, 1881-08-21
Tne Tug A. 3. Ward Bursts Her
Boiler, and Hurls TWO
Men into Eternity.
Probably Fatal Injuries Inflicted
on a Third-Tho Battered
and Wounded.
is USUAL. the Cause Of the Explosion
Is Shrouded in 1mpene-
trable Mystery,
Though the Solution Mar Be Found in an
0rerworkcd Engineer and No
Wafer in the Boiler.
Exciting Scenes and Incidents-Flying Iron
and Smashed Bird dge- -Timbers-
Recovering the Bodies.

and Smashed Bridge-Timbers-
Recovering the Bodies
The most fearful and destructive accident
that ever happened to Il tuG-boat OIL The Chi
cago River has to be ehronicled this morn
ing. Yesterday, 4 few minutes before t Il. ILL.,,
the tug-boat 4. D. Ward, then engaged i'll
towing the barge Adams to the lake, blew
UP at the Clark street bridge, the result be-
ing the loss Of three lives and the destruc-
tion of $4,000 worth Of property.
The barge 6. VI. Adams, heavily loaded
with grain, was being towed toward the lake
She had OH board over 10000 bushels OF
grain, and was taken out BY two tugs. One
OF these had the tow-,ine, and the other, the
ill-fated 4. =. Ward, held the stern-iinc, and
was supposed to regulate the speed OF
the vessel. The tug i'll the rear had
only to help the barge through tight
places, such as brilge-draws and the
like, and did no towing. Yet just as the
barge aud its convoy reached the Clark
street bridge, while passing through the
north draw Il sudden explosion shook tile
air.
THERE WAS ONE GREAT CRASH,
marking the annihilation Of the tug Ward,
and then AL 0uli.,uus silence. The boiler
u the Ward WAS projected $50 feet, and III
its progress cut dowl! the heavy piles in
front OF the bridge as ii they had been straws.
Splinters, paris uf tie deck aud ul,per-wU
Of the tug, a1td fragments OF its hull were
hurled through the :tir. Thirty seconds
later there were i dozen boats in the water
Tie Clark street bridgctcnders. just Us SOON
as they realized that their precious lives had
been spared, got to work anu threw planks
in the water for the victims Of the cX-
piosion 10 catch on to. Three of the
5 MeDonaid, tirsmar,, % and Fred Winegard, .it the
cook. escaped With slight dainage- 4 Greek
sailor, who WIS the sole occupant Of Il ya"i,
which was towing ;lstern Of the Adams also got
of with Il few bruises. Capt +: $. Butler, who
WAS in charge OF The \. Il. Ward. was
nI.owN THROUGH THE A1E
and fell on the deck nf tho Adams. That vessel
was 1owed 10 tho nearest dock ut State street,
WHERE it was found that Capt. Uutler's Injuries
were such would undoubtedly prove tutai:
His hcad terribly laccraaie,i, although The
skull T:t* not fractured. WIS IT first supposed,
and tEcic was sct:cciy u slusre inch III hs body
but showed u cun;usctl wound. He w:ts taken 10
his house, No. IN Hubert street, and 10 hopes
are entertained Ut Ills recovery.
Within three minutes from the lime or tho
explosion the tug lay Ut the bottom Of the river.
Buried with 1t were the bodies Of W.liiun Nc
Donald, the li,le$nian. and William Weston, the
engineer. Thc l.tter WAS recovered later i'll the
day tut McDu:aia's body is Sill i'll tho wreck
which has Lec.l suwttl tu Mixers dock. Tho
engineers t.,ly brought up ty Cii,i. Peter
Falcon. who said tnat 1t Was NO us.. attempting
10 recover the other bod, until the vessel VA
tiocketl. Capt. Butler has wife alld tnrec chil-
nrct,. Weston rcs:'lt'l on the Nest Side and hnd
Il wife and three children. McD'uald h.d Al
Wit: and one child, residing i'll osdensburg'
TIE r.ArED Tt';.
TIC tug Ward was hts:!s in 1sdt She was he
ue.eI tn ,ha ii stu.lta and 1r:tablc tessel AID
inspected fls% spring auu Eri:i1Icu Il certiti-
cate ly tie United States Inspector The boiler
wa. inspected Apr,! ~, una stool an hysros1:ltic
pressure uf IL, pounds tu the sq::irc inrh, which
i4 above ANYTHING thai should GNtt. been
called for III ordinary use. Iho boat was owned
BY .in:n \. Crawford. .3ntu Bowman, and Frank
H. Eutc 1t was valued ut $6,-0, and was not
insured
THE CAUSE OF TIE EXPLOSION
is sh:oud:I III mystery. An en.iueer who ex-
unned tho boiler as it lay rl1rler the bric-e Of
ferel IL stake his professional reputation that
everybody lad been asleep. and that there was
nut urup Of water in-tne boiler. He alleged
work twenty hours per day. and therefore could
not possibly attend properly TO their business.
Hnppears, howe'cr laaI Iapt- Eneier e':, aaa us
on duty u gain until O'cuca III the evening
STRANGE EXPERIENCES.
There were some strange experiences recorl-
ed. Everything north of the bridge wa cat
down 10 the waters clge. The Sidewalk for II
space Of twenty feet WAS blown into the air- and
Two men who we're standing upon IT found the1n-
selves IL the road In short order: Inc safst;. ..
pounds. WAS landed In the y Northwestern freight
house, east Of C1ark street \ tiv.~foor length
sct1ltd in Pat O'lsricn's salo2u, twenty ..fcc1
from the rpad, but fortunately did no haru'
Hud the accidcnt occurred M hour later. when
Clark street bridge is cranmed with peacstTtAn5.
the loss Ut life wuuld have been frishtful:
Traffic over the bridge has been stopped, und
can scarcely es rcsnmcd befare n, ann Frco
WincRard, the cook. were picked up by Il tug
.s they were cllnging 70 the wreck Of the slinken
not seriously. The Greek who WAS i'll tue yawl,
and who's known only rs ''Charlcy," Was
BADLY sllAKEN-Ir,
but not seriously injured. The Captain has been
in charge of the boat since she 'yas launched ~
la;G and has tho reputation OF being one Of the
1ncs: careful and temperate seaulen III the bar
Dor, thoroughly reliable III every way lle was
ut the wheel when the Incident happened, anu
landed on tho deck Of the Adams with
some spokes Of the wheel In his hand. The lire
man, cook, and lfnes1naD were attending to their
duties ut the time, and there seems to be no
reason to suppose that there was any neglect
shown. The tug was supposed to be III goou
shape and tue boilers % bad ee. ,xs ad
md repaired lust spring. anu was III 5ooo coh-
ditiou. .....'
Several said that
TIE PRACTICE OF ovEI:woER1NG ESG1-
NEEl:s
was responsible. ana others claimed that this
was one Of the mysterious "blow-ups which
periodically occur. without rhyme or reason,
und de;ying all explanations or practical men or
scientists.
Two Jagged projections, parts Of the upper
works ot the TUE, showed where she lay hut.l'l
the afternoon the entire debris WAS removed t"
Mille1's yard. Probably Il scientific cxan,ina-
tion OF the boiler nny throw some light on s1o
cause OF tho explosion. The engineer ol inc
tug. Kramer, who examined tho wrccAtge, stld
thai there was no water i'll the boiler when tho
biow-up occurred. The pipe which was blown
into UBrirn's saloon saowcs! all o!a fracture.
oxdszed eli through, and il seems that the tiXt-
ures, Ut least tleaviug the boiler ont VI the
question:, were not in good shape. Tue owners
Ut the vessel state HAT they c:till1O- account LOT
the accilcnt- and that they believed the Ward
WIS In 1lrst-class shape.
The approaches to the bridge we're crowded
all day. although it was difficult to say what tho
people hoped or expected t" se:- Inc oper:t-
uonS of the divers were watched with ofeuth-
less Interest, ailo the crowd spent the III ternoon
discussing the Causes und probabilities OF the
Dlow-up. \ man who alleged that he was
Standing on the west side Of the bridge, JUS:
over where the boiler cut into tho woodwork,
and who cluiued to have been blown into the
msddie of the street by the force OF tho concus-
sion, related his story TO afl aud sundry. pnt
varied his yarn so greatly that after q while the
people began to drop Oh him. and his chances
Tor beer diminished III liEe proportion
AT I late hour last night Cnp1- Butler was ly-
Ing unconscious Il, his homc+ III Il heAvy stupnr
His physicians did not think tltare would bc any