 Howe, Texas The Kingston Daily Freeman
Tuesday, October 31, 1939 pg.2 400 ESCAPE IN BLAST Howe - Grayson County, Texas, October 31 - Four hundred school children, three of their number slightly injured, were driven from classrooms today by an explosion which raised the floor of one room 6", but left the rest of the building untouched. Jack Calloway, about 16, apparently sitting directly over the spot where the explosion centered, was cut and bruised. His fountain pen was blown against the ceiling, splattering it with ink. Russel Bryant, Howe newspaperman, said gas accumulated under the floor of the one room apparently was ignited. The Denison Press Tuesday, October 31, 1939 pg. 1 EXPLOSION AT HOWE SCHOOL INJURES FOUR Howe, Texas, Oct. 31 - A gas explosion at 9:30 this morning seriouly injured one student and caused severe cuts and bruises to three other students in the public school building here. The injured are Jack Calloway, dislocated jaw and other severe bruises. His condition is critical. Others receiving cuts and bruises are Mary Jane Boozer, John Robert Coleman and Hansell Smith. The explosion occurred in the science and laboratory room located on the northeast corner of the building and is the only one having a gas line underneath the floor. Inspection of the gas had been made October 10th, it is reported and found to be all right at the time. The theory is that earth had so affected the pipe as to open a leak, allowing the gas to come up in the room. The explosion first lifted the ceiling and then blew out the walls and windows and window framing. All glass in the windows was blown to bits. Other parts of the building were not damaged. Treatment is being given the injured students, and at noon the extent of young Calloway's injuries had not been determined. The value of fire drills helped students clear the school building after the explosion Tuesday morning. Supt. W.E. Wheeler, who was in his office near the center of the building, rushed into the hall upon hearing the explosion. Seeing the high school students rushing from their rooms, he held up his hands to stop them and cried, "Fire drill, Form lines." Immediately the rushing stopped and students marched quietly out, clearing the building in less than 2 minutes. Immediately after the explosion, 20 stoves in the building turned off as well as the gas cut off from the building lines at the meter. (The Howe Messenger, Friday, November 3, 1939, pg. 1) Thoughts of the New London School disaster were uppermost in people's minds as the news of an explosion at Howe School building spread. Funeral homes from all over north Texas called to offer ambulances if needed; some towns sent amublances without calling. Dallas, McKinney, Sherman and Denison police departments called, offering to send officers if needed for patrol duty. The Captain of the State Highway patrol dispatched 3 car loads of highway police upon hearing the news. The United Press had been the first to wire the news about 15 minutes after the explosion The first of out-of-town newsmen to arrive on the scene were from neighboring towns. Visitors thronged to Howe Tuesday afternoon expecting to see a fully demolished school building based on embellished raido reports. (The Howe Messenger, Friday, November 3, 1939, pg. 1) The Howe Messenger Friday, November 3, 1939 pg. 1 GAS EXPLOSION DAMAGES HOWE SCHOOL Gas Danger Thought To Be Avoided In Building Installation Plans Altered After New London Disaster Installation of gas lines in the Howe school building was to believed to be of the safest type and to preclude all possibility of an explosion such as occurred Tuesday, it was recalled this week. Plans for piping the building and for heating equipment were altered to conform to new state requirements that were made law following the New London disaster, members of the board of trustees said. The main from which all heaters were fed encircles the building being buried about 18" deep and in no place closer than 2' to the building. Individual lines lead off from this main to each of the room heaters coming up on the outside of the building and entering the wall just above the floor. A floor ventilator is in the wall just above the pipe entrance and back of the heaters. Ventilators are also placed at regular intervals around the building to allow any gas which might possibly get under the floor to escape. LINES UNDER TWO ROOMS Only 2 rooms in the building have gas lines under the floor and those are required by the department of education regulations. The science room in which the explosion occurred is one of the rooms, burners being required at the laboratory tables for use in experiments. It was at first thought that one of those lines must have broken to cause the gas accumulation but tests of the lines Tuesday afternoon showed them to be intact even after the explosion. The other room under which gas lines are laid is the home economics room where gas is used for the cook stoves. The school building which had been completed in September 1938 at a cost of $56,000 with $25,000 furnished by district bond sales and the rest supplied by the WPA. At first the damage to the building was thought to be slight, but Dallas architect Hoke Smith cautioned school officials that damage was possibly damaged more than at first inspection. No explosion insurance was carried on the school building, believing that the installation of the gas lines was believed to have been sufficient enough to not require explosion insurance. However, the building was protected against damage from war insurrection or rioting. School was dismissed Tuesday afternoon and to be resumed the following Monday so that damages could be inspected and repairs made to the building. (The Howe Messenger, Friday, November 3, 1939, pg. 1) One class, under the care of W.B. Montgomery, had already been held in the science classroom on Tuesday morning; the odor of gas was noticed upon which he ordered the windows raised A fire had been burning in the classroom heater earlier in the day. The explosion occurred about 10 minutes into the time of second period. Jack Calloway was the most seriously injured of the 5 hurt, having a fractured chin, dislocated jaw, and cuts and bruises. He was returned to the hospital Wednesday morning and was being fed through the nose. Twenty-five Freshmen escaped death or serious injury when the gas explosion rocked the science room Tuesday morning. The science room was a wreck with chairs, tables and laboratory scattered all over the floor. All windows on the north side were blown out along with their frames. The floor was buckled in the center of the room; a built-in cabinet on the east wall was badly wrecked. The south wall was blown outward. Students who sat in the rear of the room said the blast came with no warning and those in front of the room including the teacher, Cass R. Thompson, were thrown to the ceiling along with the chairs and tables. Upon examination a break was found in the gas line outside the building. Shifting of the ground during the drought may have twisted the pipe enough to cause the break. ("Five Students Hurt as Science Room Wrecked". The Howe Messenger. Friday, November 3, 1939, pg. 8) Howe school re-opened Monday, November 6. Repairs on the school were in progress. A policy was instituted that req uired the reading of the gas meter each evening after all fires had been extinguished and again in the morning before lighting the heaters. The procedure was meant to show of any leaks that developed in the future. (The Howe Messenger, Friday, November 10, 1939, pg. 1) Howe School History Susan Hawkins © 2024 If you find any of Grayson CountyTXGenWeb links inoperable, please send me a message. |