Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1857-03-30
The Disiiiir~y .Ixpios,"n in Baltimore Loss OF


The Distiilc~y -lxpio.,"n in BniiiH'orr-hoss OF
Iilr.
The telegraph. yesterday, announced the ex-
plosion of a steam b,er, in the alcohol fact"ry
IF Messrs Jno. Highly 4 Co., Baltimore. The
Baltimore Patriot. of Thursday afternoon. says:
The hnildiug, which was recently erected, be
Ionged 10 Mr.. James Bates, aud WAS blown en-
tiroy to pieces. The cause of this terrible acct
dent is said to be the bursting of the engine used
in the factory. There Was q considerable quan-
titv If alcohol ia the vats whiah, of course. be-
came ignited, and the wood work that was blown
away was quickly in flames. The hremen wer"
promptly on the spot and by their strenuous eN=
erions saved the adjoining property. The most
deplorahe pant of the disaster IL the loss OF hu-
man life--two persols being known II have been
killed. These two were draymeu, who were Ell
gagged at the same time OF the exl osion in load
Ing their drays IN the hurry ana Confusion at
the scene were unable tc learn then names-
but hear that one II white and the other
Il colored man There were also several pei
sous injured, one Mt least dangerously. Charles
Kagle passing up East Falls avenun
when falling fragment of the runs struck
him on the head, fraetarlng his skull; he was
driving furniture wagon at the time, and
is dangerously iniired; we learn that he reside.
at No 800 North Gay street. and hasa wife and
family. john W illiam>, colored man driver al
"A lumber wagon for Maughlin * johnson, was
engaged in t,Njng in Il load oflunber at their es
tabli shment opposite. when he was stuck
on the had with piec" of living tnher, by
Which ne was considerably, though not seriously
injured. Several ather persons were injured,
whose names We were unable tn ascertain. Ra-
lnors were rife on the spot that several persons
were in the building and were killed, bat thc IN
tense hea, I f the burning alcohol prevented any
investigation being made. Messrs. Highly x
Cos los l. supposed I" Ice not less than T2J,oJu
which j. tuy covered by "a policy in the FIR
,Ji;r iIr Il, l,, lp Inn
ing is insured ia tie Eqaiiahle, bat for what u
muunt are not informed. A. soon as the eX-
pi"si,m occurred, several persons endeavored to
get the bndics Of the two dIaymen known to have
been Killed, but the heat WAS - intense they
were eauipecd To rrnquish the task; one OF
these persons actually had his whiskerS burnt If
aud eny escaped by enPIug into the Falls. lilo
smoke stact, was blown into the stream, and tho
top Of the boiler brought up GA the opposite side
ot the stream, distance OF not less than hun
dred yards. This Is Of the most heart rehi-
ing accidents we have had 10 record for some
time.
TIE American add, the following:
The whole nrghhorhood around shows traces of
the force with which the timbers aal bricks were
hurled. large pieee OF timber probably twenty
feet long and eight inches square, thrown upon
the roof of Mr. Bates e - tool factory, President
street near Pratt Ono end driven through Tire
tin roofing and the other breaking oil went complet
ly through the roof u The rear Of the shop Forla-
natelY, no one in that pa Of the place at the
moment, or other lives W90l haye been lost Il
required six to lii this broken piece of timber
which the explosion had hurled with such force
distance OF nearly two hundred feet. Another deam
quite AS large was THROWN upon tie hack ptrt oi
Mrssrs NalEhlin & Jahnsons steam sash mil The
heavy iron smoke stack OF thr engine was thrown
over the intervening Hui5iu2- aud ntto The Falls
distance Of two hundred feet \ large iron wrench,
which laiI on the top Of the boiler, Was alte' wards
found hookcd on the branches OF tree on President
street.
The explosion of course caused great CONSERVATION
in the immediate neighborhood, which was not les
senei by the bursting OF the flames, with an in-
tensity that threatened the surrounding property
Immense crowds OF people gathered in the vicinity
and con inued there for hours after he fire had been
subdued.
The cause of the explosion is not positively known,
though from its intense force It probably was caused
bv a deficiency of water in the boiler. The engineer,
Mr. John Bates, states that lie had examined the
boiler half an hour previous it then fun OF water
and had pressure OF seventy pounds OF steam whilst
it was supposed to be capable Of bearing pressure
of loo pguads At the time Of the explosion lhe en-
gineer was in room adjoining the poi'er, with two
of the hands employed in The distery. They all es-
capped without jury.
Ex-prcsidrui Pierce.
The Wash ugton cotresP 'ndent oil Inc y. =
Post states that Ex President Pierce VIII settle
down on Il farm in the int-ror oi his native state
IL LII