Scenes in Lyndhurst, New Jersey after explosion in the Canadian Car and Foundry Company in Kingsland (in Meadowlands of New Jersey) during World War 1. The company built shells for shipment to Russia in World War I. Over 500,000 shells were destroyed in the blast and fire, bombarding the surrounding areas in Kingsland - Lyndhurst. Black smoke rising in the distance, at night, seen from the coast. Close views of industrial buildings and homes on fire. Night views of homes and buildings engulfed in flames. People walk through smoking wreckage afterwards and pick through debris. Devastation covers area flattened by explosion and fire. Twisted railroad tracks covered by debris. A pile of munitions shells in a heap in the burned out shell of a building. View of the D.L.&W (Delaware, Lackawanna & Western) Railroad Shops building at Kingsland (now Lyndhurst), with DL&W train car 605 parked in front. Railroad Shops building is pitted with holes and broken glass from 3-inch shell bombardment. Two men inspect a damaged railroad car with broken glass and a 3-inch shell embedded in the side of the car. A heavily damaged residential house with holes and blown-out windows, and a shell embedded in the front door. Citizens pick through wreckage in front of a building where only cement pilings remain. Scene shifts to Perth Amboy area, October 1918. View of displaced families made homeless by the T.A. Gillespie Shell Loading Plant explosion (Morgan Depot Explosion; largest munitions factory in the world). Refugees sit in a town square. Men, women, and children among the refugees. An Army soldier and Navy sailor seen near refugees as they eat and drink. View of Smith Street in Perth Amboy with shops damaged by the blast. Under Martial Law, U.S. Army troops patrol with rifles to prevent looting. Pedestrians and a streetcar pass. Sign along sidewalk for entrance to Michaels & Co. at 178 Smith Street. (Suspected cause of incidents: Gillespie - worker error; Kingsland - sabotage as in the 1916 Black Tom explosion.)
1924 Democratic National Convention, at Madison Square Garden in New York City from June 24 to July 9, 1924. The alphabetical process of nominating candidates begins with Alabama and Forney is seen Johnston, putting Senator Oscar Underwood's name into consideration. View of men at the podium. Bernard Baruch, a supporter of William McAdoo, is seen standing in background. View of the crowded Madison Square Garden, filled with delegates. Some carry a banner reading: "Wilson 1916 for McAdoo 1924." The various State delegations are identified by signs with their State names on them. Kentucky, Massachusetts, and Hawaii (U.S. territory) are seen. As the camera pans the gathering, many more State signs are seen. Outside , in Madison Square Park, a loudspeaker is set up on a truck and a crowd is gathered to listen to events. Back inside Franklin D. Roosevelt, Al Smith's campaign manager, is seen giving a speech nominating Smith for President. Supporters hold up Posters displaying Smith's picture. Closeups of some of the banners. Ticker tape being thrown to celebrate the end of the convention, which ended on July 9th after the 103rd vote finally carried for compromise candidate, John W. Davis of West Virginia. Governor Charles W. Bryan of Nebraska was selected as the vice-presidential nominee.
U.S. aviators of the 1st Aero Squadron pose in front of a Curtiss JN-3 airplane their base in Columbus, New Mexico, in 1916. The rest of their aircraft are lined up, parked, side by side. Scene shifts abruptly to views of camp below, from an airplane flying above it. Pilot is seen in open cockpit.
United States soldier blows bugle in front of barracks. U.S. Army Soldiers descend stairs and line up. Sergeant calls names of soldiers, from a list to determine their presence. Soldiers stand in line with rifles in hand
Soldiering for Uncle Sam (United States) at a training camp. United States Army soldiers exercise on the grounds of an Army base, building strength and physical endurance. Soldiers perform synchronized exercises or calisthenics. The American flag flutters on a building, in the background.
Group of United States Army soldiers engaged in bayonet exercise and rifle drills on training ground in the United States. The soldiers exercise with rifles in hand.