Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1865-01-20
The Boiler Explosion

The Boiler Explosion
IN inquest was made Sicnsay afternoon,
as to the cause = me explosion at the
Pioneer Saop, but nothing definite could be
earned. The following is the testimony of
the two principal witnesses;
WILLIAM BARNEY. of Burlington, being duly
sworn, testihes and says have been the en-
sineer in charge'of the engine house and boiie'S
at the Pioneer Shop in Burlington about err
years and one-half: ls>t tho s75fks on satu--
day night At tae usual time; when | left, every
sas:-t Connected with the engine and +y-iA-rs was
IN good condition; was there again yesterday
afternoon abOut thre- o'clock, as Is my usual
practice Gu Sunday, and made a careful exam
inanon, and found everything as il should be,
plenty Of water, and as far as could discover,
everything was in good shape so that did not
think it necessary 70 do anything; | was there
gain somewhere about fifteen or twenty min
utes afterithe explosion; everything in lad
condition. | have examined the pieces, the
fues, &c, and cannot end anything which eat
isles me that the explosion resnltej from low
water, and have not come % any CONCLUSION
about it; there were FIVE boilers in the FIRE rooms.
two Of them exploded, they were tubular, about
two tubes which presented an appearance Of col
lapse This appearance Of fattening was In the
centre of the tubes, leaving about four feet at
one end whole and less at the other; they we're
not cut of from the tube sheet; could not tell.
neither can any one, whether these two tubes
were in one or two boilers do not think that
the collapsing Of these two tubes, If il wa s
collapse, could have produced such a result;
have seen tiue boilers. i inch fues, which had
collapsed, they were collapsed through their
whole length and cut from the fue sheet; that
is the first tubular boiler collapsed that | have
seen. Patrick Farrell was the fireman. he has
been such ten or eleven years, was considered
careful, cautious, sober man, he had charge Of
the firing, he had considerable experience N the
working oi the boilers; he never pumped any
water into the boilers unless the engine was
started which was not un.h afer the whistle
blew; water could not b. pumped info these
boilers until the engine was started, Farrell and
myself were the only persons who have control;
| saw four bodies taken fr m the ruins;
know only two, Patrick Farrell and John Shear
on; from the examination have made. and that
Is pretty close, ! cannot form any opinion a. 10
the cause Of the explosion, and DO not think any
one can.
JONI p FLANDERS, Of Burlington, County Of
ChIttenien and State Of Vermont, being iuly
sworn, te>tiies and says anna mschiuist. my
shop IS IN the Pioneer shop right opposite the
building in which the boilers which exploded
this morning weres | vas AZ my shop 10 about
ten minutes after the explosion; when got there
the engine house was 10 ruins; have examined
the ruins and the pieces Of boilers and tubes with
view TO satisfy myself AS 10 the cause Of the
accident but I could not satisfy myself as 60 the
cause; the tubes did not pr,-eu, Co me the ap-
peartnce Of having been collapsed. but driven
together, though some heavy weights bad
fallen on them; never SAW tubular boiler
collapsed, have seen fiue boilers; THINKS The mp
Ietrauce would be very much tine same, 90 the
uue boilers the iucs were collapsed their whole
length, and torn from the f.ue heal, these tubes
were triven together iu the middle % nearly 81,
and the ends were whole ami attached 90 tine
tube heads; ! couli lot discover the appearance
Of any foreign agent which could have caused
the accident, 10 must have been within the
boilers, 10 not see how the c1Ilaps.uE ot these
two tubes could have produced such result; I
DO not know whether any one j. Boo the habit %
passing through the hre room, Sunday the in-
strucuoLs t0 the watchmeu are explicit u0' f0 Il-
Tow 70; valve 90 draw of the water from the
boilers is accessible from the TIRE room; any one
who understood it could draw Oft the water 10 he
bad access 90 10 from the fire room; my opinion
is hat the explosion occuIr re- from want 0t water
90 the boilers. have bad q. ne ierll.e experience
ln boilers had charge Of these three wears pre-
y,ous 10 }ir. Barney. considered them very safe
tho whole thing, the safety valve was d very
good one. Farrell has been fireman seven years
70 my knowledge; Doe was there when I came.
he Was steady, softer, faithful. very cautious
man, | consider him as safe man AS | know %
o. have charge u fhe boiler firing and o. have