The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1872-05-29


!. not possible for me-a Yankee, used to r,,esa
ing and to such sharp practice az maIrine
oats out of shoe-Iegs-to begin to imagine
don't expect you to; but there. hid AVA
In the bills, and far away from the demorai
ling Influence Of New York, where no vile
theatres injured mans native Innocence
with solemn Sabbath bells a stones throw
away, and with fifteen evangelical teachers
in as many tabernacles with blessings asked
Mt each meal, with family prayers and much
snutlling can't, two blamed old Yankee de,.
cons ruin this mill night and day (sometimesI
and turn out thousands of barrels week Of
this vile, cliawed-up plaster for the adulter.-
ton Of -four"
From the Philadelphia Daily Enquirer. nth.
Frightful ExpIOsion--One Man Killed.
a Girl Fatally Wounded, and Five
Mem Injured.
This morning at half-past 10 o'clock a ter.
| rible explosion occurred at the PennsyIvania
Finishing, Dyeing, and Bleaching Works
of Troth, Gordon & Co., on Crease street
| above Girard avenue. The loud, ringing re-
| port, the crash Of timhcrs, and the great VOL
ume OF steam caping from tho debris which
| covered the ruined boiler, at once brought y
great crowd Of excited men, women. and
| children, to the scene OF the disaster.
Our reporter was soon advised of the catas.
trophe, and in short time was on the sr,ot
The police were there in advance, and en-
deavored to keep back from the places of in
gress to the yard Of the factory the great
sWaylng throng, which every moment gained
| new strength.
The establishment, which is of brick.
lronted on Crease street, and had depth OF
forty feet. From the western end one
story extension ran south the distance of
fifty feet, and then joined two-storied strl,c-
ture used for dyeing and drying purposes,
that had front on Day street. At the time
of the explosion more than $50 operatives
were engaged in the factory, and the scenes
OF terror and excitement when the terrible
crash came are indescribablc.
THE PARTICULARS
of this sad affair are as follows: A few weeks
ago the firm decided to test the merits of a
new boiler which had been highly recon-
mended, and in Il few days suppIanted the
old one with the improvement. This boiler
differed from others in the fact that the
firc-boX was not placed within it. a range
OF fues were fixed over the furnace, and the
steam. as it was rapidly generated in them,
was carried to wrought-iron cylinder
standing Il few feet from the fire. The merit
OF this boiler was said to be that it enabled
the generation of steam more rapid and less
expensive than others, and at the same time
was guaranteed to be non-cXpOsive. The
trial test of this boiler 1--WE have il from the
lips OF the patentce) was 22G pounds, and he
This morning declared that on Saturday it
carried 100 pounds to the inch f..
THIS MORNING
the urn were testing the qualities OF several
grades OF coal, and while this was in process
| all ehort was made to supply not only enough
steau 10 urlre the machinery, but for the
purpose OF bleaching. The boiler, which
wis OF nlnety-horse capacity, stood in the
one-storled building which, we have said,
| connected the two main buildings of the
establishment. The engineer tending it was
benjamin Lavarey, q man of forty-one wears
OF age, and one who is said TO have been not
only skllful engineer, but always sober and
| industrious.
There IS some conflict Of opinion ~ to the
circumstances Immediately preceding the cy-
ploSlon. All agree, however, that some one
called to the engineer to get up more steam,
and he replied, "Wcll, I'll do it rs quick as
cam" and within ten minutes, with terri
| bic noise, and the roar of escaping steam,
| the boiler burst, thraWing the building, Il
mass of ruins, into the air.
| THE TERRIBLE WORK
| of the explosion soon became manifest. The
engineer was missing. and there was only
one opinion as to his fate. A crowd of men
went willingly to work in clearing away the
ruins. and after half all hours eXertion tho
end of the boiler, which had been blown
out, came to view. Digging down, they ar
rived ut the other extremity, planted in ;
pool of water, and resting upon the man
gled. crushed blackcned remains of wha
had once been the engineer. The body wa
mashed into shapeicss mass, the clOtllc
about it torn into shrcds, and not feature
was to be found by which, if his ilcntit.
had not been known, he could have been rC
cognizcd. Over his head hung 4 mass o
diScolorcd and broken machinery and to-
rough edges Of a sIowly-crlnmbling wall.
AN EYEWITNESS,
Mr.. l.. Phlcger, is the pmtentce Of tn
boiler. He, with one of his men, Wilson
6. Walker, who had been about the place al
the morning TO see that the improved gene
rltor worked smoothly. His story is in tli
following words:
l came into the room just few moment
before the explosion. The first thing that
noticed was the satcty-yalvc. | saw that th
weight which kept it from blowing of undo
i 100 pounds had been removed. suppose
the engineer did this TO keep the steam from
icing lost, as he had chains on the vave-arnl
aud these held it down. This caught my cy
in moment, and l rushed upon the boile
to take them off. As got near it saw tn
needle Of the steam-gauge swing rapid
around. | called to the engineer, "Opel
the DOORS nearing the ire-doors, and hat
not time to say another word before tn
boiler burst with de;lieninS crash. Tn
next moment found myself under the ruins
was covered with broken boards, brick
and mortar, and it is a miracle that l eve
rot out alive. When l went into the boiler
room saw that the engineer was terrib
excited, aud he cried out, "rcl them will
get up steam now The words no suonc
. escaped his lips than the disaster occurred.
b THE INJURED.
!; Adjoining the establishment on the Yves
was the residence of Mr. Schaffer. The wal
of the boiler-room faced upon the yard o
his residence. Augusta Scaffer, his daugi
ter, aged sixteen years, w;ls washing in tn
ward. and her brother George, Il little fellow
of five years, was playing near her when th
explosion occurred. The poor girl wa
struck down by the flying debris. and whc'
discovered she lay senscIess with mass o
brick aud dirt upon her. \ short distance
from her her brother lay PROSTATE. The.
| hon an