The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-06-17
A BOILER EXPLOSION.
FIVE MEN INJURED-Loss THIRTY-THREE THOU
SAND DOLLARS. BY FIRE

FIVE MEN nJURED-Loss' THIRTY-THREE THOU
SAND DOLLARS. BY FIRE.
About three O'Clock yesuaday afternoon an ex-
posIon OF steam boiler ocl.uTed in the wholesale
provision store OF Fred. Figae oenlers, on the
first floor Of the three story brick building No. 102
Thompson street. injuring n.e men, two OF them
quite severely, and setting fire to the building.
At the time oil the accident rhe engineer. Frank
Weischer was standing abon four leet from the
boiler, which Is upright o1e, situated IN the
rear. Adjacent 10 the boiler was large tank, filled
with hot lard. In process OF rendering. The tank
was encircled by steam pipes The first intima-
tion OF danger which Weischtn received was a
slight shock In the moor, occaso ned, 1t was suo-
seqenty ascertained, by the building settling
Immediately afterward he heard loud report
and the boiler turned ups lde down. the
large cover OF the lard TANK brew of and the
heated lard was violently forced by the shock IN
every direction. Dense volumes OF steam lol-
lowed completely logging the place. ana render
ing the escape vi those on tnat hoor exceedingly
dtlcult. The burning lard quickly set hre TO ! ne
floor, and the flames rapidly spread upward. Ihe
second moor was occupied as moulding factory
by A. Wintraecken Co., and exte nded through
the adjoining building, No. lOl Inc lnnammaDle
character OF the material on this moor rendered
the progress OF the fire very rapid, Lad before the
engines reached the spot the naItes mad COM
petely enveleped the second Moor. The WORK
men employed on this floor, believing their retreat
by the sLalrWais to he cut or the nsity OF the
smoke and steam decelvIng them, as the stair
ways remained comparatively intact throughout,
ned to the upper noor and many IN the excite
ment OF the moment were on the point OF jump
ing from the tntro story windows to the ground;
but fortunately ladders were placed TOR their re-
lief In time 10 prevent sucn rasnness.
In the rear OF the building was four story
tenement house. occupied manly oy Italians VINO
rushed from their apartments III great excite
ment as the DIRE approached their building. Men,
women and cniidren swarmed the stairways,
BUSTING eacn other down. iorgetiul OF everything
but the instinct OF seif-preservation. SO great
was the CONFUSION and excitement THAI the alb
sence OF any serious accident Is almost mracu-
lous.
At the time OF the explosion Edward Rowan,
aged y-nve years, residing at No. 251 humboldt
street, Brooklyn, VAS passing the place. when
the ponce arrived he was found lying on the side
walk, MS arm broken IN two places. supposed 10
have been caused by a large fragment or q beam
that was hurled through the door.
The Fire Department, under command or Fire
Commlss oner Perley. got quickly 10 WORK, aud
within fifteen minutes had the laines compn tely
unoer control The police, under command OF
Captain Mcdonnell rendered valuable AID 70 the
fremen, especially In getting IRON a stable ad-
joining the burning building number oil horses.
When the lire mad sufficiently abated for the
aremen 10 make an lnvestIgation number OF the
latter penetrated the basement, where tney found
Jonn Fetser, one OF the employees, whose residence
is No. 100 East Fourth street lying between rwo
barrels, almost asphyXiated with smoke and vtIy
severely scalded ON the lace ana hands with Inc
hot lard. He was promptly rescued and taken TO
the Prince street station house, where police
surgeon dressed his wounds
Bernard Miller, another OF the employees, was
also severely scalded on the forehead and arms.
Matthias GRIEF was slightly burned
Mark NclscheF tue engineer, whose Injuries
are slight, consisting OF small cut on the nose
and lew burns on his left hand, gave the follow
ing account oil the Occurrence:-
.Iwas standing short distance from the boiler,
the time being about ten inmates to three p NJ,
when | hearu sort OF rumbling or shaking
Almost at the same time heard a loud noise, and
l saw the lard from the tank squirt out III large
quantities The boiler then upset. made rush
Tor the front door, but before l reached IL the
place was filed with smoke ana steam. / must
have struck my head against something IN run
ming out but was so eXcIted 40 not recollect.
l suppose the explosion was occasioned by The
settling OF the bulldingn
The following Is a list OF the losses-
Frederick Figge OehieTs, wholesale provisions,
$4,000: insured Tor $780,
A. WIntraecken * Co.. mouldinQs, $4,000;
fully insured In the following companies Pa
chc, Mechanics and Traders CiLizcns ana Brew
ers of Milwaukee.
henry WEIGH liquor dealer, No. le4 Thompson
street, 81 900; insured. Tue building Is owned by
w. ii. Andrews, whose loss 10 estimated at So OOO,
wetcn is covered BY insurance in the Peoples
Company.