Fuel Blast Wrecks Room in Matthews

An explosion almost as powerful as a three-inch shell shattered a room in Matthews Hall Saturday night.

Henry A. Bunker '58 and Harold R. Andrews '58, members of the M.I.T. Rocket Club, were heating ammonium hydroxide and picric acid in an attempt to make rocket fuel. The mixture apparently reached its explosion point, 360 degrees Centigrade, before the students could halt it.

The blast destroyed eight window panes and drove splinters of steel and glass into the walls of the room. Twelve fire engines and 30 policemen converged on Matthews. Rescue operations were delayed when the fire department placed its ladder up the wrong side of the building.