Yesterday morning, at 6:20 a.m., the tenants of the building located at 58, rue de la Chaussée-d'Antin, were awakened with a start by a tremendous explosion that shook the building. The noise also woke the tenants of all the neighboring buildings. Opaque smoke, clouds of dust and rubble spread across the courtyard of the building. A strong smell of gas mingled with it.

The firefighters from the barracks on rue Blanche, who rushed to the scene in all haste, only had to fight the beginnings of a fire that was quickly extinguished and drown the rubble.

Members of the senior staff of the Gas Company and the C.P.D.E. who arrived on the scene were preparing to give the necessary instructions to save the equipment in the cellars when a second tremendous explosion occurred. This one happened in the basement of the building numbered 62. Access to the completely demolished cellars had become impossible. The explosion caused particularly significant damage to the shop of Mr. Cauderlier, optician, and the brasserie of Mr. Vernet, which is on the corner of Rue de la Victoire.
The trapdoor and the door of the brasserie staircase were blown away and the explosion demolished the front over a length of fifty meters. The waiter, Mr. Eugène Degorce, twenty-five years old, living at 8, rue Ganneron, was found injured. Transported to Lariboisière, his condition was not considered serious.

Inside the brasserie, everything was devastated. The damage is estimated at 350,000 francs. In the shop of Mr. Cauderlier, optician, the tiles of the store were lifted to a height of 0.80 m.
Cameras and optical instruments were destroyed by the explosion. But since the staff had not yet arrived, there were no casualties.

Next door, the shop of Mrs. Pauline, a milliner, also suffered greatly. The glass roof of the workshop was completely destroyed. And on the sixth floor of the same building a glass veranda was also broken and a door torn off.

The first results of the investigation by the gas and electricity staff suggest that an underground electrical cable touching a gas pipe caused a short circuit, melting the lead in the pipe and igniting the escaping gas. The damage must exceed two million.

In photos

EXTERIOR APPEARANCE OF THE BRASSERIE, WHOSE WINDOWS ARE BROKEN. THE TILES OF THE OPTICIAN'S SHOP, ONE OF THE WINDOWS OF THE OPTICIAN'S SHOP.