The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1873-02-18
LOCAL MATTERS.
TIVE yATE BOILER EXPLOSION AT
THE DANvzLLE DEPOT.
,rs,,r OF TIE CoRoNLR's INQUEST.
.,,,,,c, Consuming tho Railroad Com
panS.


"a, morning over the remains of IT,. ,os.
y nry Gay Rawlings, the unfort, ~ s sase
,,,Y NJ the locomotive Fury 49, u .,
po@y' Ea'lroa .a DEPOT a? in lois city for shift.
in. |'>, VIZ" ""S N''' IL on Friday night by
tie cAg'>,iIon OF nc boiler. Young Raw
j;a~>-''' "c .eas scarcely twenty-onc years
o'.t-'N lat the northeast corner OF Twenty
IT Ind Main streets.
About hai(.pa>' ~ O'Clock sunday morn
Eng tho irry, composed oil Robert James
(forcm2n), John II. Redwood, samson IKE,
John G.. Eoeah3ck, Gerhard ilaakc, ,. Il.
Bowman, Noah Grumoald, William ii. Ba-
kcr. H. Eide, ". T. Joseph, John ". smith,
md {. r. Siberia proceeded 10 the residence
~ tine deceased. viewed the remains, and
,1en adjourned to the Coroncr's room, in the
Medical College. FOR the purpose of hearing
;nr testimony. II may be appropriately re-
MARKED here that the jury was selected with
great care, and was composed Of experts in
steam and stcam-machnery.
TUE TESTIMONY.
The first witness examined was Mr.. W. r.
EaThcm. the engineer of the Fury. lie said
l,, had been running her steadily for about
-iohtccn months. aud on Friday night Qthe
night OF the accidcnO came over from Man.
chester with the passenger train attached 10
his engine, ~ usual. The boiler had three
l.auccS OF water in il ami ciShty-fyc pounds
IL steam when he got into tic yard. lie
iacu stepped from the engine and went into
the Office 10 set his watch, and returned TO the
tu.inc again. He then lett the engine the
.econt; time. and went 10 the telegraph office
IL inquire whether Southsldc car which
WIS attached 10 his engine was 10 20 off
an TIE saturday morning train. The Fury'S
-lrain-@aUgc now indicated pressure Of %
pounds. and she had commenced to blow of
4 lltl!r. There were now TWO solid gauges
81 water in he: boiler. When he started TO
return from the t1lice, aud had opened the
door,
TUE EXPLOSION OCCURRED.
In reply 10 questions the witness further
sid that he generally carried from SIS to 50
pounds of steam. Did not know how old
The engine was, no Of any d. fe t. in her, but
didn't consider her Il safe engine Hau given
ro:icc 10 the railroad company about 4
month ago that ne thought the engine was
;4u>a'", and in reply was told to be careful
with her. Had been away from the engine
only about i've minutes when she blew up.
\ Juror: Mr. Barham. how much steam
would YOU have been justified in carrying in
Ills boiler il il had been now?
4. We'll, sir. about $50 pounds.
.. How much prcSslirc have you had on
her hucII!
\. Tie highest l have had has been from
,'i'o leo pounds.
The Coroner: Did you ever know any
other engineer TO refuse 10 run hcr'
4. No. sir.
e. Dld YOU ever hear anybody else say
rr,f lii" engine was Unsafe?
i. 40. sir; no one who was competent to
'%pr>s IN opinion.
=. Was the engine moving whcu the eX-
r>cn occurred.
4. No, sir; she was standing, and tho
pumps Tcrc on.
.. Did Won tell the fireman TO get up more
-,,.ln b cauSs you had heavy shifting Il" -
nicMi
y. 40, sir. 7 only told him ',,onted 70
(" AID see If the Southsidc car vas 70 90 ON
t"v morning train. IL" [iic urrmnnl moved
the engine across the este, perhaps the
I""-ih "i tx" cars, - ..or had gone. without
10Y knowI"d%c." az advice.
Inc '"i"f II: Now. Mr. Barhanl, will
-" J"'' III III" jury your idea OF this cX-
i!G,ior-.
y. A!i that ! can say about it is that il
iHlEht lave been owing to ali old boiler.
!rIc might nave N"tn
TOO MUCH STEAM;
lut had plcGty Of water, and always con-
>I!cr myself safe When have plenty of il.
q. What made YOU make this report n
mouth ago rs ~ the boilers being unsafe?
\. Well, sir, because the boiler WAS old.
q. How Old was ita
y. About twenty or twenty-five years old,
sIr. Tic engine vas working very nicely on
Friday. and always kept her clean.
Q. Dtd you examine the iron after the cx-
i,osioH:
a. Yes, sir, did. Some of it looked very
welt. and some didn't. The temper appeared
= he all gone, and my inspection showed me
HAT II was 4 weak boiler, and convinced me
thai .hc accdcn. occurred on account Of the
h"i!ct'r being Netk.
.. Did YOU ever have any instructions from
ia" company rs TO how much steam you
should carry:
y. Yes. sir; WAS instructed by the mas
ter mactinl>t to carry from eishty-tive to
MiurIy-tNc pounds.
Z. Isn't ID Il Il small quantity:
a. WCll-ycs, sir, it is ; but it's good
pressure, after all. Niaytv-tivc pounds is rs
much as ever Carried in her, and scldonl
that much. | had hccn on the engine foot
beard about five or six minutes when the cX-
p'o,inn occurred.
=. Was there 4 patch upon the boiler:
y. YES sir; there WAS a patch on the right
-,!o al the dome, but there was no other
i@'rn pat upon her that | rcmcmf or and
Tie boiler had not been repaired in eighteen
months. rs it was deemed unnecessary.
Mr.. Barham also said that in his eXpe-
renee he had known i:emcn to hold the
tatctv-baanre down. 60 that the engineer