Terror Ruled Snake Hill
There were Hudson County penal and charitable institutions on Snake Hill, in Secaucus. The Almshouse, Penitentiary, and Hospital for the Insane, Contagious Diseases Hospital, and Tuberculosis Sanitarium, were all grouped on the north side of Snake Hill. When the fire and ensuing explosions started, the residents of Snake Hill began to panic, fearing the world was coming to an end. From the windows they could see what the warden later described as a big display of fireworks. As the 900+ inmates of the asylum grew more panicked, the superintendent, Dr. George W. King, and Dr. James Meehan, chairman of the Hospital committee figured a way to calm the residents. Dr. Meehan hurried to the hospital with supplies of ice cream, fruits and candies. The inmates were assembled in the lecture hall and they were told that the European War had ended and the explosions were detonations of big guns to celebrate the event.
Read more about this topic: Kingsland Explosion
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