The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1850-02-14
Further Particulars of the Dreadful Ex-
DIOsiOn In New York

]
We copy from the Baltimore Sun of the 5h inst.
further particulars of the explosion in Taylor's ma
chine establishment on f1e 4th. The account was
lelegraphed from New York.
| Mr.. Taylor, in whose establishment the explosion
| occurred, employed in all about seventy mea, and
the fears at present that but fe " of them es.
capped The steam boiler was in the cellar of Ills
building. The fireman kindled the fires in it some
what earlier than usual. The presumption is, that
in consequence of the cold weather the water in
some of the pipes had become frozen, there HAVING
| been no fire in the boiler from Saturday nigbf
Thus the steam was confined, and consequently
| the dreadful results. The accident Occurred very
soon after the steam commenced generating The
| conclusion was neutrality-suspicious. of the boiler and
other apparatus were forced upwards, carving with
! them the entire top of the building. Soon after
this fire was communicated 10 it, and it was par.
! TALLY consumed
RIessrs. ST. John, Burr & Co. also occupied a Dor
ton of the same building as hat manufactorv.
They also employed about seventy hands, (Ben and
bOys,) all Of whom had assembled at the lime Of the
! explosion The hands also of Mr.. TAYLOR were
| nearly all in the building when the accident &C.
cured Those gotten out are horribly muliiaied,
so much so that only three of them could be recop
nized by their friends.
As soon as the boiler exploded the entire building
was raised some six or eight feet from its founda.
tlon, and tumoisd down, crushing nearly every one
/ in it,
: was dlsp III lie same establishment
I bindery, in which a-large number of Young ladies,
| girls and boys, We're employed. Owing to the ex-
treme GOODNESS OF the weather, many of the females
had fortunately not reached the building when the
catastrophe occurred, though number Of them had
come, and it is believed lie dead and diving in the
ruins.
Ii is now generally believed that the boiler was
an imperfect one, and had been condemned One
man taken from the ruins, says ii an old steam
boat boiler patched up. The proprietors, however
say it. was new, and thai the explosion was owing
to the cold Of the night previous
Mr., w, T.. Merit, of Hose Company No H. is
among the killed; also Mr. Jessup, the assistant en-.
gineer in the machine shop lie was near the
boiler when il exploded.
Ii is estimated that there were about one hundred
and thirty persons in the machine and hat shops
the time. Up to this time about seventy have been
taken from the ruins. A large number still remain
and the most hearl.rending shrieks and groans can
be heard coming like wailngs of death from the
smouldering ruins
1t is supposed that large number have been nc.
mally drowned by the flood of water necessary TO
he thrown upon the building in order TO sublime the
flames. This calamity has spread gloom over the
whole city
The building was owned by Messrs Harper e.
Brothers, and valued al $4,000. The machinery
aud other property inside was very valuable. Il
has nearly all been ruined A large portion of one
of the brick walls was thrown about seventy yards
from where it stood.
Ii is impossible to give anything like description
OF this terrible scene. Most of the sufferers were
mechanics and others depending upon their daily
labor for support, and upon whom whole families
were dependent for their living. Friends, relatives,
fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers, were gathered
around the ruins, each looking with fearful eyes
and loud lamentations, Tor those nearly and dearly
connected with them. The anxiety depicted in
every eounienance was distressing beyond the
power of language to describe
The loss in property of Messrs. Taylor g. Burr is
estimated at about $40 900, which is mostly covered
by insurance. Some are OF opinion that there were
not more than one hundred persons in the building
at the time of the explosion-0theTs think there
were more. IL is now rendered certain, however,
that very few who were in il at the time escaped.
The engineer is said 10 have been very cautious
man, and possessed mush experience in his profess
sion. He is still missing, and is believed yet to be
the dead.