The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1869-06-04
Ane SaHcfnnati Co.'s ExpIosaon.-rss
Mystery Explatncd-.-Tsse Cause Dfs.
ASAfv-
From the Enoniror. Mn = 9s,,,

=. From the Enquirer, May 2sth. n
since the occurrence Of the strange acct.
ocnt the oiiicers of the company have dil;.
gently labered to throw some li1ht ,,nor -
feeling assured that there could not NO snn m
singular effect without an adeoroto a,,d
aenionstratiye cause. In this we think thar
nave been successful. - '''s'
;, VA the day OF the accident one of the no
eneeIneh, who took charge of the grounds
.of the purpose of keeping back the crowd
spectators who thronsed around tho
Nara, discovered lying at the foot of the
iron cosumn upon which the man Mckenzie
mon bricr-root pipe. This he gave to thc
foreman OF the yard, who showed II to the
VIE OF Mckenzie, and il was at once re-
Tr0Ignlzeu by her ~ her husbands nine.
tiere, then, was clue, and MIR, Thomas.
engineer OF the works, had no difficulty in
determining beyond question the cause of
TIC accident. 1t must be understood. In the
hrSt place, that the gasomcter did NOT cr.
pfodc, for the very reason that not an atom
Was blown from the metre, nor was the man
aickenzio, sitting on the top, thrown from
tne pltar upon which he sat. All the mate
rlal al the yaSomcter was found living in The
water which filled the lower part. sl,owino
conciusiyely that there was COLLAPSE, and
not an explosion
The Sasometer, as is we'll known, was
composed of sheets of iron riyeted together
alter the manner of boiler. EXPOSED as
~ was, and rs is the case with, all gas
holders, to the influences of the atmosphere
and the corroding effects of the weather,
ITS seams and rivets were liable to give, and
thereby cause leakage.s1t has been Gus
tomary at the works to seiiIi-annually cover
the gasometerS with a preparation of coal
tar and rp,,air fhn 1oot-:,,<, e,o,,,,, LII, :
peculiar kind Of cement. This isswhat the
laborers were enga ged In Doing on the day
of the accident. The5fop'of the gasometer
had not been coated at noon fime,h nd from
the thousand imperceptiase leaks the gas
was issuing and surFotinding 1.-THE huge
holder with gaseous cloud, as 1t were. 1t
is therefore evident that Mckenzie. while
waiting for his dinner on the top of the
metre, thought to avail himself of the solace
of his pipe, either through ignorance of
the danger or in direct violation of one
of the most stringent rules Of the COM
pany. In lighting his match the escaped
gas. which surrounded everything, was
ignitcd, which must have created a great
conclusion. The shock or pressure upon
the top of the holder being greater than the
pressure of the gas within, the crown or
top of the metre being of great weight was
Shattered--thc gas escaped in body and
burned like Il flash; while the huge tank
collapsed and fell in n heap, as has already
been described. Had the 35S, 900 cubic feet
Of gas which was confined in the holder at
the time exploded in the sense that gas only
eXplodes, there would not have been one
brick Of the works left upon another.
Without the introduction of oxygen into
the tank an explosion was impossible, and,
under other circumstances than leakage,
had hole been punched in the side of the
gaSometer and a match applied, it would
have been attended with no worse. results
than the lighting Of street lamp.
The plausible explanation which we have
above attempted to give, as corroborated by
one of the attaches of the works who wit
messed the disaster, and who says that the top
Of the immense reservoir was seen to rip
open and fall in like roof. Gas manufac-
turcrs and those who are acquainted with
the exact mathematical nicely with which
gasometerS are hung, will understand the
effect which heavy conclusion upon the
top. like the one referred to would have,
and will readily accept the explanation
given as the only plausible one which can
be advanced in connection with this hitherto
strange and ineXplicable affair.
I'VE give the above for what it is WORTH J