Plots,” p. 506.

Narrative Information

Ballentine: “This monument near the Edgmont Avenue side of the Cemetery marks the final resting place for the remains of unidentified victims of the Eddystone Ammunition Works Explosion on the morning of April 10, 1917. A total of 133 people were killed in the explosion, mostly women and young girls. On that Monday, April 10th at about 9:55 a.m., ‘F’ Building of the plant was torn apart by a terrible explosion where about 380 girls and young women were loading shells with black powder. One hundred and thirty-three persons, mostly girls, lost their lives in the explosion. The majority of the women killed worked in the loading room. The first explosion was followed by two smaller ones. Bodies were thrown in the air and some were found hundreds of yards away. The Chester Times published three extra editions the day of the explosion. At first, many thought the explosion was an act of sabotage as the United States had just entered World War 1 just days before the explosion. Fifty-five of the dead were never identified. More than 12,000 persons gathered here on the morning of April 13, 1917 for perhaps the largest funeral service in the Cemetery’s history. The Eddystone Ammunition Company paid for all the funeral services. In less than two weeks the company was back to work. The mystery of the explosion was never solved. Decorations still appear at this grave site today – likely brought by descendants of some of these unidentified souls. Originally, there were 52 bodies laid to rest, but there were three more bodies added later making a total of 55 buried here.” (Ballentine, Robert. “Eddystone Disaster Victims Monument.” Findagrave.com. 10-29-2003.)

Newspapers

April 10: “By United Press. Philadelphia. – The Evening Ledger this afternoon estimated that 100 persons, mostly girls and women, were killed in today’s munitions explosion at the Eddystone plant of the Baldwin Locomotive company.

“Philadelphia, April 10. – Eddystone police headquarters at 1 o’clock this afternoon, estimated that at least fifty persons, many of them girls, were killed, and probably 200 injured, when a series of mysterious explosions destroyed the main section of the Baldwin Locomotive munition works shortly after 10 o’clock today. Nine buildings in section F, with machinery worth millions of dollars, were completely shattered by the terrific shocks which shook this city like an earthquake. Practically every building in the entire plant was damaged.

“The origin of the explosion is being investigated this afternoon by a detachment of expert agents, sent to the scene by the local branch of the department of justice. The government agents are proceeding on the theory that the explosions were not accidental.

“An appeal for help was sent to Philadelphia after nearby towns had sent all available aid. At noon fires were burning over the wrecked buildings….

“It was stated this afternoon that 80 per cent of the employees nearest the explosion were females.”
(Altoona Mirror, PA. “50 May Be Dead in Explosion At Baldwin’s.” 4-10-1917, p. 1.)

April 11: “One Hundred and nineteen persons were killed and one hundred and fifty injured in a series of three explosions which destroyed one of the buildings of the Eddystone Ammunition Corporation, Eddystone, Pa., yesterday morning. The majority of the dead and injured are women and girls. Ten of the injured will die. Many bodies are so terribly mangled that identification is impossible. Fragments of bodies, arms, legs and trunks were found within the radius of a square of the plant. Several bodies are believed to be in the Delaware. All of the victims lived in Philadelphia and Chester and in the district between the two cities. A complete list of the victims will not be available until the company checks up its list of employees.

“The explosions, according to Samuel M. Vauclain, president of the corporation, were planned and executed by maliciously inclined person or persons. Basis Greenko, a Russian inspector, who was in the building when the explosions occurred, declared that a bomb had been used. This is also the belief of secret service men who are working on the case, though Federal rules prohibit them from expressing an opinion. At Chester last night two suspects, father and son, the latter an employee in the plant, were arrested. They are being held pending an investigation….It is regarded as possible that Philadelphia has been selected as the scene for the beginning of new reign of terrorism, now that America has thrown her lot with the Allies against Germany….

“The arrests of the two suspects were made shortly after 10 o’clock and only after the officials had made a careful and rigid investigation. Late last night an officer of the National Guard declared that the investigators looked upon the arrests as one of the most important developments of the day. Papers found on one of the men were declared ‘incriminating and very important.’ The younger man gave his name as Samuel Cohen, 25 years old, of 656 South Forty-third street. He is in the Chester Hospital under guard. The father is described as being between 50 and 55 years old. The older man, it was declared, was well supplied with money. Neither, it is said, was a citizen of the United States. The older man was taken away by guardsmen in an automobile….” (Philadelphia Inquirer. “119 Killed, 150 Injured, Majority Women, by Explosion Laid to Plotters in Plant of Eddystone Ammunition Corporation.” 4-11-1917, p. 1.)

April 11: “As a war measure, Philadelphia is to be put at once under the equivalent of martial law. Civil authorities, acting in concert with the Public Safety Committee of Pennsylvania and agents of the Federal Government, are preparing to put into immediate effect every possible precaution to prevent a repetition in Philadelphia of the terrible catastrophe in Eddystone yesterday. In so doing all are agreed that the series of explosions there, which took a human toll which may ultimately reach more than 150 lives, was the work of an enemy of the Am4rican Government and the American people….” (Philadelphia Inquirer. “Martial Law Now For Philadelphia.” 4-11-1917, p. 13.)

April 12: “The disaster at the Eddystone Ammunition Corporation in which the total of dead has reached 121 girls and men, with more than seventy seriously injured, fourteen probably fatally, is now believed by official investigators to have been the action of a band of alien plotters whose diabolical plans embraced the destruction of munition plants in every part of the country.

“Fearful that at any moment the catastrophe may be repeated in any powder or shell making establishment, United States secret agents have been rushed to all points. Warned of the increased dangers of the moment, officials of most of the plants have increased the number of armed guards. Extra precautions are being taken against a possible attack from within the yards. Munition workers who have been under suspicion are being summarily dismissed. No chances are being taken as to any suspects. As soon as these employees have been ordered off the premises government agents are being placed on their trail….” (Philadelphia Inquirer. “Eddystone Horror Bares Nation-Wide Plot Aimed at U.S.” 4-12-1917, p. 1.)

April 13: “Fifty-two were laid to rest in the community lot provided – business was suspended all over the city. It required one hundred guards and a large delegation of Boy Scouts to keep the great throng in check – at 10:45 admission had to be denied to more automobiles – service was purely ritualistic which was listened to by many prominent business men from all sections.

“In the presence of thousands of people the burial of the fifty-two unidentified persons who lost their lives in the disaster last Tuesday at the Eddystone Ammunition plant was held at 11 o’clock this morning in Chester Rural cemetery. All the bodies were laid in one grave, twenty feet wide and thirty-two feet long; and each casket and casket case is marked with a metal number to provide for identification hereafter if relatives should seek a missing one….The grave was made within a hundred yards of the cemetery entrance on Edgemont avenue, and along the easterly side….”
(Chester Times, PA. “Twelve Thousand Witness Last Sad Rites Over the Victims of Ammunition Plant.” 4-13-1917, p. 1.)

Sources

Altoona Mirror, PA. “50 May Be Dead in Explosion At Baldwin’s.” 4-10-1917, p. 1. Accessed 5-14-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/altoona-mirror-apr-10-1917-p-1/

Ballentine, Robert. “Eddystone Disaster Victims Monument.” Findagrave.com. 10-29-2003. Accessed 3-19-2013 at: http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=8040557

Chester Times, PA. “Twelve Thousand Witness Last Sad Rites Over the Victims of Ammunition Plant.” 4-13-1917, p. 1.
Chicago Daily News Almanac and Year-Book for 1918. “Chronology of Plots,” p. 506. Google digitized: http://books.google.com/books?id=AWQTAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=true

Cornell, James. The Great International Disaster Book (Third Edition). New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1982.

National Fire Protection Association. Key Dates in Fire History. 1996. Accessed 2010 at: http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=1352&itemID=30955&URL=Research%20&%20Reports/Fire%20statistics/Key%20dates%20in%20fire%20history&cookie%5Ftest=1

National Fire Protection Association. Quarterly of the National Fire Protection Association. Vol. 10, No’s 1-4, July, Oct 1916, Jan, Apr 1917. Google digitized at: http://books.google.com/books?id=1b8dAQAAIAAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

Pennsylvania Bureau of Mine Safety. World’s Worst Fires and Explosions. Harrisburg, PA: BMS, Department of Environmental Protection. Accessed October 12, 2008 at: http://www.depweb.state.pa.us/deepminesafety/cwp/view.asp?a=1249&q=486461

PennsylvaniaMilitaryCollege.org. Eddystone Disaster (webpage). Accessed 5-14-2020 at: https://pennsylvaniamilitarycollege.org/eddystone-disaster/

Philadelphia Inquirer. “119 Killed, 150 Injured, Majority Women, by Explosion Laid to Plotters in Plant of Eddystone Ammunition Corporation.” 4-11-1917, p. 1. Accessed 5-14-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-apr-11-1917-p-1/

Philadelphia Inquirer. “Eddystone Horror Bares Nation-Wide Plot Aimed at U.S.” 4-12-1917, p. 1. Accessed 5-14-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-apr-12-1917-p-1/

Philadelphia Inquirer. “Martial Law Now For Philadelphia.” 4-11-1917, p. 13. Accessed 5-14-2020 at: https://newspaperarchive.com/philadelphia-inquirer-apr-11-1917-p-13/