Fire and smoke in great volumes were now seen rising above the
steel plant.
George ran to the telephone, but before he could shout "Exchange," a call
came for Colonel Harris from his night superintendent, who announced that
the engines and batteries of boilers had been blown up, and that all the
mills were on fire. The chief of police telephoned that he had sent one
hundred more police to the mills; the chief of the fire department
telephoned that ten steamers had been dispatched. George dropped the
telephone, kissed Gertrude, and on the back of her Kentucky saddle horse
flew into the darkness to direct matters at the mills as best he could.
The next morning's _Dispatch_ contained two full pages, headed,
"The Deadly Dynamite!
Frightful Loss of Life,
and
Destruction of Property
at
The Harrisville Iron & Steel Plant.
"One hundred employees were killed outright, and hundreds more were
wounded. All the mills were either burned or wrecked. Many women and
children were also injured. Five hundred tenement houses were damaged,
and the windows of most of the buildings within a half mile of the
mills were badly broken."
Next morning the citizens of Harrisville were wild with excitement.
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