Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1878-05-08
MINNEAPOLIS HOLOCAUST.
Burning Of the Great FIGURING Mills of
'ot' Washburn & Co. 4ss,,s

Burning Of the Great FIGURING Mills OF
''' Washburn & Co. 4ss.,
An Minneapolis dispatch of the eve.
ming Of May s2nd, says that at sew.
en- o'clock this evening the CITY was
d shaken as by an earthquake byya ter.
! ritic explosion which was PROMPTLY
traced to the groups Of great FIGURING
mills m what is known as the Plat
form" Just above St. Anthony's Falls,
/ where the entire Touring interest of the
! city is concentrated. The explosion cam
from the great Washburn mill, from
which a column of flame was seen to
i shoot up several hundred feet, followed
by crash which crushed the immense
structure like an egg shell. Ascend
airy explosion Instantly destroyed the
Thompson & Hoyt and Humboldt mills,
and the flames immediately burst
out, communicating to the Gal
axy 81 mills, IL those 2fof Petit
Robinson & Co., Cahill, Ankeny & Co.,
Day & Sons, Day &, Rollins, Buell., New
ton & Co., Gerton, Hayward & Co.,athe
Washburnr A andnB Mills and lesser
structures down the bank, of the river rive
nearly to the Minneapolis and st. Louis
railroad shops" The destruction from
the shock of the explosion extended
much further. glass being wrecked for
several squares, and buildings shaken
throughout the city. At $50 the fire
was raging within these limits, and the
tiremen were working valiantly to- sub
due the flames. 81 The immediate
theory q, of J., the -, explosion is that
it took place in the gas generated,
in the patent middlings purifier pro-.
cess. The loss of life is undoubtedly
great but full details, are lacking in the
confusion that surrounds the scene.
First rumors made the dead seventy to
! eighty. but this is not borne out by in
quiry. The explosion took place atIthe
hour of changing day for night hands,
and many of both were undoubtedly
IN the building. Twenty-Five men went
on in the Washburn mill at $50. none
of whom have been heard from up to
$50. Many others, Of the day force,
must have been in the buildings.
Up to . o'clock, the list Of killed and
injured, SO far as 3ascertained, are as
follows: Big mill--grinders, Charles
Henning, Frederick Merrill and
Clark Wilbur; oilers, William Leslie,
Cyrus Ewing; machinists-Ole SHE,
Walter Savage, Patrick Judd, Ed. Mer-
riH;; watchmen-Harry Hicks, E. w.
Burbank; one unknown Aug. Smith
was blown out of the window. hurt but
not killed. AT the Diamond mill John
Bayer was killed. David Ward had
gone put after q pail of water and es--
capped unhurt At the Galaxy mill
Joe Mantle; in the third story,
after the .lgowall 111,q was blown
out jumped down into the canal and
escaped unhurt. At the Zenith mill
twosmen were killedAWidstrum and
Fred George In Petit: Robinson &
Co.'S mill, Dean Day was thrown out
of the window and injured + odt 10 .,
Investigation confirms the opinion
that theafirst estimate OF loss of life were
exaggerated el The number of dead is
now placed at seventeen. - There
were / many thrilling incidents
and narrow escapes. = Daniel Day was
blown the whole length Of the ePettel g.
Robinson mill and through the rear
window and escaped One poor fellow,
who could not be. recognized, 1hadqes.i
capped alive from the explosion, and
was observed crawling through the dart
ing, hungry flames, towards the track Of
the Minneapolis and St. Louis railroad,
directly in the rear of the Washburn
millh He managed to reach the. rail
and there evidently became exhausted
and fell back into the raging hell & be.e
hind, where,his agonies instantly ended.
1t now appears that most of the day
force had gone home and only the
Smaller night force remained. The loss
to property is enormous; but the con-
fusion is too great for intelligent esti-
mates. At present a rough. calculation
| places eoQ it b jatyj1at$ 100000 =, of,
which 100000 will fall, on the mil
ling interest. The loss throughout the
city. by the breaking of glass, etc., is
$l00.000. ed Five fourings mills and a.
planning mill were destroyed; besides ad-
Joining property, including 81 out of
the 1877 runs of stone in the CITY,
J The insurance, cannot be obtained to-
night sosl1gs VI.
FIVE MILLS DESTROYED !dnq5t
| LArER.-A Minneapolis special of
May Sd says there were five Touring
mills involved in, the great disaster Of
last night. These mills comprise the
heaviest concerns in the state, chief
among which were the two Wash
burn mills, the property Of .exaGov-'
ernor c.. G. Washburn. of Wiscon-
SIM, of which the one in which
the . explosion occurred was the,
largest Touring mill in the country, and
the largest but one in the world. It
was builtain 1870, included forty-one'
run ofstone, and, was worth 5000, 000.l
It is now a smoking mass Of ruins, with.
its COMPANIONS on theplatform. The
destruction o is completes, SO far as
the limits above named, and serious
within much wider bounds. The flames
are. still raging in the9ruins, but are
under control, and 10 further extension
| is feared: It is now hoped the dead
Twill be confined TO the fourteen men
toned, as in the Washbprn Mill. :
-1ev Gv;a INSURANCE.
The Pioneer-PSess publishes in the
| morning the following as the total in