Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1881-06-02
rEKRIsLE ExPLO.ION.

AOoso OeoA1nB No. - 1O0-AOsAkUo.
At Gaaney & Nolan's dye house in the
10th ward, Philadelphia, yesterday, Den
mis- Scully, the engineer, turned cold water
into empty and red-hOt boilers. A fearful
explosion ensued, causing the death Of
Frank HARRISON, Frederick Duescher and
Robert Bradley, aged 5 years, and injur-
ing Scully, Thomas Cody, Mrs. DoOly,
Nellie Duffy, Q years, and Michael Duffy,
5 years. A number of dwelling houses in
the immediate vicinity were damaged by
the flying missiles, and part of the dye
house, brick stable and an adjoining
dwelling, taking fire from the combustible
debris, were consumed. The explosion 0c-
CURED when almost all the dye-house
hands were at dinner or more terrible loss
of life would have resulted.
When the huge mass Of seething iron
went whizzing across Amber street, car
No. 48 of the Second and Third streets line
was just about to enter the depot. The
conductor had gone forward to turn the
switch and was returning to the platform
of the car when the explosion took place
and tho boiler was hurled across the street,
not ten feet from the rear end of the car.
The flying debris and the conclusion broke
all the car windows, and single passenger
who was inside at the time had his hat
torn violently from his head and blown out
of one of the windows. The house
of John Nugent, situated on Amber
street, is almost on a line with
the boiler-house of the dye works.
Singularly enough, the flying boiler
swerved in its flight just enough to avoid
the dwelling, tore away tho grape arbOr
within five feet of of the side WALL of the
dwelling, and did NO more domage except
to tear away the paling fence. When the
man.hole head, with its heavy irOd clamp,
blew out, it was shattered into a dozen
pieces and two of the fragments did dead ly
work, Frederick Duescher was sitting on
his step ON Tucker street below Martha,
about seventy five yards from the dye
works, enjoying his pipe and chatting with
neighbor when peice of the
twisted iron, weighing perhaps
hundred pounds, came whirling
through the air and struck him with such
terrific force on the side of the head as t.,
literally decapitate him. His blood and
brains were scattered over tho Mortified
man besides him, who marvelously escaped
without scratch. On the corner Of Martha
and Tucker streets, only twenty feet away
from Duescher's house, a little f1axen.
haired fellow of years, named Robbie
Bradley, was playing by him
self, when a tiny fragment of hot
iron was shot into the child's face
and he fell, dying, to tho pavement. His
sister ran out, alarmed by the terrible
concussion, with every thought centred on
little Robbie, the pet of the family. She
picked him up, and carried him tenderly
into the house. The frantic parents,
almost beside themselves with grief, ran
out to see if any of their other four child
rem were missing. and when they returned
with them all safe, poor Robbie was gasp
ing out his little life. He never spoke
after the fatal blow, and about an hour
after opened his eyes for the first time,
smiled family, and died.
Poor Frank HARRISON met an awful
death in the mill. How he met his fate
will never be known, for his body was
found burned to crisp, buried beneath a
mass of bricks and stone, near the drying
room. In each of his hands was clutched
with a death grip a skein of yarn, which
he had seized in his desperation. His death
must have been easy, for his head was
resting upon ono arm as though he was
asleep.