Another Powder Explosion.
By Editor
SUNDAY afternoon, the 21st, the citizens of Oakland, San Francisco, and neighboring towns, were startled by a series of explosions. A cloud of dense smoke in the north soon revealed the fact that the Giant Powder Works at West Berkeley, about six miles distant, had blown up. There were seven distinct reports, at each of which the buildings in the city shook as with an earthquake. Investigation showed that one white man and between twenty and thirty Chinamen were killed. There have been many explosions at these works before, but nothing so severe as this. In this connection we cannot refrain from noticing that there is on all sides a growing disregard of human life. The rapidly increasing number of frightful accidents, shows great recklessness on the part of those on whose faithfulness many lives depend. We think we cannot be accused of straining a point when we say that this negligence is a sign of the times. Men in these last days are "lovers of their own selves;" and to the degree that they are wrapped up in themselves, they disregard other people's welfare. Another thing that is an invariable accompaniment of these powder explosions is worthy of note as showing how the lives of a despised race are regarded. If one speaks to his neighbor about the frightful loss of life, the reply will be, "Yes; but they were all Chinamen."