Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1854-02-03
those who are known 10 be dead are The follow

J o,,a D S,. 10 aenry Bray. IL
Ellen Nc Donald, 20 AA'''~ Aea'ne" 20
s One corpse of a woman is still left in a small
house near the factory unclaimed by any of her
trlends-so bIackened and mutated is she that
she cannot be recognized. The sight presented in
the chamber where this corpse lay, was almost
enough TO freeze the blood OF any one who looked
upon it, On a board rested the C, rpse, face DOWN
wards, thick cloth and piece Of carpet covering
it One arm was blown off at the elbow; one
side OF the head was burned to a crisp, and Tie
body was cold, chared cindel. The board on
which this girl was placed lay across two barrels.
We asked where had the other boles been taken
Look IN those barrels" said gentleman nca, us,
'and you will see the corpses OF all executing
three or four which have been recognized and
carried away" We gazed into these barrels, and
there lny the mortal remains OF near a dozen hu-
man beings. The eyes rested on cold and pailid
halIG, piece Of jaw, the forehead of a human
being all clotted with blood, foot, bunch of
hngers eyes torn from their socket, brains scooped
up, forming jelley like mass and chunks of flesh
burned and crisped, foiming spectacle of horror.
w no could look on such sight with coIdness! A
fiend, even, would have felt SICK at heart, if such
a spectacle had been placed before him.
Violent measures were talked of by those who
had lost relatives and friends by this fearful blow
aud they who had been called upon SO suddenly
to mourn over the remains OF sou or daughter,
and othe. friends departed, as matter of course.
were not IN mood to cody view ,he;matter in ali
measure 10 revenge their relatives when the rutnor
circulated that carelessness the couse of their
destruction. -
a coroner's inquest was held on Sunday morn.
ing, ana The verdict was to be rendered yesterday
SCENES AND INCIDENTS.
From early morning until late hour nj night
the scene 81 The disaster visited by crowds Of
curious spectators. Among the visitors were seve-
Iai OF Inc DefeaVed parents aud relatives Of the
deceased, several of which we are told, continued
10 hhgeI around the spot as If attracted by some
strange fascination. Near the place of the acct
Gent we observed an aged woman crouch.ng upou
.ne GROUND, wring'ng her hands and alternately
soboing and raying, as if berelt OF reason. From
what we could gather from her broken exclama.
lions 1t appears that she is the mother of the bow
John Do"ney, the lad Of thirteen, whose body is
supposed 10 have been blown TO atoms. The wo-
man resides IN Gross street New York She wns
oil course nearly frantic with grief and expres .,
herself with all the warmth OF Bllesan pathus.-
a little groupe of friends were around her. and
attempted TO administer consolation, but in vain
hooking herself TO and fro, and apparently I'M
conscious of The presence of others she continued
70 utter The same monotenuus cjaculations:--"Och
hone! och hone! where you. JohIy? Sure
you'll never come back, Johnny" since her
ARRIVAL al Ravenswood it has been alp1os, i,nnossi
Bile TO force her from the place.
among the horrible incidents of the catastrophe
winch were related to US by eye witnesses was
the following: As soon as the news OF the calam-
MY was spread through the village, the afIriyhi.d
parents fastened Instantly to the fearful sesns'
each intent upon obtaining, 1T lensl the BODY oil
ms child. One Of these: father--after seaich
ing in vain for hours among the fragments of the
uead' at last recognized the features of his son.
But what recognition! He belleld only the head
OF ms son. lying among the hideous remnants of
the other victims. The poor ma n half crazed.
seized the head, with the shreds OF flesh still de.
pehaihg 10 II, and ciasping it 10 hts breast, kissed
lne distorted lace, and then hurried away from the
place with the bleeding head in his arms Sinpu.
larry senough, it is said by eye-witnesses of the
scene mat The lace OF the boy preserved its natural
expression, and that something akin to smile yet
fingered upon its pallid lips. We believe that The
name of the deceased is Matthew E,iley that If
the iather John Riley.
A great deal of difficulty existed in the scene of
me dlSasie-, IN reference TO the Identification of
eodles. We are informed that some most Disgrace
ul scenes occurred, but most OF them may he pass
ed lightly over. considering the circumstances and
Inc eager desire OF every parent or person interes
ed' 10 obtain the remains Of the deceased person
IN whom they felt the greatest interest. We are
tolu That night actually occurred on the ground
between Two claimants OF the same body-tbg
corpse of girl. 1t was SO much disfiguted that
recognition was almost impossible; but both the
and blows finally ensued. we believe the parties
were separated without any bloodshed
one uody was so mutilatsd that recognition was
impossible but it was finally claimed BY Mr. NAL
conn as ms daughter; subsequently, it was discov-
cred 10 be Miss Hague. The greatest confusion
existed i'll regard 10 these bodies, many of the rel
atiVes and trends imagining that certain por ions
OF the fragments were those of children and con.
nections' and opposite parties entertaining the
same idea.
The first view of the dreadful scene is described
as being sickening in the extreme. The princiral
object OF the first corners was to remove the bo.
oIeS anu remnants from the place, and endeavor, if
posi- Bile, 10 reSuSciate some of the Injured. but
immediately on arriving at the scene, it was ru-
lnored That the magazine, containing the immense
quantity Of powder, was in dangerous state.
ana hkely TO explode at any instant. Imrne nse
constet nation prevailed among the crowd and few
yentnred TO approach the fatal spot until assured
That The building in question was secure and per-
iectly safe from all danger of explosion. Finally,
however, these approximations died away, and the
ground was quickly covered with the parents
friends and relatives of the deceased
Among the singularities OF this melancholy af-
Iair we may mention that one man was blown if
we may believe the statements given .iom persons
on the spot, to distance Of nearly two bundled
feet against the side of house, where of course
ne was crushed to pieces. Another account was
related TO us OF a man employed about the factory
who was blown a long distance and finally was
projected through basement window. His body
was found very much mutilated; the breast being
shockingiy liberated by the glass from the window
panes.
The scene presented by the place of the disas
Ter oeegars description Barrels tull of rteking
remains with human blood oozng from their seams,
Silll reaiain and present most horrible and re-
voliing spectacle. During The day we visited Mr..
Malcolm's residence at Raveuswood. Mr. NJ. il
will be remembered, lost two children by the ex-
ploslon. Tie poor man was nearly insane with
grief. In the room where the dead son Ind been
accustomed to rest was laid out his mut,lated re-
mains. lleadless trunk alone remained, recog-
nlzed only by the parent from some peculiarly in
the clothing.
The greatest indignation prevails among the suf-
terers IN regard TO the conduct of Mr. French. We
understand that son of that gentleman called at
several houses to ascertain the state of the bereav-
ed families, but that While at the residence of one
oil them he was assaulted by the father of one of
the killed and struck.
In order to give some idea of the state OF public
count of slight incident which occurred while
the Coloner's investigation was going on. 1t APP
pears that during the early part Of the afternoon