THE MUNITIONS DISASTERS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIII, Issue 95, 22 April 1922, Page 6

THE MUNITIONS DISASTERS.

The terrible explosion at; Monastir, in which it is stated that 'hundreds o*. people lost their lives and thousands were rendered homeless, must rank among the greatest disasters of the present year. These disasters have shown a tendency to increase p.s the power of explosives becomes greater, and the fact that in most cases no reason can be assigned for the explosion makes it difficult to devise means by which both the manufacture and the storage of explosives can be rendired comparatively safe. The explosion, at the GrieshamElektron factory B,t Frankfort-on-the-Main destroyed property worth £3,000,000 as well as involving a Targe death-roll, and was the subject or the most searching inquiry, as every effort had been made to render the factory safe, but the cause was never discovered. In the great explosion which occurred in the East End of London on January 19, 1917, the fact that the factory had been placed in the midst of a thickly-popu-lated district, with oil tanks, gaso-' meters, flour mills, and warehouses surrounding it, made the disaster much' worse than it -would otherwise have ! been. Huge girders were thrown a hundred yards and more, cottages collapsed j like houses of cards, and roofs were stripped off hundreds of buildings and j flung long distances. At the actual spot where the explosion occurred s huge crater was dug 100 feet deep, and more than thirty feet in width. Sixty-nine people were killed and fuur hundred and fifty injured, while thn damage was estimated- at over one million pounds. An expert committee snt long inquiring into the affair, but no' satisfactory explanation was forthcoming. Nor was the explosion at New .Tersey. which did damage to the extent of f5,000,000. ever explained. ' The damr-.ge done has in j many cases been augn lented by the fact' that the factories were situated in | densely populated dif tricts. This could [probably be altered »md so diminish loss of life and propertj-. But the fact'remains that no advance of science lias been able to render- the manufacture of explosives anything but an extremely dangerous occupation, especially in times of war or civil disturbance,"when ! the risk of foul pl&y has to be added to those inherent in the business itself. Disasters such ar; that at Monastir serve to show the courage of those who undertook munition work during the war, . when they wrsre menaced by ■ danger from the ' enemy as' well as by danzer from their occupation itself. Women and girlq in the factories showed the same eakn courase and the same cheer- , fulness as the soldiers. and # they deserve I the same meed of praise.