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HISneerntToYear•The Great mpany an*ic.torlea /man,. Neb* Id not oper-Two Blazing Ammunition Cars Give Grand Junction Shelling, Damaging Buildings and Badly Injuring Fouruted It# *c-sugar beetealdent and any, said Ineet acreage' no alterna* ■ta|n factor-of acreage view of .the nd ■ the in* utock feeds ar' beet • by-ald the cloa* lea comes af* iiiuous oper-a plant, oper-Lovell plant-yman planti to tranafor nancntly em-stories to oth-as possible,0 declined to aid It is dif-,vhy the gov-to - tako the ecmo a full me when that itloned.1 contracted cent of theor last year.' )0 ncrca of r, the Great or contractor.511S[.Any it Dayen sprinkling hours on thel many parts water depart-holders to heed sprinkling o effect, from from 4 p. m’.lt;£ . the . cards, •d as a warn* sle, water de*a.In Detroitrcss)Ul emergency : ‘ in Detroitig of - a week r by Governor inllUury au-PrcilGrand Junction, Colo., June 28.—A large aectlon of Grpnd June* tlon WHShowered by *Hrapi)el and threatened.by fir© early Sunday when two freight car* of munttlon* caught tire and exploded at the west end of Main itreet. • • • .Explosions of shells continued for about four and a half hours, Denver and 'RIo’.Grande rallrohd officials said today the fire was caused by sparks flying from a defective brake Just as the freight train pulled Into town about 2 a. m. Sharp reports jwqke.the community abort I y thereafter.The freak damage, done by the explosions la comparable to -cyclonic'dam«ge, declared Clarence Kurtz^ hardware and lumber dealer. ^Demolition crews were disposing of shells which landed withoutexploding. • .■ Army ordnance officer* and railroad men began an Investigation. On© theory was that a hot box on ore of the.car* started ths: ' Firemen could not get near’enough to the burning cars to effectively b*ttt* the blaze,, because cf the flying ammunition frag-mente.. . . •Chief Downing.was standing at the corner of a large building near the tracks when a'-shel! dug Into The ground about 36 feet away, and exploded.'Somo of th© particles tor© gaping holes Into the building's metal .wall. Downing walked two blocks before he was picked up and taken to a hospital.’ m ;-• - On© piece of shell punctured a residence roof and landed on bed In whloh Betty Lee Barber had been sleeping, and scorched s pillow..The family had. gone to the front porch,Some of the shells whined toward the city's business district to the east, and Into residential .sections without exploding.The exploding shells sent shrapnel boring Into roofs and walls over a:wide section of the city. Many of the deadly fragments fell ’ harmlessly,'however, In a comparatively open section southwest of the city. . ‘ - . ' ,.Confused explanations were offered, as townsmen flocked to the brilliantly lighted explosion area. Some said they IhoiSght an enemy attack was underway; others that this western Colorado town was being shot up In wild west fashion..* Flames were beginning to creep thru the floor of ore of the cars when't got there, Lowe' said. The fir© would flare up, then die down. Then there would be more explosions. We could hear th* shells' whistling by. Bits of metal dropped *11 around, and they spattered against roofs like hall. .pjbllo utility lines In the area were put out of comm salon fora short ttme. . .Kurtr,.an official of the BlggaKurfz Hardware and the Independent Lumber company said we really didn’t see how that section of town would get thru,When the explosions were at their heaviest we thought sure, our building would catch fJre and our. ec|ulpmeiH lie ruined. We-were fortunate that the shells cocnlitfl thru the roofs of our buildings ,and landing on the cement floors didn’t explode. SheHs came thru our cyclone fence, and In one case hit an Iron post and cut it completely off.“A twisted shell which had already exploded tore-Its way thru ore of the roofs adjoining the office of the lumber company and left a clean inclscn JU6t the size of the shell. The night watchman remained In th© ofMce building during *11 the explosions, Dpmage to roofs Is great In all of our buildings,'but we cpn’t determine the ; amount until all live shells hav© been removed and a thorough examination made. -An unidentified arniy sergeant joined-0lie* . and. firemen, m urging-bystander* to be careful. If. you had been at Guadalcanal,• you would know what youreup against henj with *!l.fhls-ammu-:nltlorcn fire,'he said.'* v” - -V“The blast* sounded I Ik*'a battle, with* thi explosions from th* :: second car louder jind heavier than thVfirst and fire* blaxirig high*• • err s,aid Lieut.'Albert Frailer of the police department.“We had a terrible time keeping . people from picking up. un-• exploded shells for souvenirs.'It was easy to handJe the crowd,tho, for most of them were Scared enough to reallzfl'lha.dangerJ'vFJre ChlefCharle* Downing, most seriously Tnjured, was taken• to a hospital for amputation of his right arm *bov« the elbow after an exploding shell had shattered the arm.- ' Bob Walraven, a railroad worker, possible Jaw fracture and lac* eratlons. *Mrs. Virginia Buckley, arm Injury; Henry Tebg, city fireman, leg Injury. 'Gordon A. Nicholson, special agent for th* federal bureau of •• (Continued on rage-4)ILS. Battleships La Salle Gunner,nl rr. TT____Coal DiBeing RStill Sta2 Minor Acci In Traffic \N•Two week- end on the streets.i police. Sunday on tween Eighth qi BerL. EUrtnan, II an auto driver, ’ tho 'curb. Nilo .; Ninth street,, w: hlCycie. In tho c rider was shaken to the hospital fo released.Minor .accident 80C block- on Ter cars driven by I dahl, Hastings, N Barta, 13 FourteiAllied FOn Big In Dayli(T*ondon, Juno of United States tacked targets 1 day.The first, brj from hondquartei theater of operat States nr my tlid and gave no del air victories.The acliou, pa cluck aerial oife ing intensity, fo sweep In whichTyphr»ou3 annk 1 forced another mopped threo ul const. •'Tho air inltilst 130 acres in the city of Boehmn * the RAF raid Jur “Nino Industrl three oC them c orlty, wore of fee tho report Bald buildings have Bcrlously damag'. . (A5^6v*l!London,..Juneof- Allied -ran' watchers .to'.im bombers, -swept England lntq to after morning- ! two German ph on a beach and ers to a .stands coast.Tho drum of machines coutimm tea as the big toward tho cont log no and Calal Coastal wntci apparently had because no bon this aide.Tbe RAF cinpHurricanes agfAV I AllHfl ■*
Newspaper Details
Greeley Daily Tribune
Greeley, Colorado, US
Mon, Jun 28, 1943
Page 1
Full Page
Clipped by
Anonymous
USA 07 Jun 2019
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