The Locomotive - Lighthouse Survival Blog

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of tlu; boiler nnd only esc!i])(Ml scalrlinj^ on iiccouiit of the Kinall Jimount of water in the
l)()iler. William Miller had two ril)S l)roken by one of the tirebox doors, and George
White was badly hurt in the urni. Frank Willits, the engineer, received slight bruises
on tlie back.
Gin (307). On Nov. 24th the steam l)oilerof the J.,ove llancoek gin at Fulbright, in
lied River county, near Paris, Tex., exploded. Mr. Hancock was at the engine at the
lime. His body was badly scalded and blown some distance against a log pile. His
^iioulder and jaw bone were broken. The engine-room was blown to atoms. A sheet
of tlie boiler and some of the l)rieks were blown fully 150 yards. The flues, with the
two ends of the boiler, were carried al)out 100 yards and driven three feet into the
ground.
DuY Goods Stouk (208). The steam-heating boiler in the basement of Erickson's
dry goods store, in Escanaba, Mich., exploded on Nov. 24th, breaking all the glass in the
l)uilding. The fire department was called to extinguish the fire, and checked it before
any serious damage resulted. Mr. Erickson was standing directly over the boiler and
was thrown up to the ceiling, but was not badly injured. None of the clerks were hurt.
The interior of the building was badly wrecked. The loss will be $3,000.
He.\ter (209). The pay car of the Kuoxville, Cumberland Gap & Louisville rail-
road left Knoxville, Tenn., on Nov. 25th, to pay off employes on the line. On the car
were Paymaster Richard P. Johnson, Car Accountant Ralph Laxton, and Prof. E. S.
Wertz of the Knoxville Classical School. They sat by the steam heater, and as the car
came near Washburne station the heater exploded. Paymaster Johnson was seated
nearest the heater and escaped uninjured. Mr. Laxton was fatally hurt, his skull being
fractured, his left arm broken, and he is paralyzed on the right side. Prof. Wertz re-
ceived a cut on the right side of his head, and his skull is thought to be fractured.
Lumber Mill, (210). The safety-valve of the boiler of the John Schrocder lumber
company, in Milwaukee, Wis., blew off [presumably off the boiler] on Nov. 25th, and
August Boettcher, Fred. Brandt, and Fred. Zabel, laborers, were severely scalded about
the face and hands by the escaping steam. Brandt died on Nov. 26th, and Zabel died
on Nov. 28th. In both cases death resulted from inhaling the steam, and not from the
scalds the men received on their bodies. Boettcher, now the only survivor of the acci-
dent, lies at the Emergency hospital in a critical condition with the chances against his
recovery.
Locomotive (211).
Engine 542, of the Lehigh division of the Philadelphia & Read-
ing railroad, exploded her boiler on Nov. 30th, at the colliery at Brownsville, near Shen-
andoah, Pa. Engineer William Barry vpas instantly killed, and Simon Neifert, fireman,
was badly scalded, and may also die. No definite cause is assigned for the explosion,
but a theory advanced is that the stay-bolts had become weakened.
Saw-Mill (212). A boiler exploded on Nov. 30th, in the saw-mill owned and
operated by Horace DeWitt, about one mile East of Bear Creek, near Kelloggsville,
V. Y. Fred DeWitt, aged 18, the son of Horace DeWitt, was in charge of the boiler
when it exploded, and was the only one near it. He was thrown over a log, and
another log was thrown across his body. It was found that his face and head were
badly cut, and he was bruised in many places. It is feared that he was injured inter-
nally. Parts of the boiler and engine were thrown ten rods.