The NY Times Reports the Washington Arsenal Explosion-- Part 1

From the June 18, 1864 New York Times "TERRIBLE EXPLOSION.; The Laboratory of the Washington Arsenal Destroyed Eighteen Persons Killed and Many Injured,  Further Particulars."

A Special Dispatch to the New-York Times--  Washington, Friday, June 17.

At 12, 17 working girls lost their lives and several others badly injured.  They were working in a one-story, four room building.  The girls in the east rooms managed to escaped by jumping out windows and running out the doors.  But, the ones in the western rooms were nearly all killed in the explosion.

Just before the blast, the girls had been read a letter thanking them for the $170 they'd raised to erect a memorial for victims of the arsenal explosion in Pittsburgh who had died in a similar event the year before.

--Old Secesh