The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1867-11-28
The Boiler Explosion at the Lamar Cotton
Press, Savannah.

The Savannah News gives the following details
of the accident briefly announced by telegraph:
This morning. at about fifteen minutes before
O'clock one of the steam boilers in u. B. Lamar
Jr's Cotton Presses, at the dock, East OF the Gas
House, exploded, killing negro fireman ana 8
negro aborer and s-verely injurng joan Hol-
land, tho engineer in charge OF the presses for
which the boiler was used About twenty minutes
after the disaster, We visited the scene, around
which crowd, mostly negroes, had cohSresaleS.
The boiler apparently intact, lild as though rea1y
for work nearly hundred yards Ill the rear OF the
boiler room. The building IN which the poner
room was situated had large opening, twenty
feet wide cut through from roof to dock hoor, the
back and front walls suffering equauy. III tne
rear Of the building, not lar from the boiler, laid
the dead body Of the negro laborer, William
Young, badly mangled, but not torn apart. On
the dock, under the staging leading IRON the dock
to the vessel loading there, laid mass OF bloody
flesh which was the naked booy OF the mulatlo
fireman and engineer, named Jim Sloan. A few
feet from the body the legs lay stripped OF the
skin, and with not particle OF clothing attacneo;
The arms were found not far away, but the nead
is still missing, and is supposed either to be
buried in the debris, or to have been thrown lnto
the water and carried away.
The engineer OF the press, MIR. Holland, was Ia
ken away, and is supposed to be seriously injured.
Mr. g. B. Lamar, Jr., VINO was stanane lI t on os rne
injured. Few parties in the vicinity escaped
bruises from the flying iron and splnters; Inc
building itself is completely divided Dy the gap
cut back and front, by the boiler In its revolution
in the building, beo it was dashed out and lant-
ed near the shed in the rear. The broken beams
and flooring of the yard show that the boiler came
rolling end over end, the top of the boiler smash
ing the roof beams OF the ched Like so much
pasteboard. For nours after the dis lster crowds
OF curious lookers-on stood rouI.d the dead bo-
dies, which presented ghastly and nauseating
sight.
The cause of the explosion can only be conjec-
tured. Engineers VINO examined the boiler say
that the diagonal braces and stays strengthening
the crown-plate were too weak, and had become
weaker and weaker by use, until they one by one
gave way, and at last the pressure was too heavy,
and the crown-plate, weakened by constant expo
sure to flrs gave way. Again (but this is rather
impropabIe conJec,ure), the negro engineer may
have allowed the bJler-pates over tae furnace 10
obtain red heat and then the sudden injection
of water may have cracked the plates; but this Is
contradicted by the circumstances that but short
time before the water was at the highest gage,
and had none been thrown In until the accident
occurred the large cylinder would nave exhausted
the steam and the press have ceased to work. Inc
cylinder used is forty-eight inches In diameter,
and has stroke OF eight feet. Thus the only
reasonable cause that can be assigned for the DIS
aster is the weakness OF the boiler stays. The
boiler was made IN New York by Kemble War
ner in 1852 and was first used in the Cotton Press
In the same year. The negro laborer, William
Young, was q married man, and leaves wife and
thirteen children at st. Helena, S. G.. quantity
of cotton in the yard was set on fire, but speedily
extinguished. No estimate Of damage has yet
been made.