The Baltimore County union. [volume] (Towsontown, Md.) 1865-1909, 1871-08-05
Terrible Disaster.

On Sunday afternoon last, steamboat laden
with human freight in New York hsrbor was
blown to atoms by the explosion of the boiler
The steamer was the Westfield The steamer
was just about to start from the wharf at Il
O'Clock p. m, when one of the iremen beard an
ward was surprised by rush of steam about
him and was struck in the face by piece Of
timber and rendered insensible. About this
time the passengers on board the boat, who were
going on a short excursion to Staten Island, had
crowded to the forward end of the boat on the
deck Immediately over the boiler, for the pur-
pose of getting the benefit of the breeze that was
blowing off the bay. One dense mass of human
beings was crowded Immediately in this posi-
ton. At II o'clock p. m, one tremendous
crash came, and they were sent flying in the air,
hurled upward or outward into the water, while
the deck on which they stood was shivered into
a thousand splinters The scene was indescrIba-
Bile by human pen Men, women, children, cry
ing infants, all hurled into mid-air without a
moment warning Those in the other parts of
the steamer rushed hurriedly ashore.
The result was terrible destruction of human
life ! Sixty-one were killed on the spot or have
died since And nearly one hundred more have
been seriously injured The affair has caused
considerable discussion as to the cause of the d.
saster. 1t appears that United States Inspector
Matthews inspected the boiler in June and found
it to bear hydraulic pressure of "a pounds to
tae square inch and gave a certificate for the use
of 81 pounds to the square inch The engineer
states that he was on the wharf when the explo-
sion occurred, that he looked at the indicators
of the engine only three minutes previous and
found that only p pounds were on and that the
steam was blowing off so rapidly that the pres
sure could not be increased. He also states that
the boiler was patched short time ago and
gives it as his opinion that these patches in the
bottom were insufficient for the pressure and
gave away.
Later exchanges tell US that the boiler was de-
fective at point that escaped the detection of
the inspector. This detection was the cause of
theexplosion. Eighty-fOur deaths have occurred
GET READY FOR THE FRAY.-The Democracy of
the county, through their Executive Committee,
on Tuesday decided to call their primary meet
ings for Friday and Saturday, Septmber lst
and I'd for the purpose of sending delegates to
two county conventions to make party nomina-
tons. One of these conventions is to convene
on September 9TH, and nominate all the county
officers. The other is to convene on September
18th, and nominate candidates for the upper and
lower Houses Of the Legislature. The people have
a better opportunity of having their work done
two sets of delegates instead Of one. Would it
not have been better in the same proportion if
they could have held six conventions, one each
day of an entire week ? The people would have
had three times the chance to express their wish
in public way that they now have
Well, the lines of battle are about being
drawn. 1t is time the Republicans were think
ing about mastering their forces to show fight.
Ere long our call should be issued for our meet
ings for the purpose Of making up our ticket
Let there be good ticket selected and put be-
fore the people. Let The canvass be conducted
with vigor and energy. Let the corruption of
an unworthy Democracy be thoroughly exposed
Then when the votes are counted, if we are not
Victors, we shall have the satisfaction of know
ing that the responsibility of the misrue is not on
our shoulders.