The national era. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1847-1860, 1850-02-07
TERRIBLE CALAMITY At NEW YORK.
New YoRK, Fs5ruary 4, IS,

NEW TOXIN, feOIhdTy ., loJOs
Dreadful ExPLosloN-The large boiler in the
extensive machine establishments Of Mr.. Taylor,
situate in Hague street, exploded this morning,
about o'clock, causing the building to take fire.
What is most serious in this catastrophe is the
fact that nearly hundred persons, il is believed
nave been killed. Ii is impossible at this time TO
ascertain how many have persisted AZ many bodies
arc believed to be under the ruins.
FURTHER PARTICULARS or THr ExpLosloN-
We nave een'sSfeNnus n, snry 10 OBTAIN n few
additional particulars Of the fatal explosion which
occurred this morning. Workmen are now busly
engaged in removing the rubbish and hunting for
the dead and wounded
Mr. Taylor, in whose establishment the explo-
sion occurred, employed in oil about seventy men,
and the fears ut present are that but few of them
escaped.
The steam boiler was in the cellar of his build
ing. The fremen kinded the fires in it somewhat
sooner than usual The presumption is, that in
consequence of the cold weather the water in some
OF the pipes had become frozen, three having been
no fire in the boiler from Saturday night Thus
the steam was confined, and consequently the
dreadful results The accident occurred very
soon after the steam commenced generating. The
conclusion was terrible Portions of the boiler
and other apparatus were forced upwards, carry
ing with them the entire top of the building Soon
/ III
partially consumed
Messrs st. John, Burr, & Co, also occupied
portion of the same building as a hat manu- factory.
They also employed about seventy hands, linen
and boys) all of whom had assembled at the time
of the explosion. The hands also Of Mr.. TAYLOR
were nearly ali in the building when the accident
occurred
Up to this writing, some ten or fifteen of the
dead bodies have been recovered, and diligent
search Is being made for others known to be in
the ruins Those gotten out are horribly multi
lated, so much so that only three Of them could
be recognised by their friends number of the
wounded have been conveyed TO the hospital
The whole scene ia most heart-rending. The
shrieks Of the wounded and dying are painful
beyond description. Even now grosns can be
heard under the ruins. 1t is impossible to tell
how many lives have been lost, but probably not
less than one hundred.
MORE OF THE ExPLosIoN-As soon as the boiler
exploded, the entire building raised some six
or eight feet from its foundation and tumbled
down, crushing nearly every one in it.
There was also in the same establishment
large bindery, in which large number of young
ladies' girls, and boys, were Employed. Owing to
the extreme coldness of the weather, many of the
females had fortunately not reached the building
when the catastrophe occurred, though a number
of them had come, and it is believed some now lie
dead and dying in the ruins
IL is now generally believed that the boiler was
an imperfect one, and had been condemned One
man taken from the ruins says it was an old steam
boat boiler, patched up. The proprietors, howev-
er, say 1t was new, and that the explosion was ow-
ing to TO the cold last night
Mir. w. r. Merritt, of Hose Company No II,
is among the killed also Mr.. Jessup, the asss-
tant engineer in the machine shop. lie was near
the boiler when it exploded
| IL is estimated that there were about one hun
dred and thirty persons in the machine and hat
shops at the time. Up to this time there have
been about seventy taken from the ruins.
large number nre still remaining, and the most
heart-rendng shrieks and groans can he heard
at present coming up like wailings of death from
the smouldering ruins.
IL Is supposed that large number have been
actually drowned by the food Of water necessa-
ry to be thrown upon the building, in order to
subdue the flames
This calamity has spread gloom over our whole
city. Thousands are now around the scene en-
deavoring to rescue the bodies