Rensselaer Republican, Volume 27, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 February 1896 — SLAIN BY DYNAMITE. [ARTICLE]

SLAIN BY DYNAMITE.

Explosion Loya Part of Johannesburg in Ruins. An explosion of dynamite has occurred at Viondendorp and the poor quarter of Joh a n nesburg. -'blown to pieces. The wnijdows of every • house lutohw city were broken-by ths force of the concussion. The scene of Uhe explosion is the old town amFis fortunately at a distance from the main business and retotom c portion of the dry. It was inhabited largely by Kaffirs, the dwellings being of an inferior order for the most part. The explosion caused much eycitMnent at first because of the recent disturbances in the Transvaal and the fear thaf It might have been due to a political coup. There-Wa-stolmrefore a general turning out of the guard s to see that-no violence followed the wreck. The cause was soon learned and the excitement subsided in a measure. It rose again when the fearful nature of the catastrophe became known. The portion cf the city demolished was thickly populated, although there were comparatively few whites who lived there. The dynamite which caused the catastrophe tilled eight trucks, which were being shunted. The explosion caused an idimense’hole thirty feet deep. Every house within- a radius of half a mile of the explosion was-t’azed to the ground. Forty dead, nearly all terribly mutilated, have been taken from ruins. Two hundred of the most severely injured were admitted to the hospital, where several died.