The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-10-15 00:00:00

TERRIBLI2 BOILER EXPLOSION AT
BRIERLEY HILL.

I BIX MEN KILLED, AND MANY INICRED
At five minutes to ten o'clock on Tuesday ant
boiler crplosiou occurred at Messrs. Beavin kud
Freer'e ironworks, at Beockmeor, near Brierley Hill,
and shout. four mi,es from Dudley. Theefirm hal a
world-wide reputation, and is one of the oldest in
South Staffordshire. Its works are on the hieh road
beeween (towed Oak and Wordsley, and corteiet of
two guide milts, one large and one small; a mere h.
ale will, boiler-plate mill, and a street will. It was
in the portion known as the "new side" of the old'
works that the explosion occurred, and the greatest
amount of damage was done, In this portion of'
the establishment stood a 17ft Ra.twick boiler,
set up oa end and attached to two furnaces. It etas
9tt in diameter, and worked at a low pressure not
exceeding 3011)., and eves made about twenty years
ago, since which time it has heen under regular
inspection. At a few mitmtes to ten a lout report
was heard in the works, and in an instant the lights
were extinguished and the whole place filled with
team, clouds of smoke, dust, and debris ; whilst
seine ten or fifieen men were writhing in agony from
scales, bums, or bruises from the flying missiles.
As soon as possible lights were oetsinee, awl search
male for the sufferers. Mr. D Green. the general
manager, who lives near, heard 'the exploeien, but
thought at first it was at some other works in the
neighbourhood. He hurried from home to render
assistance, and then found that the calamity was at
Messrs. Brown and Fner's. More lfghts—princip-
ally torches—were obtained, and then Mr. Green
found that the setting of the boiler was completely
wrecked, the boiler blown away, and two heavy
columns near broken down by the force of the
explosion. The men from the other side OA iablish-
. ment were soon hard at the work of restate, and
- near the site of the exploded boiler they found the
lifeless boeiers of George Hussey and Joseph Bsck-
ley, puddl rs. Both were terribly burnt and scalded
all over their bodies, and Becklsy's Lead was
smasited by the fall of one Of the heavy columns
already alluded to. In other parts of the works
shrieks and groans were heard from ten or twelve
men who had been scalded or otherwise injured. Mr
terissold, the chief manager, was soon on the spot,
and Dr. Aehme td and Dr. Ellis having been sum-
moned as soon as the disaster occurred promptly
attended The next mat to be found was James
Clues!, who wss working the engine, and as he lived
close by he was removed to his house. A man
namel Samuel 11•_es, who was scalded from head to
foot, was taken out, nothwithstaidine his wretched
, condition ho exprewsed his intention of walking home
and he dil so through the f.-oety and bi!terly cold
nieht. Tee unforatuate man died on Wednesday
morning, alter severe sutferine. As the other men
were f und they were pieced in conveyenc • and
driven to the Guest Hospital, Dudlsy, where they
were all received shortly after melnieht. The
medical staff wai sammoatel with as much hest° as
possible, and they attende 1 to the patients, weos)
names are Thomes Hus-eiWilliamn HMSO V, Thome,
Walters, Edmi:. I Bytheway, and Ebenezer Jame..
l'he poor men e kiented - a shoelting sisht, being
eurnt and Heel • almost beyond recognition'. After
ar,esing thei, ejuries, the surgeons exer ssed their
opinion that : 11 the men were likelyto and that
two had little or 110 hope of recovery. The correctneSS Of this was shown by the fact that during the
• any morning Thetnes Hussey died, and William
Hussey expirsd bet ween nine and ten o'clock.
The followieg is a list of the killed and seriously
injured up to Wednesday right.--Dead: George
Hussey, a William Uneasy, Thomas H USEIOY (all
utembera of one family) of Sun Street, Brock/moor ;
Joseph Beckley, Potter Street, Brierley Hill ; and
sarnuel Meets, San Lane, 'eseekruoo , Inju-e ;
John Huesey (also of the above family), Thome, *I.
Walters, Brockmoor ; Edward Bytheway, ;lioinley ;
Lewi., Sun Street, Bruckinoor ; and Elem.
zer James, of Brierley Hill. Other mere wer
lightly s.alded and bruited, but they were not 80
injured as to require surgical aid.
During the night the worse were v4ited by potpie
from mere cariosity, and at midnight the roads were
crowded. On Wednesday morning Mr. Marten, C,E.,
a well known authority on boiler explosions, in•
pected the exeloded boiler. It was, as sated, 174
ong, and it had a 9ft diameter. Tee systole was
!leased in bri:kwerk, and this was scattered far
aid wide, some of the bricks being found on eareen's
pottery works and others on Austin's foundry. An
.nspectiou ot the boiler showed that two plates at
:he side had been blown out. The damage done to
he works seems to a non-profeesional eye to b)
,xtreme, but it is the opinion of tee rnaneeer sal
r. Marten that, considering the force of !he
'plosion, less damage mut been done than mieht
enve reasonaely been. expeeted. As it is, there
teems a wilderness of hicks and mortar, and the
,00ling of a portion of the works has been slo sn
away. T lose who known the place best, and t •
ywition, i the 'eoiler as it stood, express their piss.
tound gre ideation that the shell of the boiler flew
iosvarue ,the high road instead of towrieds
he inside of the works. There were between 150
and 200 es eple at work on the premises, and had the
Loiler and surrounding brickwork been b own
towsrds tb.) wo-ke the loss of life would have been
far more serious than at present. The man reepon-
Bible for the working of the boiler was Widiane
Hicks; sad he is spoken of as a steady quiet man
eliip,,Loilyasolbxeeenssiras.thßerodwisntraientslic hetearlfdger, anmaauligye,?;ase.

The boil ,r itself was inspected periodically by a
competent engineer and it wee only last lond.SY
that th:e operation was performed This rendqg itt
most difficult to atm aunt for the explosion, Superin-
tendent Woollaston, with a force of police under his
command, did ail in his power te tissist in, the
recovery of the men, and rendered valnable aid in
inainta,ning free access in and out of the works for
thoge who were real y helpiag in the way of rescue.
- Derine Wednesday thousands of people visited the
site of the works, but no ono allowed inside.
It is many years since sogreat a loss of life occurred
tom a hoiier explosion in:the Dudley district. An
old inhabitant of Brierl -y Hill reports a boiler ex-
plosion at the same works fifty•five years ago.
EnTiries made at the Guest Hospital on Wed-
nesday irght showed ;hat ano her death had taken
Weer., Thomas Welter Hussey, described as Thomas
El 'Walters (24), having expired during .the ever:-
in 4, The rui-take as to the name was due to his
being a relative, and being known as Walters
rather thaa !limey. This makes five of the Hussey
family who have beer. either killed or received such
injuries as to preclude all hope of their recovery.
As usual in such cases some narrow escapes have
to be recordref. One of the most singular of these
is the ease of Thomas Hussey, sen., the night forge
manager, an I father of George Hussey, who was
instantaneoesly killed. He pissed across a portion
of the works into a cabin to get some tea, He had
no sooner enter, d than the boiler exploded, and a
portion of it struck one cornet' of the budding. Dr.
L. Howard Cerder, the acting surgeon of the Guest
Hoepita.l, in the absence of Dr. Keep, has been most
assidnais in his attention to the injured, and, sad
to relate, he has no hope of the recovery of the
others under his charge. William Mecroft and
E twa d Card-T, of Wordsley,.wers m3re seriously
hurt than was at first thought.
Enquiries at the Guest Hospital, Dudley, and
the works at Brovkmoor, on Thursday, show that
the men who were removed to their homes were
somewhat better, but were not then out of danger.
At the inetitnion the house surgeon gave but liitle
!bpi, of the recovery of James and Bytheway, and
was afraid they were gradually sinking. The
appearance of the raen was almost suffi. .nt ti
justify the statement. The men John Hussey was
however, better, and as he i* a man of strong
p;lysique he may redQve,r. There is still much
speouiation as to the eauSe of the boiler bursting,
as i is everywhere conceded that Messrs. Brown
and Freer have hem) most desirous for the safety
of their workpeople, and, as an inspector said, they
have been nervously anxious to see that all was
right.

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