The
Wrecked Town
Essex, Ontario
Reported in Wide World Magazine 1908
THE town of Essex, in Ontario, was,
some months ago, a thriving little place of some two thousand five hundred
population. At present, however, it is recovering from a fearful catastrophe
which befell it on August 10th, 1907, when some five thousand pounds of nitro-glycerine
and dynamite, packed in a freight-car standing on a siding, exploded, by some
means unknown. The town was practically wrecked, but, wonderful to relate, in
spite of the fact that stout buildings were torn to shreds and the very earth
shook, only two men were killed outright; many people were injured, however,
and countless miraculous escapes were recorded. The damage was estimated at two
hundred thousand dollars. The nitro-glycerine, it is thought, dripped upon the
rails and was exploded when the car was moved. The car, it is further alleged,
was not properly labelled or of the special construction required by the
Canadian explosives laws. The striking picture here reproduced shows the
wrecked town just after the explosion.
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