Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1869-11-18
POWDER EXPLOSION.
Immense Destruction of Property

From the Superior Tribune, Oct. 30.
On Wednesday morning. about s o'clock
an explosion occurred of X. G. CoburR's
warehouse, which, had it not have been for
the prompt and active exertions of our
citizens, would have resulted in the most
destructive confagration ever visited upon
this place.
1t appears that in dry goods box, sit
ting against the end of the warehouse, just
in the rear of the Office, were three small
metallic cases or kegs of powder. 1t seems
entirely impossible that fire could have
been comm uicated from the office; and
the supposition isthat the explosion might
have been caused by spark from the tug
Agate, which had lain at that end of the
building during the previous night, and
which was fired up short time before the
explosion occurred. The spark probably
caught in some bit of finder or combusti-
BILE in or about the box, and after burning
a while unnoticed at last came in contact
with the powder, but as to this matter, of
course, nothing definitely is known.
Thereport of the explosion was very loud
and was heard all over town. The boards
on the end of the building near where the
powder was stationed, were blown of, and
that portion of the building was considera-
bly, scattered, and a general Settlement was
made of most of the articles in that part of
the building. The force of the explosion
upward was so great as to cause some
thirty feet of the roof at that end of the
building to part at the ridge pole, but in
moment it came together agvin with
considerable of crash. Flames were in
stantly communicated to the buildings and
in less time than it takes to write this, they
were issuing through the root. About $50
people with buckets, were on hand in five
minutes, but the flames had got such q
start that the prospect of checking them
looked exceedingly slim; but by immedi-
ately organizing line and rapidly passing
water up the ladders onto the roof the de-
vouring element, after hard fought battle
of fifteen minutes, was compelled to sur
render. The actual DAMAGE that occurred
was slight and will not, perhaps, exceed
500, but the damage which would have
been, had the explosion taken place during
the night previous, or had willing hands
been q few minutes later in reaching the
scene, is immense. The warehouse prob
ably contained, that morning, more goods
and merchandise than at any other time
during the season. 1t had for some time
been quite packed with merchandise, rail-
road supplies, &C., and on the evening pre-
vious, the City of Madison arrived at the
dock and discharged the larg-
est cargo of goods of the
season and the value of the goods in
the warehouse on the morning of the ex-
plosion was certainly not much, if any, be-
low 500. 900, while the grain and supplies
in the three warehouses on the other side
of the dock would have amounted to seve-
raj thousand dollars more. In addition to
thig. had fire occurred in the night, the
City of Madison would probably have been
burned also, as she was lying at the
dock and as her fires were 80 nearly ont
that she could not have raised steam emo gh
to get out of the way in time to save her,
self. Had general confagration ensued,
itwould have been particularly severe upon
Messrs. Bradshaw, Bly, & Co., A. Zachau &
Co., Vincent Roy ana ID. Schu tie, as large
portion of their winter goods came up on
the city of Madison and were placed IN the
the warehouse on the night previous to the
tira