Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1849-02-01
MELANCHOLY OCCURRrn,s
Steam z xn,ox;on 81 NNENCC

~~"~~~"~~~~~N~->1
MELANCHOLY OCCURRrNcr
steam Explosion and Loss Of In. =.
On Thursday of last week 49,.
was made the scene of one Of tho 49,. .oSa
rifle steam explosions tina, ha. 49,. 'eF.
within thelwelvemon,h. ALou, il , s,d
Of that day one Of the boilers attached .'oek
brick steam mill Of Messrs Rur. sas
Pre'tyman exploded with most ds.,. o.a&
results. The engine room and cooa .ue,'se
were in q brick building adioinin.p n, 'nsp
and enclosed under the same roof :" !, MY "
time Of the accident the engineer h :, We
just left the engine and the bu;la; aaa out
fireman was at his post and sir m.a 'ns
at work in the cooper shop. viii Win" i were
Pioslor The bufsted boiler was throw ns g.
distance in the air and descended !; so \.
middle of the street, where II wi ~. " me
the object Of inspection 10 nany sn.ln'
passer-by. The other boiler va. . s,;l'ou'
Iy thrown upward and descended fsi,:
over with one end agains, and pene, IrG's
the mill. The whole brick bu;ld;n" a''ns
completely demolished. The fremass sa'
VIM. Fudge, an old and exemplary e;,;, -
was thrown some wenty five or thin,s.a.
against wood pile and instantly I'm. ma
He lief, large family who were wholl.s sa'
pendent upon his daily labor for 1 l;,. Is
hood. Now that they are entirely aen,;u '
ed of their support, the citizens. We lf r'
will kindly aid in their sustenance !,
the cooper shop at the time were 81 -. =
at work, one of whom escaped enti,sl, !
injured, three others but very slightly ~ ~
the other two, Me>srs Solomon and B, l..
severely although the latter i All,
able 10 attend to business. It is ,uh;.a
Of establishment to every one who w..
the ruins, how those men escaped d.,,i
amid the destruction which surroundsa
them.
AT the time of the explosion We sat WI;
ting at our desk nearly opposite the Mil
and invol"ntarily contracted our body ino
the smallest compass, expecting The whol.
building about our ears As il did ma
come tumbling upon us we soon reached
The door, where scene Of the wides, con.
fusion presented itself. From amid cloud
ofsteam that came rolling onward shutting
out the extent Of the catastrophe, in III al.
rections rushed horses with sleds attached
while men equally alarmed with The ami.
mails, attempted moi to stop their progress.
As the steam cleared away and The ruin,
became visible we would moi have given
a rush for the lie OF fellow being who
stood there but the moment previous. The
sentiment was general and yet, with one
exception, the men were all spared.
The loss sustained by the proprietorsof
the mill will not fall much short Of $4,000.
The chimney was left standing, but 50 H.
jured that it will have to be reconstructed.
Mr. Burrows, with that commendable a
terpri>e for which he j. known, proceeded
next morning to Bloomington and by tels.
graph ordered new boilers.
With regard to the cause Of the melan.
choly catastrophe, i, is well know that ID
all steam explosions no blame ever attach.
es to any one--until the matter is invest.
gated. The boilers had lorg been in ,s
and it was generally progno>ic lied thA
they could b. ma le TO serve with safely 10
longer. The sequel proved The prognos.
ticalions correct. but whether the proplets
he entitled TO credit Tor the fulti mer,6
their prophecies, or the circumstance b
simply che Of those inscrWable acts Of an
overriding Providence, time or investga-
ton must determine.
With regard TO the length Of time in
which the boilers have been in use, Mr.
Burrows assures us-and he will have the
requisite proofs Of the matter in a few
weeks-that previous to him purchasing
them they had been used in mill but three
and half years, and had never been on :
steamboat but as ir. light. They were pur-
chased at Alton and before closing the con.
tract, Mr. Il. incurred the expense Of .
visit 10 St. Louis, where he obtained the
services of boiler inspector, who upon
examination pronounced them perfectly
safe for five years usage. II is well known
that they had been in service but twelve.
month since tht time.
Since writing the above subscripiion
list for the relief of the destitute family Of
Mr. Fudge has been circulated. It was
literally headed by Messrs. Burrows&
Prettyman with, tone hundred dollars per.
annuln for three years. Davenport c.
zette.