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OnlyBody300 Others HurtAs AmmunitionRecoveredTragedy SiteBy ZEL OWSLEYToday I held a twisted piece of netal in the palm of my hand. I )icked it up in Port Chicago, two niles from the spot where it sped rom the flaming explosion of an immunition ship docked in the jort.Today, I saw six-inch splinters loating on the smooth waters out-;ide Port Chicago, only remnants f the ship. Today, I learned from i naval officer that only one body f the still unestimated scores who lied on that ship had been recovered.Ships Blow UpToday, I talked to a 26-year-old 'legro sailor who saw his buddy lie and he himself was one of six ut of a barracks of one hundred vho came out unscathed.IFE GOES ONToday, I saw American people, krmy, Navy and civilian, pick up le pieces of life after the most evastating disaster that has ever truck a small section of the west-m coast. I saw order and sanity nd courtesy emerge from chaos nd tragedy and confusion.In Port Chicago, not a single uilding stands undamaged today, lotels, restaurants, markets, barer shops and the theater vie with he homes of citizens in presenting scene of unparalleled destruc-on.Along the highway, where the ival barracks and the $250,000 'creation hall may be seen, it oks as if a gigantic hurricane(Continued on Pare 8. Column 11anta Fe Trafficlowed by BlastService on the Santa Fe Rail-ad through Berkeley was bus-nded until around 6:30 a.m. to-y by the munitions explosion len the first train went through, lilway officials said they were t sure of the exact time as all legraph and telephone lines are iwn. Crews went into action rly (oday on the shattered lines, it officials could not estimate len service would be resumed. Service was little affected on e Southern Pacific line, whose acks adjoin the Santa Fe, as the te trains got through before the plosion. A passenger train went rough the area at 7 a. m. today, ly slightly behind schedule.To the far reaches of the Bay ea the explosion served to in-oduce neighbors, many of whom e newcomers. Immediately after e blast, lights went on in thounds of Bay homes and denizens tured out into the streets to talk •out the “earthquake.”By EDWIN EMERYU- P. Stuff CorrespondentAn earth-rocking explosion of two ammunition ships at the U. S. naval ammunition depot at Fort Chicago, in upper San Francisco Bay, killed at least, 343 persons and injured more than 300 others, it was estimated todav.Navy officials said that revised totals of the dead or injured would not be available until it was determined how many men were on shore leave or aboard their ships when the explosion occurred.The Navy announced that 250 enlisted men and nine officers were “missing and presumed dead.” Four coast guardsmen were reported missing, four civilians dead, and a crew member declared 70 men were aboard one of the blasted ships.TWO EXPLOSIONSThe Navy said it now was believed there were two separate explosions 10 seconds apart. Whether the first occurred aboard a pier or on a ship was not known.Approximately 100 naval personnel had been taken to militaryMORE DETAILS INSIDEMore pictures and details of the Port Chicago disaster will be found on pages 3 and 8.hospitals, and more than 200 civilians, many of them women and children, were known to have been injured.“The casualties will be heavy,”12th Naval District headquarters said as it continued its preliminary investigation of one of the worst disasters in U. S. wartime histofy.The hospital at Martinez, County seat of Contra Costa County, wasreported filled, with injured in thehalls. Red Cross, military and civilian disaster officials mobilized, and injured were being taken to all nearby hospitals including thatat the nearby Mare Island Navy Yard.Communications throughout the area were disrupted by the blast, adding to the confusion at the scene.(Norman Montellier, a United Press staff correspondent, was among the first newspapermen to reach Port Chicago. He reported that Deputy Sheriff John Long said he had made a survey of the explosion scene and would esti-j mate the dead at 350, mostly naval personnel.)Not a sign remained of the two ammunition ships, which had beenOne hundred and ninety-two persons narrowly escaped death In thlt Port Chicago theater last night when 1 the e‘ire ^1* as theby the terrific explosion that rocked the area, killing and maiming hundreds. Only two persons were Injured by the flying debris as themakfe-believe war scene on the screen suddenly turned to tragic reality._______Police Dept.,City Rush AidIn Disaster$270,000 Post-WarFund, Tax Cut LoomWallace toETINS♦NEW MAYOR FOR EL CERRITOLouis E. Davis was elected mayor of El Cerrito in an adjourned session of the city council today. He replaces Steve ^Moo re, who resigned after a heated discussion in the regular meeting last night.Davis, a real estate broker, took over duties today by signing a parking meter contract. Moore, who was appointed mayor of the(Continued on Pane 8. Column 1]Alameda DefenseCouncil Stood ByBy DICK SQUIRESIt was the Berkeley Police Department that maintained the only contact in this city with the disaster headquarters in Martinezlast night. Starting at 10:20 p.m., the time the blast was felt in Berkeley, the police radio was central headquarters for all relief groups that offered their services to the stricken city.The officers were at the usual Tuesday night posts when the wind blast following the explosion shook windows and doors in the building. Jumping to the desk immediately, Sgt. J. L. Ross and Lt. H. F. Whaley alerted all Berkeley police cars by radio.“The blast sounded like it must have been right next door and I tolc? the police officers to find out what it was,” Sgt. Ross said today.City Manager Gerrit Vender Ende will submit a budget to the City Council tomorrow through which the municipal government may lay the financial foundation for a post-war development program and at the same time give the taxpayers a 12-cent slash in the over-all taxrateAllowing for establishment of a $270,000 post-war fund in the 1944-45 budget to be presented to the Council tomorrow morning, the planwon support of a group of lead-Attend Dem.ConventionThe Alameda County Council of Defense “stood by” throughout the night to offer its services, inconnection with last night’s disaster but was not called upon, according to H. F. Radbruch, captain of inspectors. He said that a number of Civilian Defense officials remained at the courthouse headquarters all night. Scores of physicians and nurses called in to offer their services, as well as numerousvolunteer helpers.Berkeley's Red Cross chapter.which has no ambulances, was not called upon, according to Mrs. Ralph Hoyt. Chapters in Walnut Creek, Richmond, Crockett and Oakland, however, were called i upon to provide aid. The Albany-u.. ■__a. a__: I i__SWAMPED WITH CALLSThen the calls from frightened, furious and curious citizens started pouring in. Some were highly irate over the blast, complaining about early working hours and no sleep; others wanted to know if it was a bombing attack or an earthquake; others reported suspicious noises and demanded the police come to investigate, saying: “Somebody is trying to break into my home.”Then KQCE police station at the county sheriff's office in Martinez radioed the following terse announcement to the Berkeley folice station at about 10:30 p.m.“Calling Berkeley Police. Calling KSW. We wish to report aing citizens who met in the City Hall last night at the invitation of Mayor Fitch Robertson and City Manager Vander Ende.Included in the group were many members of the original “Committee of 26 Citizens” appointed by the Council in May, 1942, to pass on wartime emergency needs of the city before the Charter amendment subsequently approved by the voters was submitted to the electorate. The amendment increased the General Fund tax limit for “duration” of the war from $1 to a maximum of $1.47.Establishment of the special fund in the 1944-45 budget willallow the city to take advantageof already allocated State and possible Federal funds for the purchase of sites and development of plans for important post-war projects, Vander Ende informed the group last night.He contemplates a total city tax rate of $1.68, compared with last year's levy of $1.80. Slash in the rate is possible despite establishment of the new fund, hePortable LightsSent to Area by(Continued on Page 8. Column 51Sailors Flee AfterStolen Car Smash-UpPolice today afe searching for two unidentified sailors who es-Fire DepartmentLight, as well as medical men and women, was the crying need at the Port Chicago disaster, because all lighting wires were down, power was off and Navy personnel as well as Civil Defense squads were obliged to work in the dark.Fire Chief William Meinheit of the Berkeley Fire Department sent a 1500-candlepower portable light unit to the scene in command of Assistant Chief Bert LeStrange. Chief Meinheit personally reported to local Disaster Plan headquarters. Firemen off duty stood ready to go to Port Chicago in event fire broke out again.One report came over theshort wave radio that three freight cars loaded with high explosives had caught fire, but this was not verified. Fire department officials in Martinez informed Fire Chief Meinheit that it was only a miracle that .a conflagration did not follow in the wake of the explosion.Fortunately there was little fire. Water pressure was practically nil in some sections ofTl* In Pnrf C7H U/fltprBy LYLE C. WILSON1J. P. Staff CorraipondcntCONVENTION HEADQUARTERS, Chicago, July 18 — Vice-President Henry A. Wallace made up his mind today to come here to direct personally his sagging campaign for renomination in the face of entrenched opposition by conservative delegates to the Democratic national convention.Wallace disclosed his, intentions in response to an urgent request from Chairman Jake More of the Iowa delegation that he hurry to Chicago “and shake hands with the folks.”Wallace's telegraphed reply said: “I shall be with you Wednesday morning. Thanks.”More’s request was in a letter which was read to Wallace in Washington by telephone. The More letter followed publication of President Roosevelt’s now famous missive to Sen. Samuel D. Jackson of Indiana, in which Mr. Roosevelt—in effect—told the convention to do its own picking of a vice presidential candidate.ificalmBirnPiPiajCONFUSED CANDIDATEMore told Wallace he was the people’s choice for vice president, but that “there is much confusion in this convention.” He told the vice president that “there is an awful jam of fellows” trying to tell the delegates “what to do”—i.e., to pick somebody besides Wallade.Meanwhile, the vice presidential situation continued, as More put ih to be confused.Sen. Joseph F. Guffey of Penn-ai8TirO!ao:tlnbvfiGwonf:tksvFbr[Continued on Pare 5, Column 4]• i2rFSiat
Newspaper Details
Berkeley Daily Gazette
Berkeley, California, US
Tue, Jul 18, 1944
Page 8
Full Page
Clipped by
Los A.
CA, USA 31 May 2019
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