The Kenosha telegraph. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1860-1888, 1878-12-12
A lAN-BAKE.
Horrible Fate of Two st. Louis yvorkmen.

nOrrlDle rate OF Two 81. Louis VOrkmen.
An accident which is almost without
parallel in the horror of its details oc-
CURED, few days ago, at the Belcher
sugar refinery at st. Louis. in which two
men lost their lives, and their bodies
were blackened and charred almost to a
crisp. A local paper gives the following
account Of the horrible affair: In one
of the departments of the refinery there
are fifty sheet-iron tanks used as bone
black filters for purifying the sirup from
which clarified sugar is made. These
tanks are of similar size and cOnstruc-
ton, being eighteen feet in height and
four and one-half feet in diameter. The
lower ends rest on the ground floor of
the building, and the other ends extend
through the floor of the story above.
At the bottom of the tank there is
small opening with an iron door, which
in times of use is kept closed, and is
capable of being made air-tight. At the
top of the tank is similar hole, both
being just large enough to admit the
shoulders of a man. These openings,
or "man-holes," as they are called, are
only of use when it becomes necessary
to clean out the tanks. During most of
the time the tanks are kept filed with
sirup with the filtered sediment of bone
dust, but it is the custom of the estab
hshment to stop the machinery at least
once a year for repairs. During this
period of rest it is also customary to
have the tanks cleaned, dried and painted
with coal-tar on the inside for the pur-
pose of preventing rust. In order to
do this the Workmen must crawl through
one of the small openings USUALLY the
one on top and get inside of the tank.
Each tank is provided with small plank
platform on the inside, which may be
elevated or lowered by means of pulley.
In painting the walls of the tank the
workman sits upon this rudely-con-
structed elevator and raises or lowers
himself at will. Contrary to the Or
binary method of painting, how
ever, the tarring process is begun at the
bottom, and the brush passes over the
walls as the elevator ascends, until the
work is completed, when those engaged
in the work crawl out of the upper man
hole, thus saving their clothing as much
as possible from contact with the tar
The inside of this peculiar man-trap is
filed with the darkness of a cavern, and
the tarring of the inside is done by the
light of q miners safety lantern, which
is generally suspended above the heads
of the workmen. Two men John
LEIGH, aged 80, and Henry Weise, aged
4O-entered tank 80 with a lantern, two
tarbrushes and bucket of tar. The
elevator was lowered to the bottom, and
the men had been inside about fifteen
minutes when one of them was heard to
exclaim, cob! oh! OIL" and soon after
sharp tongue of fame leaped through
the lower manhole. A man on the lower
floor, who stood near the tank, attempt
ed to pull one of the men out, but the
flames drove him away. The Superin-
tendent of the department., Herman
Munsberge, was on the floor above, and,
seeing the fire and smoke escaping
through the upper opening, closed
down the lid. This stopped the draught,
but the fire continued to burn until the
lower opening was closed, some min
utes later. The fire burned altogether
fifteen minutes, and when the tank was
opened the bodies were burned black
and hard. In order to get them out a
hole about four feet by three had to be
cut in the side of the tank with chisel
Both men were in sitting posture
one with his head bowed and shielded
| by his arms, while the other had his face
turned upward, the back of his head
resting against the side of the tank.
Every stitch of clothing worn by the
men, and all the tar in the bucket, was
consumed. The lamp was broken. How
the fire started is a mystery. The light
in the lantern was protected by a globe,
and the lamp was filed with lard oil.