The New York herald., 1866-04-21
The Nitro -GlycerIne Explosion at San
Eranciac0.


THE MANUFACTURES ON TRIAL-rnn PACKAGE
sHipPED FROM HIS ESTABLISHMENT IN HIS Ar
sENCE--Ir WAS NOT LABELLED, ETC.
COMMISSIONERS COURT.
Before Commissioner Belts
ne Unded stats otto B~st,b+nder The defend.
ant Ia this is the manufacturer Of the article known
nitro-g gycerine the explosive power Of which
sally illustrated at San Franc and AspnwalL This
prosecution instituted under the United states
statute which requires all explosive and inlammabc
materials which liable spontaneous combustion to
be packed in and labelled on the outside
Of the package in way to show clearly and unmstaka.
bly, the and description Of the combustibe material
and making II msdemeanor TO pack and transmit or
ship from any one place to any other without being 50
marked.
Tho nrst witness called for the prosec uon was c
hiddlebrook He testified that he Is the tayman In the
reighi depot Of Wells Fargo Co Express ONCE that
his business 70 take an account and memorandum OF
all the freight that arrives In New York that few days
before the sailing Of the New York box was brought to
ios-Fast - that the New York had passengers as well
as freight board when she sailed; that deliv
cred on the pier TO be taken out In the steamer that
receipt was given for ihs delivery Of II; that the
receipt given 10 the parties who bring goods
70 the companys office, who get bin Of ladns
rendering NJ the once that II this had been shown
HIM he would have inquired what kind Of on
package the company rcjcct all explosive materials
when they know of their being offered for transit that
n Il bad been whale oil II would have been resolved
that Wells, Fargo Co coniust and manage all the
FREIGHT business Of the steamship company that they
restrict the officers OF the company from carrying expo
sve materials tho ships that no remembered the boz
10 question; that II wooden box about eighteen
inches deep eighteen inches vide and -four feet long
that IL could not 20 into stateroom thai tho "fast'
freight In put board last; that the boz referred TO-
therefore remained by bis door days. that hs was
N had been marked nitro. gycerins he would not have
can e1 10 that the word ast means that tho thing
hosed isc 60 straight through with freight and pas
seugep, and that fre ght not marked In this way
MANS ten days On the Isthmua instead Of going directly
rhs psxt witness examined was John ". Anfen. Ne
arA 'ha; he r tbs = The frs.gh, a.
ihsA - hsd ssss marked oil he would have inquired u
u Of sxplssve kind, and rsfssed u; that Il bed
pss bsx that be familiar with the premises In San
frasceo where the sxpleon occurred the steamer
covered the boz 70 be stained bis duty would have been
have sent 70 the once for survey that bis information
vss 'nat me sos 70 question ana another similar . 70
pasosd the vsFebouss that the clerk sent over for
Barns the neamshp clerk to with him 70 eramlns
the explosion Immediately Afterwards occurred: that
tho ascnt Of the company teeaphed 70 New York that
sses,Ion that the damage N property caused by the
explosion Vas, ~ nearly ~ he could learn about
$500 ooo and that there were seventeen or eighteen
jos. ph ". Brarier testified shA, Mr. w. H. Mills,
California miner, who formerly occupied the same room
about one hundred pounds OF nitro sycerne thai there
was an Associaon which Jas Devoe president and
the present witness secretary and and John
Young w. H. White Otto Burstenbnder (the accusccl
and H. Prentice directors, called tho New York Blast
ing Oil Company, not yet organized that they se tho
OIL small and limited quantities. that since the aeoi-
dent al the Wyoming Hotel they had kept at the cor
OF 10Th street and Sixth avenue TO have II out
of the way Of danger; that when they sell
any they send up there and cart down town that be
had known a package 70 90 by express marked
"Legende, Evans Mills, Jefferson county, New York,
with nothing the wooden boz show Ia character
that the IL from Mills. that he
bought dges jointly with Ray nOnd that
sometimes the oil came In glass casee and sometimes
Ia square tin boxes containing twenty pounds and
half; that this pur hase made about the middle of
March, that Mr Prentice went 10 the magazine and
shipped Il that exhibit II was In the handwriting Of
DevOe that II In Burstenbindcrs NAME, because
the oil Is subject 10 his order that the accused
Ave IN Lake Superior and only got back about the
lst OF April and sn, therefore, absent ~hea the
shipment made, and that any member OF the
eia.ion ooud deliver the OIL without \ consent
The case thsn adIourned I'll Monday.