THE TOULON MAGAZINE EXPLOSION.

Auckland Star, Volume XXX, Issue 87, 14 April 1899, Page 3

THE TOULON MAGAZINE EXPLOSION.

FORTY TONS OF POWDER FIRED.

COUNTRY DEVASTATED FOR TWO

MILES AROUND.

English files to hand by the mail | steamer yesterday give circumstantial | accounts of the terrible magazine exploi sion at Toulon when 50 tons oil powder i exploded and the surrounding country | was devastated in a most extraordinary ! manner. Reuters correspondent, te!e r ; graphing on March 5. gives the following I account of the affair:— ! The Lasroubran Naval Magazine be- \ tween La Seyne and Toulon, lie says, blew up at half-past two this morning. . The explosion occurred in Bay No. 1 oC the Lagoubran magazine" which it is said contained 50,000 kilogramme (over forty tons) of black powder. The vicinity of the scene of the explosion looks as if a volcanic eruption had occurred. The country for a radius of nearly two miles har, 1 ■ vn swept almost bare. Houses are razed to the ground, trees are overturned or bent and distorted to the most extraordinary shapes, the fields are devastated and covered with stones and fine impalpable biaek dust. Some of the stones arc enormous; one weighing- near.ly fifty kilogrammes fell in the suburb of Pont de Las. Signs of the explosion are evident in all. the suburbs, and also in the city of Toulon. Even at St. Jean tie Var, -a place five miles off, windows have been shattered and . doors battered in, and here also everything is COVERED WITH BLACK DUST. Peasants say that they found a zinc tank completely flattened in the fields three kilometres from the magazine. The work of recovering bodies is being actively pursued, but the work of clearing away the ruins is attended with great difficulty, notwithstanding the large number of soldiers and others employed. It is still impossible to state exactly the number of killed, some estimates placing it, as high as seventy, but it is confidently hoped at the Maritime Prefecture that the total ceatlr roll will not exceed forty. As to the number injured, it is feared that it will not fall far short of 100. Up to the present thirty four dead bodies have been taken to the Civil Hospital and four to the Naval Hospital, making thirty-eight, but this number is sure to be increased. It was stated at first that every soldier on duty at the magazine had been killed, but this proves to be not quite accurate. •Of seven sentries on guard at the time four were killed outright and the others we.re severely injured. The corporal in charge was literally scalped, the skin being completely detached from the upper part of his head, and hanging over his face like a veil Nevertheless it is hoped that he will survive HIS AWFUL WOUND, which had to be dressed on the spot before he could be transported to the lios, pftal. /Nothing could exceed the devotion and activity displayed by the doctors, both military and civil, in searching for and tending the injured. Most of the latter are being taken to the military hospital and others to the hospital of St. Mandrier, while a few have been conveyed to their own homes. A later account .says:— "._ . By Monday 51, corpses had" been recovered from the debris.""- ■■-■> A relief fund was,promptly organised. President Loubet an<s M. Dupuy each sent 500f. as a first contribution for the ' families of the victims, and M. Lockroy Minister of Marine, sent lO.OOOf;, and a credit of 200,000f. was introduced in the Chamber of Deputies on Monday. M. Lockroy, Minister of Marine ai> rived at Toulon on. Tuesday, and visited the civil and military hospitals, going through the wards where the injured persons were lying. The Minister spoke consqling-ly to' the sufferers. The medical men noted some strange pathological conditions in several of their patients. There were cases where the muscular tissues were torn without any outward mark of hurt, the surrounding flesh being absolutely uninjured. There1 were also patients who, while only slightly cut or bruised, received such a shock to the brain that they were in a state of delirium, which seemed to be but. the preliminary phase of actual dementia. A,' little girl of 10 was afflicted with a facial contortion extremely distressing to behold, and M. Lockroy himself was much affected by the sight of her suffering. , The funeral of the victims took place on Tuesday in presence of a large and respectful crowd. The funeral' pro.cession was nearly two miles long. Twelve funeral cars contained the 51 coffins. M. liockroy and all the authorities were among the mourners. Numerous wreaths were laid on the graves. Rumours have been current that the explosion was the result of an outrage. I The 'Petit Journal' reported that the committee appointed, to inquire into the affair discovered among the ruins a fuse nearly four feet long. It was also reported that i 2 dynamite cartridges; hfed been found near another powder magazine. ■ ■ The report of the officer in command of the guard on duty at the arsenal when the dynamite cartridges were discovered was as follows:—'Between halfpast six and seven in the evening, Private Guy, of the 111 th Line Regiment, who was on sentry duty at the arsenal, had two revolver shots fired at him. He is a young soldier, and probably lost his presence of mind, and omitted to Inform the guard before he was relieved. According to other accounts, Guy was afraid he would not be heard by the guard, and. so did not call his comrades. However that may be, the person or persons who fired the shots quickly made off. It is supposed that their intention was, when they had killed the soldier, to open the door of the tunnel passing under tha rampart and the bastion, and to use the dynamite cartridges brough there in the morning for the purpose of bringing about a general explosion. The papersfound on Wednesday contained about 15 cartridges. They were discovered near the door of bastion 19. To reach that door, a barrier 6ft high would have to Tsa surmounted. No 'fuse was deposited with the cartridges.' Although the quantity; of melinite stored in the powder magazine is not considerable, its explosion would certainly suffice to destroy the arsenal, the port, and its environs, and to shake to its foundations the whole Qt the town of Toulon.

The shock of the Toulon explosion was' generally felt at Nice.

A report from "VintimiUe stated that the concussion extended to tho frontier.

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