The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1867-08-14
CITY INTELLIGENCE.
Il0H ADOITIoNAL LooAL Irrns IL ourslpr rAars.l

HE EXPLOSION AT NNTH AND WHARTON
DahEsh1Is = SINGULAR RECORD. - Coroner
az eulels I and Deputy Fletcher last evening held
Co. uguest relative to the late fatal boiler explo-
zion in Ninth street, near wharton, by which
rS man was ipstantaneously killed aud two
M OoneIs were irightfuly injured The testimony
was to this eflect:-
Joseph Martin one of the proprietors of the
tpunary, who testified with willingness to all
n tnas ne knew, said that be pers rsonally filled the
pouer on the day OF the explosion, an hour be-
IOre hre was kindled beneath it; the glass iudi-
Gator Gator showed an ample supply Of water; Mr..
TSlDson, who was killed, asked for help to MI
tne cupola; we always put something on the
SAFETY valve to keep il from leaking; gas box,
weighing six or seven pounds, ,lwason thehatety'
valve IN addition to the usual weight; 1t usually
carried seyenty-dve pounds, sometimes as much
as one hundred and ten pounds; no weight was
used until steam was being made, and then the
safety-valve leaked; the custom was, under
these circumstances, to attach weights to the
safety valve; the witness said that there was
great difficulty in getting sufficient power from
the engine and various experts had been con-
suited; it was proposed to increase the size of
the pulley, but they didn't know that this would
involve the necessity OF having larger engine;
witness noticed just before the explosion that
the water in the gauge-glass sunk three inches:
to this glass all the parties concerned seemed
implicitly to have trusted; the boiler was pur-
chased secondhand, from Wrighps machine
shop after it was burned down; the sum of S2lO
was paid for it; there was no evidence of OBJ
struclion in the gauge; hammers have been
hung upon the lever, probably six pounds in
weight.
The witness could not say that he had DER.
sonally hung such weight upon the valve bar
but he knew that it was done; the original
weight upon the satety-vave is Is pounds; the
valve never stuck; IT was about three-quarters
OF an hour after the fire was under headway
that the collapse took place; a weight OF ten
pounds has been hung upon the valve bar: the
charge on the day of the explosion was about
1900 pounds of iron; our engine was bought
from man named Leech, who has little shop
nf frgs ftc nvln ,g~,,,.
the pressure OF steam at the time of the explo-
sion was from 20 to 80 pounds; witness asked
Gibson three minutes before the explosion if
everything was right; he tested the bar, and
found IL, as he believed, to be entirely safe
CHARLES Klein, another OF the firm, did not see
the boiler until after the explosion; he was
moulder; he heard the sound of leak in the
safety-vave just before the explosion; the boiler
was too small, and was worked only when a
powerful head OF steam was on; witness always
thought the engine too small, but others thought
not; professional engineer had been EMPLOYED
here occasionally, and be said nothing about the
inadequacy OF the machine; John Lockhart is
the name of the engineer; he run the engines al
WOODS shop, on Wood street, for long period;
could he have been found, witness said he would
have brought him to-night the witness confded
in the judgment of his partners concerning the
boiler, and personally knew very little about it;
whether there was any own-sheet to the boiler
or not the witness could not say; It's interior he
= had never seen; Mr.. Wrights engineer ran il for
one day after we bought it; the dead man, Mr..
Gibson, was foreman of Woods foundry and
felt competent to run the engine; he assumed
principal charge OF the engine; he had no special
charge there OF the engine.
Mr.. Wright, No. 924 South Fifth street. from
whom the boiler was purchased, testified that
ne mad IN part built the boiler it was made last
December; there were two diagonal stays in the
crown, and two other stays of angle iron; the
inside was OF the best fange iron; the upper and
lower 5-l6; the two rims on the fues 3. When
this witness used the boiler he had very bad
water supplied from spring in the cellar; the
quality Of the iron was No. 4, 9; No. l. Bayley's
that the fault with the boiler was that it made
steam too fast; it would Jump from ten to ninety
pounds in few minutes; it was not near large
enough for the purposes for which the parties
he said that to run large neat they had to
start with l25 pounds OF steam, and afterwards
it would run down to 30 pounds. Witness told
Mr.. Martin that some day they would all be
blown to -, but they seemed to disregard it.
The witness was not aware that they were over
loading the safety-valve. 1t was one of Bel6ed's
far better and more reliable than any other
The gauge was Ashcroft's the best known. The
boiler, when new, was tested by two hundred
pounGs expansive pressure-a test made by ill
ing the boiler with cold water and heating it IL
that condition.
The engine employed by these parties wa
altogether too small with q heavy fire, th
water in the gauge would form; it would gene
rate 80 pounds of steam in ten minutes with tn
fire on; the witness never saw boiler that 81
rapidly got up steam; the original weight ol
the safety-valve is sold to them with the boiler
the gas box, in addition, and coal hammer
hung to it in addition, would make pressure o
$50 pounds; fifty pounds would be an excess
there is no proprlety in making more; tn
cause of the explosion, in the opinion of thi
witness, was that the boiler was red hot; th
crown sheet had no scale upon it, which tn
witness deemeds additional confirmation of hi
theory that the boiler exploded in consequenc
OF being red hot.
Charles Parry. engineer for Mr.. Wright, tn
seller of the boiler, testified that, being sen
down by his employer, he lit fire under tn
boiler, and raised sixty pounds OF steam in fort
minutes; IN an hour and quarter the hea
(meltng of irony was run off; the engine ra
stifly, making ninety-two revolutions; the strok
of the piston is about twelve inches; the drivin
pully was too small; one of two feet in diamete
would have been safe; the witness would hav
undertaken for five years to have run the entir
affair in safety with this provision; the engin
was too small; the boiler always required
great deal of watching when we ran ii, becaus
the water that we used was very bad.
H. w. Evans testified concerning the maxim
of the Bel6eld safety-valve. He is engaged !
their manufacture and described its structur
Their test is the pump; the levers are made
endure q pressure of one hundred pounds; tt
weight of the p is seventeen pounds; additions
weights, Of course, greatly increase the pressure
in testing the valves our 1rm use a gauge
our own construction; never heard OF ValN
of this manufacture sticking.
Ed. II. Graefenburg, a practical boiler make
formerly with M. w. Baldwin d Co., examine
the boiler after the explosion; the iron In Il
boiler generally was of excellent quality;
ought to carry one hundred pounds pressur
but no more; the boiler had been hot at sou
time; the head of the furnace had been heat