The Indianapolis leader. (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1879-1890, 1880-03-13
A HORRIBLE AFFAIR.
The instantaneous Explosion Of a
Steam Boiler at Frankfort,
Ind, Thursday Morning.
Pieces Of the Boiler Blown Three Hun
dred Yards, and Showers of Bricks
Hurled Hundreds of Feet.
THE CALAMITY

One of the Most Horrible Affairs that Ever
Occurred i'm Indiana.
FRANKFORT, Ind. March 1.-THE most hor-
rible calamity that has ever occurred in this
part of the State took place here this morning
at q so o'clock. Ten of the Ii men employed at
Leyman q Rosenthal's fax mill were at their
posts, ready for duty, when the boiler explod-
ed, killing every man present, and completely
demolishiDg the building. One man was
blown out of the building and
..il CARRIED HUNDRED YARDS AWAY:
another, 50 yards away. Bricks and fragments
of iron and timber were carried over 20 yards
The bodies are simply shapeless masses of
bones and flesh, with heads crushed and blown
of. Limbs are bruised, blackened, broken,
and heads torn off, Most of the victims are
young men without families.
LIST OF DEAD IN CITY.
Monroe Webb, single man, aged % years.
Jonn III. Rogers has a family of three chill
rem, head blown OF.
Scott Williams a widower with one child.
Joseph Wisemiller leaves q family of four
children.
Thomas Croxton, a single man, aged %.
Croxton was the engineer. He began work
only last Monday.
Michael Shields leaves a family of three
children, aged 50.
Eli Helmick, a single man, sged "a.
Helmicks residence is at Boyleston, Ind
His body was
HURLED 495 FEET.
Patrick Lahey was the foreman of the mill.
single man and aged 80. His home was at
Peru. He leaves an aged mother.
Joseph Eichenberry, a widower, aged As.
His home was at Kokomo.
John HollochieId a single man. aged 20. His
home was at Lebanon.
Coroner Petty brought
ALL THE BODIES TO FRANKFORT
He washed and put them in condition to be
recognized by friends. All have now been
taken charge of and removed to their respec-
tive homes
THE EXPLOSION.
AS was their custom, the hands had gath
cred, 1t is supposed at the front of the boiler
to sit, warm and chat until the whistle blew.
NO ONE is LEFT TO TELL THE STORY.
The theory is that the explosion occurred
when the engine was started, as cold water
was thrown in on the fiues. The engineers
watch indicated 10 minutes of a. m.
THE SCENE BEGGARs ALL DESCRIPTION.
The bodies were mutiated almost beyond
recognition, and were thrown from 80 TO I65
yards distant. Pieces of the boiler were blown
to a neighboring woods, a distance of 200
yards.
THEIR CLOTHES EVEN WERE TORN INTO sHREDs.
Two of ihe bodies were almost entirely
stripped. Those who were first on the ground
report that all had ceased to breathe except
the engineer, Mr.. Croxton. He was still
breathing naturally, and made motions as
though he wished to be raised up. He lived
only half an hour.
ROGERS HEAD WAS BLOWN ENTIRELY AWAY.
ana not a vestige OF it could be founa. An
other body had the head all torn to pieces
Two bodies only were buried In the rubbish
The rest were all blown out OF the building
Five OF the employees were absent from vari-
Gus causes, and thus escaped. Business and
all other pursuits are forgotten. The boiler is
one from q mill that burned at Peru. and NAV
have been defective. The engineer is reported
to have stated to one or two persons that the
engine was in a bad dx; that he never
could tell certainly how much steam he had
on nor how much water there was in the boil
er. The bookkeeper says that the new engineer
had pushed the ''p" out to l20; the guage was
, set to blow of at 100 pounds; the boiler was
guaged at lS0 pounds: they were accustomed
10 carry oo or 7Opounds of steam; 1t only re-
Quired 40 pounds to do the required work; the
water passed through heater before passing
into the boiler. VIM. Richey, formerly engi-
neer' thought too high pressure was
THE CAUSE OF THE EXPLOSION.
Inc most reasonable explanation is that the
water was low, and the guage did not ind icate
the pressure.
THE LOSS
IL estimated at from $4,000 TO $1,000. The
building and machinery are a total loss no
insurance on building or machinery. The
mills were owned by Lehmsn, Rosenthal & Co