The blast was so powerful it tore a crater into the earth and nearly demolished a nearby house.
In a hop yard near Independence, Oregon, two young men were killed instantly when dynamite being thawed in hot water suddenly exploded. Curtis Baker had been helping grub stumps from the land. His friend, Gilbert McCabe, had only come to the farm for a visit.
A portion of the dynamite detonated first. The concussion then set off the rest of the 100 pounds of explosives nearby.
Baker and McCabe were thrown more than 150 feet. The two men, both well known in Independence, were killed in a scene so violent that their bodies could scarcely be recognized.
Two other men standing nearby escaped without injury.
Fearful Death By Dynamite Explosion
INDEPENDENCE, Oregon. — Two young men, Curtis Baker and Gilbert McCabe, were blown to pieces in the hop yard of a man named Burton near here this morning from an explosion of dynamite which was being thawed in a pail of hot water.
Burton, a man named Woods and Baker were grubbing stumps. McCabe was a friend of Baker’s who had gone to the farm on a visit. One hundred pounds of dynamite had been taken along to blast the stumps, and a portion of this had been put in a pail of hot water to thaw. This portion suddenly exploded and the concussion discharged the balance of the 100 pounds.
McCabe and Baker were hurled a distance of more than 150 feet. Their limbs were torn from their bodies, which were disemboweled, and their faces were blackened and mangled beyond recognition.
Burton and Woods escaped unhurt.
A house standing several yards away was almost demolished and the earth where the accident occurred is torn up to a depth of four feet over a radius of 40 feet.
Both McCabe and Baker lived here and were well thought of.
Source: The Morning Astorian. Astoria, Oregon. March 6, 1904.
