CA CA - Los Angeles County, WhtFem 225UFCA 1 of 2 Children killed by dynamite, 1921-1951

[LaborDayRN]

What reasons would there be for sticks of dynamite to be lying around?

Dynamite was commonly used while building dams. Maybe they came across some that was left behind and it was very unstable.

Nitroglycerin is a powerful and unstable explosive that Alfred Nobel used in his invention of dynamite in the mid 1800s. Nobel developed this easily handled explosive to great benefit in his heavy construction businesses (roads, tunnels, etc.).

Does Old dynamite become unstable?
Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867 [7]. The classical dynamite explosives are not very safe since they contain much NG. NG by itself is a very strong explosive, and in its pure form it is extremely shock-sensitive, and degrades over time to even more unstable forms.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/nitroglycerin

 

[Springrain]

Dynamite was commonly used while building dams. Maybe they came across some that was left behind and it was very unstable.

Nitroglycerin is a powerful and unstable explosive that Alfred Nobel used in his invention of dynamite in the mid 1800s. Nobel developed this easily handled explosive to great benefit in his heavy construction businesses (roads, tunnels, etc.).

Does Old dynamite become unstable?
Dynamite was invented by Alfred Nobel in 1867 [7]. The classical dynamite explosives are not very safe since they contain much NG. NG by itself is a very strong explosive, and in its pure form it is extremely shock-sensitive, and degrades over time to even more unstable forms.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/engineering/nitroglycerin

Thanks for the info! This makes sense since they were by a dam.

 

[Friday Fan]

Someone who had a career in forensic photography didn't label them?
That's really strange.

I look at old photos and they tend to have good labels...Such as: "Brown's Dam looking North East, July 1st, 1906"


It's very strange that the photographer did not date the photos.


Maybe the image being discussed is a copy that was undated?


Maybe the children were identified and this just happened to a copy laying around.

 

[Triss]

Do we know where the children are buried? Or is the photograph the only thing we have in this case?
I was thinking that a new reconstruction could be done on the girl and that the boy's DNA could be used to see what he might've looked like in life, but on the other hand their case is old. It's so old that anyone who knew them is probably already dead, even if the picture is from 1951.

 

[Friday Fan]

Do we know where the children are buried? Or is the photograph the only thing we have in this case?
I was thinking that a new reconstruction could be done on the girl and that the boy's DNA could be used to see what he might've looked like in life, but on the other hand their case is old. It's so old that anyone who knew them is probably already dead, even if the picture is from 1951.

Carl says that they are very likely cremated because that is what Los Angeles County did back then.

 

[Springrain]

Carl says that they are very likely cremated because that is what Los Angeles County did back then.

If I'm not mistaken, they still do that with UIDs.

I have to wonder if these kids are for a fact unidentified. Maybe they were identified soon after?

 

[pixiepixel]

A while back I did a thorough search of Los Angeles County death certificates from ‘21-‘51. No hits on any two does who died the same day, or even within a few days of each other, aside from causes like drowning or hanging. So, it’s my belief that either these kids were identified and their death certificates amended with their real names, OR this photo came from a friend in another police department. Either way I do not believe there are two unidentified children in LA county.

 

[rainwaterstill]

What reasons would there be for sticks of dynamite to be lying around?

Off the top of my head-
1) road construction. Having to blast through or away a mountain; levelling part of the very hilly uneven ground where a nice smooth straight paved roadway is supposed to go according to the construction plans.

2) Stone quarry to blast the stone free.

3) building dams. The following is from Wikipedia about building the Hoover Dam.
"The men who removed this rock were called "high scalers". While suspended from the top of the canyon with ropes, the high-scalers climbed down the canyon walls and removed the loose rock with jackhammers and dynamite. " Hoover Dam - Wikipedia

4) farming
"Stumps and large rocks were both great impediments to cultivation and were obvious targets for reduction by dynamite. However, as the books pointed out, “When you have a tree to fell, a ditch to be dug, land to be drained, logs to be split, a well, cistern, or cellar to be dug, or more important still, trees to be planted or land that needs subsoiling,” dynamite was the answer." Remembering the Days of Farming with Dynamite - Farm Collector

5) mining

 

[SisterGrimm]

How do we know they are both children? It would be difficult to believe two kids vanished without being identified. But if they're young adults I could see them being less of a concern for their whereabouts.

 

[Deenie1963]

The more I look at the picture, the more I think that the 'pointedness' is actually distortion in the photo.

Anyway, I looked a bit on wikipedia, and it seems that Loafers weren't really made on a larger scale in the US until at least the mid thirties. In any case, I am almost leaning towards the footwear being some sort of slippers, rather than shoes.

I was just looking at images of old advertisements of mens foot attire from the 1930’s and I began leaning towards the young males shoes actually being a pair of slippers too.

 

[Kamiko123132]

If this is a dynamite kill (Dont have any access to the book at all but i read everything what everyone has said and this is why i think happened) The boy and the girl had to have been walking around the dam BEFOre they even found it Most likey the boy found the dam and prob told the girl to come over and see. the boy prob saw it and didn't think anything of it as the boy had grabbed a stick most likey this dam had to be around a forest of some sort or woods something that could contain trees or sticks. I don't know how bombs work so yea he prob was just messing with the bomb with the stick then it exploded in his face. Which would make sense on why his head and upper part of his body was badly injured For the girl I don't remember what side of her face was Hurt. But theres two ways either she backed up and got caught meaning something from the bomb got to her and hurt her.