Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1872-01-30
DISASTROUS EXPLOSIONS.
A Boiler ExPIOdes at b Pamela OIL
WOrks-IWO Men Fatally Injured
A Conservatory Blown TO Pieces
The Theory OfExPIOsiOns.

A regular old-fashioned boiler-explo
sion took place in the Pamela OIL compa'
ny's mill, at the hayward, yesterday
morning. The fires had been extinguisheC
from twelve O'Clock Saturday night Il
twelve O'Clock Sunday night-s very cold
period in Memphis and everything be
came frozen. At twelve O'Clock Sunday
night the furnaces were set going as usua
and things worked pretty well for three
or four hours, st the end of which time II
was discovered that the supply-pipe wsE
frozen and no water was reaching the
boiler, About five O'Clock Nh. William
Ray, the engineer in charge, perceiving
that there was q hitch somewhere, pro-
ceeded to investigate and found out what
was the trouble. He st once rang the
bell and ordered the steam shut on, but
before the order could be obeyed the ex'
plOsion came, creating tremendous havoc
and disaster. The right hue of the left
hand boiler had collapsed, blowing out
both ends and scRlding two colored men,
Tom Winesbsrry and Alfred Cooper.
These were in front of the furnace at the
time and were blown twenty feet through
the plank wall in their rear, and were
suddenly stopped by a pile Of heavy tim
Der outside. There were other parties
slightly injured at the time, but not Sc
riouslY. Those two, being perhaps fatally
hurt, were conveyed to the city hospital
where they were still living at last &C.
counts. The explosion shook the whole
neighborhood and reused the people out
of their beds two hours before the usual
time. They thought it was an earthquake.
All work at the mill was instantly sus-
pended, of course, and the scene about
there was one of wild confusion. The
woodwork about the house where the
boiler was situated, was shattered into
fragments. This CREST boiler itself was
not much disturbed, though the ends Of
the hue which collapsed, were thrown
s versl yards and would have gone, per-
haps, out of sight, were there no resisting
bodies to stop their flight. The steam and
water, which. were "r9d hot" were
thrown against q building n hundred
feet sway, blocking 1t, and even csus-
ing some damage. Mi. Miller who
was In charge when our reporter visited
the premises. said that there is no COM
putting the force of the gas or steam that
exploded the boiler. The whole end of
the building in which it wa situated was
blown out, and the plsnks sent flying
through the air The mRnhead in rear of
the left boiler was blown away, and the
right fue was tori to pieces. The other
hues in the two boilers remain uniDjured.
No hope is entertained of the recovery Of
the two cOlored men who were injured.
TIE PANOLA ~ r
are owned by q Joint stock company, of
which MI. ". B. Miller is secretary, and
Mr.. j. r, Miller superintendent, The
damage done 70 the boiler is estimated at
about $500, for which the proprietors are
fully covered by insurance. The PRnolG
oil works company are probably the lsrg-
est manufacturers of crude and refined
cOttOnseed oils in the city. The boiler
will be repaired at once by putting In g
hue, and the manufacture of oils re-
sumed within a week. The freezing of
the pipes caused a lack a wster in the
boilers, which, not being discovered in
time, produced the explosion and fatal
results.
MISS PERDUE's GREENHOUSE.
Miss Perdue's greenhouse on Poplar
street extended, also suffered from an ex-
which was the result, curious as it
msy seem, OF frost. The furnace was al
to Ego out on Sunday, and when
heat was again got up yesterday morning,
hue through the conservatory ex-
with 3 fearful noise and a great
crash. The whole building was shattered
and about Observation-Disclosures hoWerpots
into the sir. The actual damage in
this case, spart from the human suffering
mentioned, will be twice as great as that
suffered by ths oil works.
Every lush c4pNOSlUu buab bAkoo pIhC0,
of adding to our certain k7owl-
upon these things, seem to surround
Ri the commonly accepted theories
more doubt. 1t seems to be
however, that g gas is
generated of such q subtle and
tremendous power that it has no parallel
any known combustible. As throwing
Iome light upon this subject, we may
mention the case Of a man called McGrsne
who had his head blown of in q brewery |
Brooklyn the other day by the explo-
lion of 3 bser barrel which he was clean
ng out. he had put in the vessel some
line and other chemicals, as was usual,
was rolling the barrel about to gene
the gas which did the disinfecting
u cleansing. The barrel exploded, driving
he head out with such force that Nc
head was completely cut of. The
lead of the barrel, after severing the neck
Il q strong man, cut through a beam in
he floor above, eight by ten inches, and
ontinuing its flight, imbedded itself in
be floor Of the next story.