Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1879-07-02
The Terrible Boiler ExpI0siOg
in carbohydrates Par.
tfculars.

t1cuiars.
| PHILADELPHIA, June 27-One Of
the most calamitous boiler explosions
known in this city occurred this morn
ing at the saw and planning mill of AL
pheus Wilt q Son, which has front
age on the east side of Front street,
above Fairmont avenue, from No. III
TO 1923, inclusive. One house situated
in rear court, was actually RACED to
the ground. so that stranger would
hardly conjecture its previous existence
while in the ruins beneath were buried
whole family. 10 another house an
end of the boiler had shot through the
brick wall and lodged itself on the Sc
cond floor, and so demolished every>
thing that all evidence of habitation
except the house itself was absolutely
extinct. The scene directly after the
explosion was heartrending. The air
was laden with durt and vapor, and
men, women aud children were run
ming in every direction. The explo-
sion occurred according to all accounts
just about a quarter before s o'clock.
AS is customary in planning mills the
furnaces were fired with shavings.
which nec9ssitates firing up about
every fifteen minutes. The engineer,
Mlcheal Dietcl, had just fred up and
was sitting in the engine-housc read
ing a. newspaper, directly in front Of
the end OF the boiler which blew out,
and was hurled with the huge piece
Of iron across the court, through the
wall, and into the second story Of the
house standing at the southeast corn
er of the tOom with bis ribs crushed
in and his mouth torn from ear TO ear.
He was aged about thirty six years,
and leaves wife and four children.
As soon as the police and fremcn ar
rived they proceeded at once to exiri-
cate the dead and wounded. In a
house adjoining the boiler house there
lived John McAvoy and lis vile, Ma
ry Ann McAvoy, aud the latter's three
children by her first husband, their
names being Claude, Stella and Eva
Long. When the boiler parted the
engine-house was torn into atoms
without brick left standing, and
McAvoy's house suffered the same fate
John McAvoy has gone eff TO work,
and Mrs. McAvoy, with the assistace
of one of the children, was clearing
away the breakfast table, while the
other children were engaged in some
other work. The first body found was
that of Claude Long, s year of age,
upon whose body there was not the
sighn Of bruise, The medical men
who examined lis body expressed the
opinion that he had died of fright.
Stella Long, his sister was next taken
out of the ruins very seyerly injured,
but her wounds, it is believed, will
not prove fatal After clearing away
more of the joists the body of Mrs.
McAvoy was discovered beneath q bu-
rean and wedged between two heavy
pieces OF timber. At nine o'clock the
fireman began the work Of removing
her remains, and it was two hours
later before they accomplished their
object, Eva Long, aged II, is miss
ing, and is believed to be burned in
the ruins. Houses Nos. II, -, and
10, court B, were all more or less
damaged. 1t was No. II iuto which
the end of the boiler and the engineer
were blown. The whole front OF
this house was torn away, while the
other two sustained more or less in-
iuries from demolished sash. chimneys
and the like. 1t was occupied by the
Gamble family. Mrs. Gamble aud
her children were in the yard at the
time, aud escaped uninjured. In No.
~ lived John Hetzls and his family.
Strange to say, the only one OF this
family hurt was boy called Lollie,
who was not in the house, but over en-
Beach street He was bit by a missile
but not very badly hurt.
Shortly before shutdown the dead
body of Eva Long was found sitting
with fork in one hand and broken
cup handle in the other. Stella Long
has since died frcm her injuries. This
is the fifth death from the accident
There are various rumors in regard 10
the cause of the disaster, among which
was that the engineer bad said a day
or two ago that he had notified the
proprleters to stop running the boilers
as they were unsafe. This howeyer,ls
disproved, as a certificate of the Hart
ford Steam Boiler Inspection and In
surance Company, dated February ii,
1879, certificates that the boilers were
all right, and as late as May IA the
boilers had been examined and were
guaranteed to stand 30 pounds OF
steam could be carried with perfect
safety.