St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1871-09-29
Pretty PidythiHgS.

The dreadful accident at New York
ON Thursday was caused by the cxplo-
sion Of union torpcdocS, small internal
machines manufactured for the amuSe-
mcnt of children, if the public will be-
lievc it. In size and shape these torpe
does are the exact counterpart of rifle
bullet. They are colorcd red on one
side and blue on the other to catch the
juvenile eye. When crushed, the little
ball is found 10 be composed Of Il 5 prt Of
plaster with Il kind Of kcrnal, like Il
chcrrypit in the center OF a brown cod
or, which contains the explosive agent,
whatever it may be. One firm hold the
patent Oh them, and their construction
is secret, but the explosive agent used
is universally believed by the trade 10 be
nitro-"lyccrinc. There is no ordinance
against their Use, but the sale OF use of
them in New York city is prohibited by
the fire marshal. Many Of the most re-
putablc ircwork dealers will have moth
ing to do with them rs they are consider
ed very dangerous. Il would not have
"GOu know how J. Il. Purly OF No.
"a Maiden lane, blew out all the front
Of his shop with them two years ago,
and nearly killed a nero. The fire
marshal stops the sale or use of them in
small quantities, and wonder he has
allowed klucbcr to be cartim" them
about the city by the million" OF the
explosion, Thursday, the Times gi,cs
the following account:
"Thc building No. l2G Bcckman-
street, Is occupied by 'kIueber X Gold
schmidt, patcntces and manufacturers of
the celebrated union torpedocs, and deal
crs in fireworks" In front of their
building, at i. p. m, yesterday, stood
large two horse dray, from which Il
man clad in an old blnc drivers coat,
was unloading pine cases about the size
OF tra-chc-tS, containing union torpcdocS.
y row of twenty boxes had been placed
along the side Of the building and Il Ger
man boy of fourteen was scrapinm the
old marks from them, making them
ready for his employer, Mr.. Gold
pot and brush upon Il similar ruw along
the cmb. directing them To Bradley y
Co., Cincinnati. All this was often to
he seen in TIE ne"hborhoud The dray.
with its load of boxes Containing torpc-
does is often in front of No. l2G, and
the ncishbors are in the hlbi, OF seeing
the driver dropping the cases from the
wagon on the sidewalk. They knew
what the boxes contained, and the police
knew, and the fire mar~hals knew.
Whether it happened from dropping a
box on the sidewalk, or from the boys
scrapcr striking nail, or how it came
about, no one knows, hut suddenly the
whole mass blew up with 4 ..detonation
like thunder, followed by Il rafting re-
port like dropping muskclry. The
crash shook houses on their foundations
for hundreds of yards around, smashn"
every window, and throwing men and
furniture to the floors The air was in
stantly tillcl with flying fragments of
wood and iron, and when the smoke
cleared, CaswclI, the driver Of the truck,
WAS seen on the top of wooden awning
in front of ncighboring store, from
which lie rolled and fell II feet TO the
ground, with both arms and legs broken
y little school-boy, who was sitting in
doorway, was shown to the Mortified
eyes OF ms father (who stood near stone
dead, with his skull smashed in. John
Nolan, an old man who was approach
ln9, lay on the corner mortally wound
ed. Gold-chmidt, who had been label
INC the boxes, was half buried under the
shattered wagon, and George Reichart,
the hoy who had been scraping the box
e., was hurled 10 the ground sightlcss
and grlevou-l y wounded Margaret
Burr, Il little girl who hal been playing
across the street, WAS grooming in agony
from the blow of an iron bolt which had
struck her with terrible force on the hip
The horses lay upon the ground with
holes III their sides and ON one of their
heads, either of them large enough TO
put two fists into. The wagon was Il
perfect ruin, Il mere head of shiycrcd
sticks and bent iron, and formed the GEN.
ter Of heap Of wood which included
the remnants of the heavy wood awning
and every vestige Of wooden sash or fix e.
ture from the front of No. 126.