Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1854-02-02
r- From the New York Herald OF Sunday.
Serr1ble Explosion and Loss of Life
TOTAL DISTINCTION OF FREScn's RAIL- CARTRIDGE
FACTORY. NJ


4 =, ABOUT two O'clock on Saturday afternoon the
SSs;a,aing occnpied as factory for the making of
oaiI cartridges at Lower Ravenswood, Long Is
iaho, blew up " it'll an explosion that shook the
houses III the neighborhood for two miles around
ana breaking the windows Of all thuse hui dinss
which We're within six or eight hundred feet of the
! place. twas rented by MI. French WIN. tngetb.
er with his son, are generally engaged i'm III.
building, but being at this moment otherwise &C.
cnpied, happily escaped serious ripinry. thonsh
MI French, ST., is SUFFERING severely frC n, con,.
sions. - 2 = = sr' =, NsS.tt = eo "Nu
The number of persons employed is generally
aoout thrty, being for the most part girls of The
ages OF ten to eighteen; but some men and youths
also find work at the factory rbs exact ~; mi sr
" nses iost lslnow not known. for, be ng the af-
eLhooh OF saturday, GREATER or less number IT, an
| stances. = - '.Te ~
I The lowest estimate made by, Mri7Freneh ;s
twenty Jour, and the highest made by friends of
tRe deceased is about thirty. One family-the
laLnet oil which is Mr.. Rhine, q worthy man, and
lsaLuenet 10 gentleman in the place-lost three
ghis; ana scarcely labonng family lives near the
place Tat is not waing for the loss Of some men,
Der Of it. ' = ai .z'Iifi9fl Jal1sfIil 'F4ItI
Most terrible of all it was to see women waiing
on the ground, or grouping among the human frag-
ments Tor some hing which they could identify and
mourn over, but lime barrels, filled with disgust
ing ma OF human remains, black and bloody, was
IN most cases, all they could indulge their frantic
| grief upon. About len corpses were fitted to-
I ON boards, followed by groups of lnconsolable
1 LnournerS"'s 's4" j. 7ssS- -jr!- al = i.l
| The precise cause Of the explosion no one re-
mains TO explain. 1t is known, however. that the
| stove used Tor warming the building was red hot
the day being very cold; and from the highly COM
bustible materials which were used i'll close prox-
lmlty TO IT. 1t may readily be accounted for by sup
posing some particle gnited on the door and com
municating with,the articles in various ,stases Of
preparation, caused The explosion. q 1. t[l- Z \
Wlthln few feet OF the building is fire proof
cell III which Is stored large Quantities Of powder;
anu this being within the scope Of The. smoke and
flames of the burning ruins 10 one was willing IN
hazard an approach TO attempt to rescue the suf
ietes from The RUNS for sometime after the es po
sion took place. r5H.ts7 e 'N
The following is list of the killed as far ne
coult be aScettalued: MS
Ann Burns, is years of age, Mary Hague about
16 yeats; George Malcomb, about Is years. Mary
Malcomb, Is years; John 0'Brien, Is years, John
Downey Is yearS-Supposed 10 have been blown
10 atoms. as portions ot his clothing were found,
. out his remains could not be recognized; James
GoFmly, IL years; John Riley, 10 years; Ellen Nc
Donneli, 20 years; Matthew Hand, is years; Jas
FOLEY; IL years; Emma Ryan. 20 years; Matthew
Ryan, l6 years. = - -
The following persons were so seriously Injured
that 1t IS thohg impossible for Them TO recover
Andrew Carney, Scotch boy, has a portion of his
| bowels aud lungs blown away; he cannot suryiyss
John Smllhsa young man, who has been in The
employment OF Alr: French but two or thresdays
was literally blown 10 pieces, having his arms and
legs broken, aud his body and face dfeadfullyman
gled. he was conveyed TO the New York Hospi-
tal. Christopher Casey, young man was so bad
~ injured that it is considered impossible for him
10 recover. " g'uglI#. .-.tF-.f -
Mr.. French, the proprietor of the mandatory.
IS SAID 70 be IN The employ of Messrs. Hitchcock
Co., q New York firm. dealing in munitions OF
war. His establishment has long been considered
dangerous 10 the neighborhood, though Of couise
no such fearful catastrophe as this was ever antic
pated. we are informed, however, TINT no less
NFtFN
in one OF which he was personally iniured, Al
the time Ct this disastrous affair he escaned proyi
dentiaiiy Just efote the accident gone in
10 MS dwelling House, which stands ut a distance
OF ABOUT ards from the ntanulactory. II was
also extremely fortunate. that the whole comple
meHt ~ hands wete not in the building at the time
or the loss OF life would have reached a rmucl,
higher numbtrf w lt "1a tea - ~ - =
Tax AD.-=As the, proprietor OF the ma fac
tofy ~ the only 10 give correct list OF
the dead and Wounded, we were unable TO obtain
anylhlag like an estimate number of the dead. II
seems 10 be pretty generally allowed, however
that the number has been Somewhat txap sArated
SO lar as we were able to learn CAREFUL enquiry
not more than fifteen peTSons were actually Killed
several others lie IN precarIous situation. The
deceased were, for The most part, -Itish. ~
Some idea II the tremendous force OF the expio.
SION may be conceived when we SAY that every
dwelling house III the immediate neiplbo;hoo w as
shaken almost 20 their foundations Rev Mrl
Waite, an Episcopal clergyman, having pastoral
S"u' &c III tne piace, anu resulting near The manu-
lacttry, was totc d 10 remove with his family 10
neIghuors house, sImeg distance Of, 10 obtain
Shelter from the tncleuent weather. every w,utlow
in his own dwelling being blown out. All the
dwellings, in the vicinity were in the same state.-
Cur'ously enough, stage happened 10 be passing
at the time OF the explosion and the concussion
was SO greet that the glasses in the windows on
one side were shattered into thousand pieces. =
I We are told that had the magazine, which
was situated at a short distance from the main
building. became ignitsd, the consequences would
have been still more disastrous. The magazine
con aimed between two and three tons of powder.