, 1864-03-22
TEE SPRINGFIELD DISAS-
TEE.
Feartnl Powder E1plosfou-Slrteen
Persons Injured.

in the building. But ladders were quickly
obtained, and IN Tery brief space Of time
the insenslble bodies OF several men and wo.
men were brought out, some of them SO
blackened with powder as to be scarcely re.
cognizable. Meantime, fourteen girls who,
third story Win lows OF the factory
upon the roof Of D. Warmers paint
shop in the rear, were safely removed by
ladders, aftcr the most frantic threats
had been employ ed to keep them from leap
ing to the ground. A mau whoBe clothes
from the second story upon the shed between
the. carriage factory md the old town hall
| building, and was rescued from thence By q
ladder. As the persons who were injured bV
the explosion were removed from the shop,
they were carried into the back stores oi
CoWses d Bliss. u. d J. Brewer, Z. B!ge1ow,
| md others on Main street, while one Eom IN
| was taken into Warmers punt shop On AIar.
ket street, and others We're received BY fam1
! lies upon Sanford street till they could be re-
moved. The groans OF the sufferers who were
| not entirely insensiblc were most pitifnl One
| woman, whose clothes had been entirely
burnt from hcr, begged Of the physicians With
would relieve her Of her suffering by ending
Eet life. Tic appearance Of those who were
worst injured was shocking beYond doscrio-
tion. Every garment Of their clothing was
blown or burnt of, and some Of them were
literally blistcrcd and blackencd mass from
head to foot So badly were they burnt that
il Is surprising tlat they were not instantly
Killed.
TIE SCENE INSIDE or TEE BUILDING. :
The building In which the explosion oc.
Cured wss owned by ". L. Wilcox & Co.,
and the second and third stories with IN en-.
| gtne room on the first story were occuolcd
by the cartridge shop. The number Of. hands
employed has been considerably Increased
within few days, and was on "Wednesday
Of whom were IN the building Wednesday
afternoon. On the second floor were the
Office, the "fasten1ng in or "putt1ns In ~
! room md the ''loadiDg ROOM" 1t was upon
table near the northwest corner Of the last
named room and Of the shop, that the first
evident that large amount Of powder must
have exploded, though precisely how much
| it is impossible to state. Every psne OF
| glass in every window in the second and
third stories Of the building was broken, the
windows being, In many instances, blown
ont, sash and glass together: Part Of the
wooden Partition between the two work
rooms upon the second floor was blown out
and the rest Of tie partition and other wood
en- portions Of the building were. set on fire
No explosion occurred In the third story-thc
girls escaped after the second explosion be-
low. In the manner already stated Several,
Of those who we're In the second story were
knocked senEeless, and had their clothes
blown to tatters; and many otheTa who es
capped this horrible fate had their dresses set
on fire, aud ran shr1elzing down .tha stairs.
y hle this was occurring the second explo-
sion took place, although fnnnmerable exp1o-
sions Of cartridges and sn,nn quantities OF
powder went Of betyecn the two. Tie Sec
opd explosion vas undoubted1y caused by
fire from the girls dresses communicating to
keg Of powder in tbs entrance BY 1t all
three fights Of stairs were demolished, and
tour girls who were descending at the time
one Of them from the third story-were found
severely injured lp the cellar. Those of the
wOykmen who were nninjured succeeded in
cxtinguishing the fire, BY the aid of some
men who, regardless Of danger. rushed in
md offered their assistance. An alarm Of
fire was raised, however, aud the Monitor
engine was quickly on the spot, but her ser
and ladder did good service.
TIE NAMES OF TIE SUFFERERS.
We append d complete list Of all the vic
tins Of This dreadful accident. HRS. Iista
Lyons OF Bangor, N. r, q widow who came
to this city about si1 months ago, begun
work In the factory on Tuesday. She was
horribly burned, none Of her Clothing remain
ing upon her, md her body being. 6lackened
+ In every part She was for time fuseusib1e,
but partially reguined her senses before her
death. When asked her pane shefeplied c.
lista Dutton, this being her name before mar
riage. No hopes Of her recovery were en-
tertained, end she was removed to the house
street, where she died ut o'clock. Hiss
Frances Bellows, of South Brookiie1d, had
aleo been at work In the cartridge shop but a
short time Besides being burned nearly as
badly as the worst one of her arms was lac.
Grated while she was falling to the cellar.
hn Y.avx ft11 nf ~. -rA IN
o'clock. Laura E. Rishop, of Slxtou'5 Riyer,
VT, was injured ut the accident few weeks
ago, end came into, tic shop for the
first time since on Monday. Her injuries were
Of the same shocking character, and she
died at 10 O'Clock. Willard ~ Hull, one Of
1he.proprietors Of the 1actory, was very bad
y burned upon his face and chest, and at
late hour last night bis situation was rery
critical, as he had about eEen chances for llg-
ing and dying. John Il. Simpson was burn
cd 1pon lis fece, arms, hands, back and feet,
and it was very doubtful last night whether
be could recover, His younger brother and
sister, Rufus and Anna, were, also injured
day morning-but they are in fair way to
recover. Lucy HoWland, of Auttineague, was
burned badly upon the face and arm, but her
injuries, though severe, will probably not
prove fatal. Jane E. Gqss, Of Chicopee, had
her clothes set On fire by the first explosion,
anu JAuptu VI Wae uIVHu tuEouRn WmuoW
TO the ground. Completely enve1opea In
flames, she attempted to run through the
a1ley to Main street, but VAS prevented By
some men who extiDguished the fire In her
clothing with blanket, and carried her to
house on Sandford street. Last night she.
was yery low, and as her burns IRE severe,
her death vii not be unexpected. Lfcuten::
was passing the shop at the time of the
explosion, and Immediately went in to
render whnt assistance was in his power
He Was in the passage way throwing
out kcg OF powder, when the second explo.
sion occurred, and knocked him senseless.
Charles n. Atwood, formerly Of. geleher.
town, was assisting lin at the time. he was
a former employe at the establishment, hay
ing left only few Weeks since from tear Of
accidents. At the time OF The first explosion
he was at his boarding place, corner Of San
;ord ane Dwight. streets, and upon hearing
It, be instantly exclaimed, "'Thercg goes Leet'a
eta1f1dge f9ctory,." and started on a run for
ihe SPOT. LII. knew Where some of the DOW
aer Has stored, and in tho noblcncse Of his
Do)eet r1she ed his own life to eDdeaYor to
1nIo" II ont Of the building and save, II pos"
Side; another catastrophe He found ready
co:!aooreT IN Lieut.. Eaton, and after they
nnf nf ~ aare passed four kegs Of powder
hands. Young Atwood was burned nnon 'he t,;s
face and hands, but both he and IfcntE Faton
cscaEe instant death as by mjracIc' ond 1I 1t;ii
doubtless recover. Emma and Narfha Rnv.
mond, both Of this city, Tere seriously bnr1-:
ea ana enc r1aet~1se injured hy the second cxplo-
but the latter is likely TO recoyer. Rri5ae;;
U'Eell bad worked in the factorr thrrc waaIs i,
Her clothes we're all blown of. and her Tsoo
was badly burned: But last night ehe vas
''comfortable" f. "A. Riciardsnn' "oe noe
Of . the 1l him- OF, G. D. Leet {: c., wss
and his shoulder was dislocatea: snisc hc !
he is doing well, and will recover. Jcase
Button, who had contracted TO mannfart-,r.
leo, eco *'dfty. sixes,7 and employed two ~
three hands IN the second story, was slirhtjr
burnt upos his hands, and has two holes II
his bat where cartridge ball passed through.
Of the girls not already mentioned, Caffic
Hill, Lizzie Knowlton, md two or three oth.
ers, Tere slightly burned. .>~
NcDES7s. :
The first concussion Was. SO severe that
large quantities Of glass were broken from
stores On State street md In the vicinity, the
old town hall building suffering good
deal in this respect. During the explosion
Of cartridges which followed the first explo.
zion, la1ge ball passed through window OF
a room in the second story Of c. N. Lee s hat
nnd sewing machine establishment, on Main
street, and just escaping the he1d Of a woman
who was sewing, lodged In the floor beTond.
another ball passed into the dental Office Of
DR.. F. searlc, mud still another Was seen im- j
bedded ut least one inch In ehed opposite
the cartridge factory The large crowd who
was tn state, Of the most intense excite
,nent, and many were the anxious questions
asked concerning relatives Of friends, who, 1t
Was supposed, were in the building at the
time; while Joy or intensest sorrow
was depicted upon the countenances- Of the /
questouers as the answer was relief or a
confirmation Of the saddest fears, At one
ppiu1 in the fthXd fK;end6 3rera sha1.in1