{"id":2289,"date":"2012-11-14T12:55:00","date_gmt":"2012-11-14T12:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=2289"},"modified":"2015-01-08T17:17:28","modified_gmt":"2015-01-08T22:17:28","slug":"behind-this-picture-lies-a-tragic-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/14\/behind-this-picture-lies-a-tragic-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind this picture lies a tragic story"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"(Pittsburgh <\/a>
(Pittsburgh Press photo) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Nov. 17, 1927:<\/strong>\u00a0Behind this picture lies a tragic story. How that story ends is a mystery, one you may be able to help solve. These five children, dressed in their Sunday clothes, are siblings. Can you see a certain sadness in the eyes? A sense of shock? The picture was published in the Pittsburgh Press under the headline, \u201cBlast leaves five tots motherless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mary Cangelier was washing her family\u2019s laundry when one of the world\u2019s largest gas storage tanks exploded just a few blocks away, on Reedsdale Street on the city\u2019s North Side. Nearby buildings collapsed into heaps of debris; pieces of the steel tank rained down on the city\u2019s streets. The blast shattered thousands of windows, including those in the Cangelier home; one jagged piece of glass cut into Mary\u2019s leg with such force that it severed an artery. The 28-year-old mother bled to death.<\/p>\n

(Watch this video<\/a><\/strong> to learn more about the gas tank disaster.)<\/em><\/p>\n

The explosion killed 28 people. Most were workers on or near the gas tank and were either blown to pieces or were crushed by falling debris. A few days after the explosion, a Press photographer was summoned to take a picture of Mary\u2019s five children. They are, from left, Lena, 11; John, 9; Angelo, 7; Rose, 4; and Frances, 13.<\/p>\n

And what happened to the Cangelier children? We\u2019d like to know. If you have any information about the explosion or the family, please contact us<\/a><\/strong> and we\u2019ll share it on the Digs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How that story ends is a mystery, one you may be able to help solve.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesBehind this picture lies a tragic story<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":2290,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1066],"tags":[958,1244,1046,1048],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdedc2irjR1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C951&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1220,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/11\/13\/about-those-motherless-children\/","url_meta":{"origin":2289,"position":0},"title":"About those motherless children \u2026","date":"November 13, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"We realize this is but a partial history of a family rocked by one of the city\u2019s great tragedies. So much remains untold.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tumblr_mw67lmfi8h1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C755&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2272,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/20\/mysterious-war-planes-over-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":2289,"position":1},"title":"Mysterious war planes over Pittsburgh","date":"November 20, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"We\u2019d love to learn more. If you have any information that would help tell the story of this photograph, please contact us.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mdlqxvLksP1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=666%2C910&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7240,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/02\/16\/become-a-part-of-the-digs-add-your-story-to-pittsburghs-history\/","url_meta":{"origin":2289,"position":2},"title":"Become a part of the Digs — add your story to Pittsburgh’s history","date":"February 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"We're seeking pictures from Pittsburgh's past, and you may have what we're looking for.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/DigsNew002.jpg?fit=1200%2C783&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2104,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/01\/28\/tragic-explosion-on-excursion-steamer-island-queen\/","url_meta":{"origin":2289,"position":3},"title":"Tragic explosion on excursion steamer Island Queen","date":"January 28, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The monetary loss of the tragedy was estimated at $1,000,000.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/tumblr_mhb5j5AAmQ1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C840&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7265,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2017\/03\/03\/lucilles-big-day-at-a-blast-furnace\/","url_meta":{"origin":2289,"position":4},"title":"Lucille’s big day at a blast furnace","date":"March 3, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"A high school freshman got an amazing tour in 1957. We'd like to find her.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/BlastFurnace003-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C995&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2141,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/01\/15\/not-a-bad-picture-just-smog\/","url_meta":{"origin":2289,"position":5},"title":"Not a bad picture \u2014 just smog","date":"January 15, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Pittsburgh was once the smog champion.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/tumblr_mgnhstsiWx1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=968%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2289"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4533,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2289\/revisions\/4533"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}