St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1867-06-14

SSeiiiiS, W NHlIh 'i idiSo huiAOSh VI
persons have been killed and many in
iured \ steam boiler in the establish
ment Of GeaSey and Ward. sash and
blind manufacturers at 1912 SAMSON
street, exploded at about 6 o'clock, de-
molishing the whole building, which was
five stories in hight.
The boiler had been complained of as
not being in good order At 1 =. NJ.
the mill was stopped to pack the engine
piston. The hands were laying around
idle and some had gone home when the
explosion occurred. The building was
entirely demolished and considerable dam
age done to the neighboring houses by
flying fragments.
As soon as the terror excited by the
report had partially subsidized, persons ran
to the spot, and discovered that nothing
remained of the mill building in the rear
except portion of the eastern wall and
the chimney stack. The site of the struc-
twe was one mass of ruins, almost level
with the pavement. The greater portion
of the boiler remained, having been frac-
turcd transver>ety.
1t had moved sufficiently south 10 de
stroy the foundation walls of the mill,
! and thus insure its destruction. No trace
of living being could be seen, and, TO
add to the horror of the scene, smoke
commenced ISSUING from the pile, the fire
resulting, it is believed, from a small
Jorge and furnace used by Miller X Reed
cr. in the fourth story
An alarm of fire brought the tiremen
to the spot liz large numbers, and the
search was pressed vigorously. In a few
minutes Thomas W. Jenkins. engineer {:
John Gcrmain. fireman James Todd,
George Clark and John kreShack were
taken ont alive and removed to the Penn
Sylvania Hospital. James German,
taken out AZ the same time. was able TO
be sent to hi home III an ambulance,
after having his wounds dressed at the
1t. Lawrence Hotel Jenkins. the engl-
nrer. was taken from under Il pile of
rubbish. not far from where the boiler
stood. lie was badly burned about the
arms and injured internally
Bv : o'clock the first body was found,
and up to midnight ten bodies have been
recovered. Most OF the remains We're
past all recognition. lIeadles> trunks.
bodies without head or limbs: bodies
with lrG> but no arms: or with arms,
bat no Ices and masses OF flesh without
the slightest resemblance to humantv.re-
warolcd the labor~ OF the tiremen IL they
worked steady On through the night.
( Onr mass. IL 1t law upon 4 settrc in the
maciiQe shop. contained nothing but
the -hriyeIed trunk and stumps Indicating
le4-.
Not shred Of clothing was left to lead
To Il recognition by friends or relatives.
as in tire case of the ma Ioritv of the
bodies. the intense heat To which the re-
mains had been subjected had DESTROYED
all yc>tigc- of clothing. A. well a. dis
tigurin" the face and limbs. There was
another noticeable feature with all who
still retained form. In these cases the
hands and arms had evidently been rails
rl at the first note n alarm. rs though
TO ward of approaching danger. and
they died thus seeking to shelter them
selves The arms thus elevated in-tinc-
tiyclv covered the face. and in the efforts
at recognition it was necessary TO re-
move the arms from the head i'll order 10
obtain Glance AT the features.
Cine man, If whom nothing was left
hut the charrrI remains ot body and
portion OF the lca> and arms. was terri
hIv twisted Indicating the contortions OF
the body n ii law beneath the ruins. and
before death c;inr To the relief OF the
victim. This body NAV br identified
hereafter. from the fact that what re-
manned of the head showed that the de-
ceased had bound Il handkerchief about
hi> face for the to0th-achc or some injury
of the jaw.
The scene attending the search of re-
latiyc, and the rccognitionS was most
distressing one. Wives sought husbands,
sons searched tor fathers, brothers in
Spcctcd carefully each body, TO discover
traces OF the missing ones. Crowds lingcr-
ell in the vicinity. but L strong police
force kept all but the Interested from
entering the machine shop. where the re
mains were exposed 10 view
The rccogmtion> were in most case:
the result OF a close inspection of the
tattered remains OF clothin" John DiehI
was identified 10y his wife from the but
tons on portion of his coat with thi:
exception there was nothing but the
charrcd trunk and head. the arms and
one lcg being DESTROYED. Subsequently
and after the remains thus Unidentified
had been removed TO the home of Mrs.
Dichr, another body. almost perfect in
its limbs and features, was asserted to III
that OF Mr.. Diehr, the patty claiming ii
bcin" personal friend. \ body entire,
but bearing evidences of severe Scaldina
was identified as that of Augustus Swcr-
ger, residing at No. 1872 Passyunk Road
Dcrtrich EngrcS>, i married man, with
three children. was identified and re,
moe, by his wife TO his home. The
cause of the explosion has not yet been
aSccrtained.
There had, up to Friday night, beer
seventeen dead bodies removed from the
ruins of the Philadelphia explosion, anC
there are number OF wounded in the
hospitals who will die from their injuries
Many of the scenes which were witness.
ed on TIE evening of the catastrophe,
were heart-rending in the extreme
Among others related are the follow.
ing:
"GuStaye Schweiger, 50 wears old
who resided at 1872 Passvunk Road, ha:
left a wife and three children. lie was
discovered near the surface of the ruins.
, and begged the firrmen to get him out.