Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1871-08-10
A FRIGHTFUL DISASTER.
Explosion of n New York Ferry BOnt-
Many Lives Lost and more than One
Hundred Injured.

Explosion Of a New York Ferry Boat
Many Lives Lost and more than One
Hundred Injured
The Staten Island ferry boat Westtield
exploded her boiler at Whitehall terry
Sunday afternoon, at twenty minutes
past one o'clock. Between 800 and 400
persons were on board at the time of the
sad affair. The front of the boiler was
blown out lodging in the bow, thirty
feet distant The forward part of the
boat, upper cabin and all, was instantly
shivered and split into thousand pieces
As an eye witness expressed it, "the
forward part of the boat was lifted fifty
feet in the air, the smoke stack fell, and
then everything was buried in the hold
Many persons were blown overheard.
A father and mother had their chill
dren blown from their arms. The water
in an instant was alive with men, women,
and children struggling for life. A num-
Der of persons, it is not known how
many, were drowned. The debris in the
fore part of the hold was first removed
The cries of the poor half-boiled victims
were heart-rending. Stimulants were
given them as they struggled beneath
the beams, and oil was poured upon their
burns. AS fast as the wounded were re-
covered they were borne to the deck of
another ferry boat moored alongside,
where they were tenderly cared for. AS
fast as it could be done, they were re-
moved to the various hospitals of the
city.
The Westfeld is very old boat, and
belonged to the Staten Island Ferry
Company. Her deck, as could be seen
after the explosion, was rotten, but her
boilers passed inspection two weeks ago.
The engineer of the boat says az
have been employed by the Company
for 16 years; L was in the ire-room five
minutes before the explosion ; asked
the fireman, Patrick Finnegan, about
the water, and he said it was all right :;
went to the boiler myself, and found the
water above the third cock went up
through the engine-room and noticed
that the gauge indicated 81 pounds pres
sure of steam then I went on deck in
two minutes | came back, and Just as /
was going down the stairs to the engine
room the explosion took place ; cannot
say what caused the explosion the boil
er had patch on the part where the
break was examined it three days
ago, and found it in good condition"
The fragment of the boiler which was
thrown out upon the Barge Office plat
form was pronounced to be so plainly an
unsound piece of iron, upon examination
by several persons who were presumed
to be good judges, that Inspector Jane
son caused it to be removed to Police
Headquarters for safe-keeping. 1t was
stated that some of the deck-hands
asserted that the engineer had been
absent from his post for at least Is
minutes instead of five, as stated by him.
self. There was also much comment
upon the fact that while the Inspectors
certificate gave % pounds pressure of
steam as the limit of the allowance, the
engineer admitted that the boilers were
subjected to q pounds pressure five
minutes previous to the explosion.
Fully 10000 people assembled at the
dock as soon as the accident was known
and the scene as described must have
been heartrending
Within the hospital the scene was har-
rowing in the extreme. Here upon the
floor of the middle room lay boy of 10
writhing and twisting in the agony of
worse than death. His little body was
scalded from head to foot, and the tor
lures that the poor child suffered were
intense. Near him lay o strong man
bruised and burned beyond the POSSIBLE
ty of recognition, his once healthy frame
now one horrid mass of broken flesh
In another part of the room was fine
looking young man, whose head and
shoulders were raw, and whose limbs
were burned to ivid Wilderness, by the
boiling water In all the rooms were
men, women, and children in all stages
of distress. Two wee things of perhaps
five months of age, and apparently twins,
we're brought in at three o'clock, their
bodies torn and scalded most terribly.
A woman of thirty-five was suffering
the last pangs of a distressful death, and
another, with hardly stitch of clothing
on her body, filled the air with her
heartrending screams of agony.
At this time there were perhaps sixty
wounded people in the different wards,
the women occupying the upper floors.
The surgeon and assistants were indefat-
tigable in their efforts to soothe the
pain and agony of the sufferers, and
their various aids deserve more than
praise for the tenderness and care with
which they treated their suffering
charge.
Within two hours after the arrival of
the first victim, death began to move
among the ranks and relieve the terrible
torments of the sufferers. Those who
died were taken to the Morgue.
A passenger on the boat says {: Be-
fore the time for starting went ashore
to buy some peaches. had got only
few yards from the boat when the boiler
exploded. The passengers rushed for
ward, and many jumped overheard.
While dozens were in the water, some
of the passengers and deck hands began
to throw the wreck overheard. (By the
wreck mean the loose timbers torn away
by the explosion,) This operation was,
in my opinion, the cause of many fatal
tiles, for the plank and other timbers
struck the strugglers in the water even
while they were being drawn up over
the side of the boat by their friends.
A TELEGRAM from Hong Kong, an