The Daily Reporter from Dover, Ohio • Page 1

TWO SECTIONS THIRTY PAGES THE DAILY REPORTER WEATHER Continued Warm, Friday yOL.47. NO. 228. MKMBBN Or tHt PNtM DOVER, TUSCARAWAS COUNTY, OHIO, THURSDAY, MAY 5, 19J9 PAID OIHCULATION NOW CMOKBOB FIVE CENTS SEEK CAUSE OF HARDESTY PLANT EXPLOSION KILLING ONE WORKMAN, INJURING 110THERS Dead Burned How Chemical Plant Looked From the Air Today SAMUEL H. BONIFANT Blast Victim's Burial Saturday lagUs Service Tomorrow Night services for Samuel X.

Bonifant, 40, chief operator of the chemical department of the W. C. Hardesty who fatally burned in lait night's explosion, will be held Saturday at 1 p. m. ia the First Methodist church at New Philadelphia.

Rev. O. E. Hannawalt will officiate burial, In charge of the Tol- Funeral home, will be In Evergreen Burial Park. Friends may call at the Bonifant residence on Tuscarawas-a after 8 tonight.

The Dover will conduct services there tomorrow at 7:30 p. m. Mr. Bontfant was born at Holloway, son of Mr. and Mrs.

John Bonifant, who reside at 414 Ashwood-land, New Philadelphia. He was a member of the First Methodist church of New Philadelphia and the Eagles lodge of D6ver. Surviving In addition to his parents and his widow, Edith, a son, Samuel and a daughter, Ann, both at home; one brother, Herman Bonifant of Dover; two sisters, Mrs. Thelma Charnock of Wainwright and Mrs. Catherine Grant of 136 Fourth-dr NW, New Philadelphia; six nieces and six nephews.

Robbed of $25,000 Car Crowded To Curb By 4 Bandits Four masked gunmen held up two bank officials shortly before noon today escaped with approximately $25,000 in cash. of the holdup were Anton Bizza, 62, a teller, and George Ziemba, 65, vice president of the Lincoln Heights Savings Loan Co, robbers used two automobiles for the stlckup In the flats urea the Cuyahoga river. They abandoned one of the cars at the scene, in front Professor-ave, The bank officials told police their car was rammed into a curb by thp bandits' two care 4 Ti ped In Burninn Mine OJRARPVILLE, Pa. -rdPh Miners working in squads ol three began a desperate race today to build an air duct toward four men trapped deep in a burn- Ing anthracite mine. been no sign or from the men ilnci the blaze discovered shortly before Tuesday midnight.

At tha they were BOO or mort feet Mow the turfaee. ROBERT KLINE Union Hospital Does Fast Work Mobilizes Quickly For Blast Victims The rapid mobilization of Union hospital personnel and facilities was one of the humanitarian services highlighted by last night's explosion at the Hardesty Chemical Co. plant. Company officials today were high in their praise of the institution. Even though yesterday was an afternoon off for Tuscarawas-eo physicians, they were all on the alert following the disaster.

"By the time I reached the hospital," reported Mrs. Margaret Coleman, hospital superintendent of nurses, one of the first to be informed, "the entire medical staff was in readiness. In addition to the night nurses staff, the day nurses, who had just gone off duty, also had returned." No one was called. Most of them heard the explosion and reported. Typical of the quick response of duty were three staff members returning from a trip to Canton, Driving home on Route 8, they felt the shock and drove directly to the hospital.

They were Miss Martha Meese of New Philadelphia, Romaine Hufford of Uhrichsville, and Lillian Gaffney of New Philadelphia, hospital office worker. In addition to the Hardesty victims, two more patients were given emergency care. They were Clark Baughman 900 Dover, who suffered a fractured left ankle while skating and Clarence Lahmers of Route 1, Newcomerstown, who underwent an emergency appendectomy. 4-Page Advertisement In Today's Reporter Today, for the lime lince (he start of World War II, Dover retail establish' Is publishing lour- page advertising section in The Dally Reporter. The advertisement for Smith Jewelry third on Pages 1, and 10, Two more full pages will be published In The Reporter tomorrow, This picture was taken at 10 this morning by Ralph McKee, Daily Reporter staff photographer, as he glided over the wrecked Hardesty Chemical Co.

building in a plane piloted by Ralph Hixson, chief pilot of Schoenbrunn Airport, who lives at 129 W. Fhst-st, Dover. Hixson took McKee on a direct northbound run over the explosion area. In foreground is the 30x60 chemical building in ruins. Large tanks in center were slightly damaged.

At right can be seen the driveway which separates the damaged building and the W. C. Hardesty Co. plant. Another air photograph taken by Mr.

McKee appears on Page 14. Crowd Big Problem At Disaster Scene "It was the worst Jam I have ever seen," This statement, made by Police Chief Frank Javens of Dover, was a summary of the general opinion of public officials who were attempting to handle the crowds which flocked to the scene of the Hardesty Chemical Co. blast Wednesday evening. Authorities all agreed that there is a need for more rigid control. Ambulances, police cruisers and fire department trucks were blocked last night by motorists racing to the scene, some of them before -the fire sirens had sounded the alarm.

"Some of these wild were disregarding traffic signals as they sped to the scene," Javens said. "In the general excitement, It was 1m- possible for the police to control the crowd once It had started streaming to the scene." "It Is hard to understand why people will do these things," Chief Javens continued. They all know the regulations. Police are handicapped at a lime like this because of inadequate numbers." THE DOVER POLICE chief the state highway patrol, sheriff's department and the patvol auxiliary. "These units rendered an invaluable service to us," Javens said.

"They were on the job right did a ttwell piece of work. Without them, the confusion would have been much worse." Fire Chief Clarence Schilling called last night's jam "a mess," "I reached the scene ahead of most of the traffic so did not Will Resume Friday A. M. Operations in some departments of the W. Hardesty Co.

plant will be resumed late today or Friday morning, it was announced at noon. Workers have been busy cleaning up broken glass and other wreckage and window installers already are at work, see the worst of it," Schilling said. "I don't know the answer to the problem. There Is an ordinance which prohibits motorists from following fire trucks too closely. No one obeys It," the fire chief claimed.

SHERIFF PAUL PANCHER offered the only tangible solution to the problem of controlling curlouslty seekers at disaster scenes, "I intend to'appoint 25 or 30 deputies on the spot next time," Pancher stated. "Next time we have anything like this, we will be prepared, I am going to ask the county commissioners to supply badges to give these special deputies." Sheriff Pancher called the motorists "wild I "They refuse to listen to authority unless you threaten them with a club." State patrolmen joined city nd county officials In demand- ig more rigid control of traffic nd crowds, Damage Is Estimated At $27 5,0 00 By HARRY YOCKEY Expert investigators this morning began to comb ruini of the Hardesty Chemical Co. plant, seeking to establish cause of last night's explosion and fire which killed ont workman, injured 11 others and wrought damage unofficially estimated at $275,00. The blast, worst in the city's history, shook the countryside and threw debris a half mile. It also caused a human stampede toward the scene, few of the many thousands of Additional pictures and details ol the Hardesty explosion will be found on Pages 3,14 of the first section and Page 1 of the second section.

JL i 'i -mr nrtf men, women and children realizing their very lives wert endangered by tanks of chemicals being licked by Yet, despite an unprecedented, bumper-to-bumper traffic jam which defied screaming sirens of fire trucks, police cars and ambulances, valiant efforts of a quickly mobilized and fast-moving life-saving group overcame the pandemonium and saved all but one life. DEAD AND INJURED Dead Is SAMUEL HAROLD BONIFANT, 40, of rear 1021 NW, New Philadelphia. Severely burned in the two-part and flash fire which wrecked the firm's plasticizer department, Bonifant died five and a half hours later at 12:30 a. m. in Union Hospital.

StIH hospitalized are: FRANK ROSSI, 19, of 315 W. Seventh-st, third degree burns and shock; ROBERT KLINE, 24, of 409 W. Seventh-st, severe burns and shock; GEORGE DUGAN, 49, of RD 3, New Philadelphia, scalp lacerations and shock. Others who were injured included: CHARLES LaCROIX, 26, of 422 Walnut-st, minor head injuries and shock; JOSEPH TIMMERMAN, 46, of 403 NW, New Philadelphia, head lacerations; ROBERT CATCOTT, city fireman, cuts and ankle sprain; TONY CONTINI of.316ȣ W. Fourth-st, lacerations of hands; LEWIS KOHL of 121 Beaver-ave NE, New Philadelphia, lacerations; ROBERT GRIMM of near Midvale, cuts and bruises.

A number of others, all unidentified, were treated on scene for cuts caused by flying glass. TO MAKE THOROUGH PROBE Walter Somers, plant manager, this morning said additional investigators will join those already on the job. "We're leaving no stone unturned in an effort to determine the cause of the explosion," he said. "We don't want such a thing to happen again." Quadruplets, 2 Boys, 2 Girls, Are Doing Nicely Big Garage Window Smashed by Blast An 8x8 show window at the International Truck Sales and Service, 1172 Tuscarawas-ave NW, New Philadelphia was by the impact of last night's HardC'sty explosion a hMt mile awwy. Three employes were inside at the time.

They were Eugene Hedley uf Dover, William SafTel and V. W. Mizer of New Philadelphia, who reported they didn't have time to think about anything but flying glass. The garage is owned by Robert Horrisberger ot Uover. Mercury at 92 A mid-summer heat wave in May sent the temperature up to a sizzling 92 in Dover yesterday and the coolest last night was 50, i according to E.

A. I weather observer. Temperaturej reached record breaking levels'in many pans of Ohio, INJURED IN ORF.GON Mrs. Arleen Goodnight ot Midvale was one of 15 passengers injured yesterday when a Greyhound bus collided head-on with an automobile near Standfteld Oregon. The three occupants, the car were killed.

NEW YORK The new members of the Collins family- all four of doing nicely today. That was the report from hospital, where Mrs Ethel Collins, 27, yesterday gave birth to two boys and two girls. The quadruplets weighed a totnl of 17 pounds and 14 ounces at birth. Mrs. Collins had been expecting triplets, When she learned there were four instead of three babies, she murmured: ''My, how wonderful." The father, Charles Collins, 29, a brokerage office clerk, got the news by telephone.

His comment: a long whistle. The couple, married in 1941, have one other child, a son, Stephen, two a half years old, He said it was impossible to estimate the damage until a thorough investigation has been made. However, others expressed the belief it will be at least $275,000, The building where the blast occurred with a tear-filling roar that was heard for miles contained a great amount of delicate equipment in addition to a $50,000 fire-proof electrical system. Fire CHief Clarence Shilling, whose men fought the dangerous flash fire, said many workmen reported that there was minor explosion at 7:02, followed seconds later by an earth-s a I blast which knocked men over as If they were ten pins and sent parts walls and the roof ripping through the air at terrific speed. All buildings in the area were damaged to some extent.

Hun. dreds of windows in the affiliated W. C. Hardesty plant, about only i 25 feet from the blast site, were broken and the same structure suffered other damage, Vacuum pulled window frames and windows out of the main office building 300 yards south of the ical plant. An electric clock there stopped running at 7:02 1-2 establishing exact time ot the blast.

Miraculous Escapes Those injured and 23 others working on the 3 to, 11 thill miraculously escaped the ol Bonifant, who was chief operator in the plant where capryl alcohol and other by-products are "cooked" into materials used by other companies in the production of plastics. Bonifant was alone in the building known as No. 18 when the explosion sent smoke, flames, bricks, long galvanized sheeti and other debris at least 200 feet in the air. Seven of hU fellow-workers, along with quite a few of the 30 employed In the nearby W. C.

Hardesty building, were working outside and between the two structures. Immediately alter the explosion Bonifant came from the building. All his clothing but a belt, heavy shoes and socks had been torn or burned from his person. Bob Egler rushed to Bonifant and removed the belt and shoes. Phillip Fox a Hardesty truck driver, who was at his home at 314 South-ave, hurried to scene in his car and took Bon- ilant, LaCroix and Rossi lo tht hospital.

Policeman William Fox, who arrived seconds later In patrol car, took two others. Firemen Do Good Work Meanwhile, workers who were momentarily dazed by the expectedness and force ol the explosion, recovered and brought special tire-lighting equipment Into play. The sprinkler system (Continued on Page 14 ColumnT?.