, 1875-04-16

Ono Of tho most disastrous fires which hna oo-
Cured In t,Is city for many yoars, one involving
the 1osa OF human lifo sn,l the destructiou Of
great amount OF property, took place yesterday
afternoon u Rincon Point. Tho fire. khicl, had
Its origtn In tho explosion Of quantity ot glaut
powder In = small BLanty on Harrison ntecet
wlsaEf. east Of Spear stroot sot fire to aud ro-
dncc1 to ashes thsco small buildings on tho cor
nor Of spcar nad Harrison etroesa, Niey l. Veat's
hay.bhrn, shod belonging to tho black Diamond
Coal Company, on speAr s!roct, mud 1IasllaAaY'a
bondod warehouse, on flhihaWny'a Wharf.
J. N. nrdon. who Is engaged in rnmoring
+" Rincon llock, IN obstruction in tho harbor of
nincon Point, Ind routod from Alexander
Thompson aiuall building On tho south aide Of
Harrison street, and located but q short distance
from tho bonded warehouse aud which ho used
oBsonhibly Tor tho purpose Of al office. East Of
tla ''of1ico" was stnall frAmo house, occupied
BY Thompson with l1Is family. nnt west Of 1t
ware two small houses, ono occupying tho coroer
Eito, and uao1 ns bar-room by Fred. HaaBsa;
tho Other, which WAS to tho soutb OF lIasBc's
place. nlong tho lino OF Harrison street, WAS keat
to ppo.o do Il eol mi ,a.o
1cRidoncn IA two-8tory franc ho1so) and tho hay
barn and coal-shod. Radon, It appears, used
the " o!lico as place TO prepare cartridges Of
glapt powder. nsel IN tho s1tbmartno blasts.
which wore mado by a man namsd Clarke, who
was foreman Of tho busting gang.
How tho cartridges woso prepared was described
to Gait reporter bY hit. George ". Fay1or, Col.
lcctor on Harrison Btreet wharf. There always
number OF boxes Of giant posdoE, continuing
&c or 20 pounds II powder caca; sometimes
there wero "a many ~ twenty -fivo bo1cs In tho
oflco. Tbia man CfArAo used to mako up tho
to bsvo round tin cans TINT wonld bold l5 pounls
OF tho powder, and would fill them with powder
from ono OF tho boxes, altar which Ao would
ta.np tho powder with stick; aomctinos he
Ind q man to heip him at :ts wosk, mud some
times tampad tho powdor. Just for tho fun Of
tho thing. In my oplhtou, tho man WAS taulpug
one OF tile cartridges tanped too hard. aud that
caused she explosion"
A shock waa felt and y loud report WAS heard
by thoee in tue Immediate vicinity whilo tts to-
port was heard at considerable distance from
tho aitc Of tho disaster. Tho force OF tho OK.
ploson shattered the houses occupied By
Thompson, Hahsc, mad Ingalls, into splintere,
ana The fragments which for moment d!ied the
tho notthsostern corner OF tho warehouse.
onp-htory brick structure, was blown In. Tho
debris wore Violently forced across Spear street,
aud some Of those struck aud shattered tho win
duws In tho otllce Of Eathaway'a fee warehouse,
smashed IN tho door aud window OF tho toll col.
laotor's Office and smashed windowa In tho house
Of ]. r. Talson. on tue northwest corner Of uar-
rison aud bpoas ssresta. WiudoSa in house on
w'oro Rsdons Office stood, were shattered, a.
was also soma glaBa In the windows Of tho MA-
r1no Hospital. On llshcon Hill.
The bonded warehouse Mas flied With s1gor.
burisps, A.! asd ales. belonging or eous'spod to ].
blanchard 4 Co.,, @. Adolpho Low 4 Co., aud
Parrot d. Co. There Was not loss than 1000
tons Of sugar IN the warehouse. Tho loss IL
estimated At 500. 600 or eGoo. 900. Tie bonded
building Was uninanrcd, and 11r. Hathaway
estimatcs hts lo,s 1t sl5.00o uninsured. i.
was nso Impossible to form correct estiuateo Of
tho loss sustalded W tho others, bnt 1t is sup.
$3.50, co.,.
Tho following Is list Of tho persona killed by
tho explosion:
Frederick uaaso. tho saloon-keeper, agod
about 40 Jeara. lie leaves wife and several
but bones wcro broken. No was lii cd instantly.
4 man named - Clarke, foreman forJ, n,
lltsdon. was burnt to crisp.
co!ored mat! t'amo1 - Brown, was takon
lie was employed about tho wharf as nosscn.
ger.
JaneR Mc1ntyro anstafned such severo hpinal
tnjnripe that ho d|od shortly after being removed
navy foW days ago. -.
Blary'B Hospital, where D.. Murnhv ani snxcrai
other physicians attended to their Wounds. Tho
s's;cra were uaeemistlng In their efforts to mpko
% %ovea5smng ~ son!oitaole as possible for the
Jamoa Finpersn s rnssiyc;f s,s sasoro ,,,. ,o4 a,
gerous, Wounds IL the faco ftom yinr glass % nnd
splIuteis. He was taken to tho civ prt,on
Iospital.
Mis-. Margaret Thompson was torribly cnt nm
by fragments Of glass. IIor body. nock. faca.
and 1oNa aro fftKhtfully lacerated. Dr. Mu,uhy
extracted noary flfty large pieces OF eiass fto.1
hopes for hor recovery, 49,
hlr. Haaae, tho vito OF tho salonn, ,taaror w,,
vas killed, vas very badly lnjurod. Her faco