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Newspaper/Newsletter/Online |
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The New London School Explosion
by W. T. Block
2002
In addition to the horrific losses that its
servicemen endured during World War II, East
Texas also suffered 2 natural disasters within
the World War decade. Two ships exploded in
Texas City on April 16, 1947, killing 576 people
and injuring 3,500. On March 18, 1937, the New
London, Texas school blew up, killing 298 of 540
students and teachers and 150 more were injured.
All of Texas cried a little that day.
The school exploded at 3:05 PM, only 10 minutes
before the final bell, which would have emptied
the building quickly. I recall that afternoon so
vividly because as soon as I returned from my
Enterprise-Journal route, I was asked to hawk
newspaper "extras" of the disaster at Nederland
Pharmacy. However, I did not realize the
enormity of the tragedy until I listened to the
radio at home.
New London, located in northwest Rusk County,
was one of the oil-rich school districts in the
world's biggest oil field, where 24,000 gushing
wells plummeted the price of petroleum to 10
cents a barrel. The 253-foot long building was
almost new, and many students were practicing
for the Interscholastic League meeting to be
held at Henderson the next day. Instead the
school went up in an explosion so devastating
that a 2-ton slab was blown 200 feet, and the
roof collapsed into a mound of broken concrete,
steel and bricks, with dozens of voices crying
out beneath to be rescued.
By nightfall, pleas for doctors, nurses, rescue
workers, ambulances, and lifting machinery were
broadcast in 4 states. Beaumont sent about 100
rescue workers, and oil field roughnecks brought
heavy machinery to lift out the roof steel,
broken walls, and construction timbers. All
hospitals sent medical supplies; doctors and
nurses arrived and worked in heavy rain to
alleviate suffering; and Gov. Allred rushed the
Texas Rangers and State Highway Patrol to the
scene.
Thirty morticians arrived to embalm the dead,
bringing loads of coffins with them. As a result
each of the dead students and teachers was
interred in individual coffins and graves; and
each with separate religious services.
The Texas Bureau of Mines soon began a board of
inquiry to investigate the cause of the
explosion. Until 2 months earlier, the school
had paid a monthly gas bill of about $300 to
United Gas Co. However, because nearby homes,
churches, and even schools purchased "green" oil
field gas from Parade Gas Company, the school
hired plumbers to hook up the school to the
"green gas" lines on Jan. 18th. Because the
plumbers left leaks, and "green gas" is
odorless, it began collecting in the hollow clay
tiles of the building's walls without anyone's
knowledge. And on March 18, a spark from a
sanding machine in the manual training
department set off the blast.
The New London explosion immediately brought
about changes in school construction, especially
in the 8-mile by 40-mile oil field. Another
result was passage of the 'state odorization
law,' which required that malodoronts be mixed
in with methane gas destined for commercial or
household use.
New London soon built its new school on an
adjoining site. Public indignation forced the
resignation of the school superintendent, even
though his son was killed in the explosion. More
than 70 law suits for damages resulted from the
explosion, but a district judge dismissed them
for lack of evidence that the school district or
builders had been negligent.
Today a granite cenotaph, sculpted by Beaumont's
Herring Coe, is erected on the blast site. The
explosion has a special significance for me
since my former art teacher at Port Neches was
killed in the disaster.
The author, W. T. Block, publishes two columns
weekly in the Enterprise as well as writing for
three other newspapers. |
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Boone County, AR - Daily News |
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Boone County, AR - Daily News March 19, 1937
From microfilm copies click on image for full
size scan |
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