Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1869-10-14
The indianapolis Horror.


j. was after the battle. One o'clock yes
terday afternoon was the hour assigned
for the trial of portable engines and saw
mills and into the competitor several firms
entered, among them Sinker d Co., engine
builders, and Long, Joseph & Carter, saw
yers. The test had been completed, and
the victory, if a victory it is, had been won
by the Sinker machine. Seven minutes
and half of saving had been done, with
every part of the engine and mill strained
to the utmost tension, after which the fires
had been permitted to go down and the
machines to rest About o'clock, Mr.,
Sinker's foreman thought it advisable to
saw up the logs on hand, so as to clear up
for removal on the morrow. The engine
was started and the task accomplished
with the exception of two "turns." The
pit beneath the saw was filled with saw
dust, and a temporary rest was taken, to
allow two colored helpers to clean it out,
A large circle ofinterestcd lockers Gil We're
gathered about the area occupied by the
machinery, while here and there over the
grounds were scattered twelve or fifteen
thousand people At moment Of undis-
turbed quiet, while the hum OF machinery
was hushcd and attention directed toward
the ring in which the fast trotting was
about to commence, a noise like the eX
plosion Of park of artillery saluted the
ear, and a conclusion of the earth as of an
earthquake SEM thrill of fear to the
heart. A volume of steam, a binding
cloud Of dust and smoke, the air filled with
debris of timber, of pieces OF iron, OF
shreds Of clothing, parts of human beings,
Of groans, and Of shriek5, men falling
hither and thither, and ranks opening as if
plowed through by grape and shrapnel,
told the fearful tale of an explosion. The
engine minute before thing OF beauty,
obedent to the touch OF man, was torn
and rent by a mighty CONFUSION; its
comelinesS gone, its parts scattered to the
four winds, hardly joint left in integrity.
That which in one second had been an i'm
plement of industry, in the next was
turned into sickle of death, reaping and
moving its victims in swath confined
by no rule and measured by no regularity.
The scene was one to appal the stoutest
heart. The immense crowd only in
formed enough to know that a terrible &C
cident had occurred swayed and surged
like mighty pillows, breaking over every
contine and threatening to add to the list
of deaths, by trampling beneath their feet
some Of the weaker and the smaller who
were rceling about in the vortex in utter
helplessness First impclled by curiosity,
the jam was toward the spot from whence
the sound came; the manned and wounded
lying about the vicinity were overwhelmed, |
and doubtless some were killed outright
who might have lived had they been
allowed air and given attention at once |
When curiosity was appeased by the
shastly sights which met the eye, and |
when the people, in a dazed and Devil |
dered way, came to comprehend the char
acter of the disaster, panic seized them,
and even more fearful calamity was
through their terror. Strenu !
GUS exertions were made by the cooler I
and calmer to quiet and allay the excite .
ment, and, after a time, something like .
order was evoked, and survey made Of
the extent of the casualty.
The engine was set up about seventy
five yards vest of the Power Hall, and the
saw mill some fifty or one hundred feet
due north Of the engine, The force Of the
explosion seemed to be lateral Heavy
pieces OF the machinery were blown to the
north and to the west long distance
few Of the lighter parts were found some
distance to the east, but more were thrown
Those who saw il, say nothing
was thrown higher than thirty or forty
feet The bodies Of several men were
lifted into the air. and alightcd in man
I.el and mutlated shapes many yards
rom where they were standing when
struck with the steam. An idea Of the
orec ana power, and the horror q the eE.
ll0si0n, may be gathered from some Of the
which we have been able 10 eel,
ate