The daily gazette., 1881-01-08
SECOND EDITION
From the N. Y. World. j rs
FOUR MEN BURNED TO DEATH


IMPRISONED IN A BLAZING BEER VAT
WHICH THEY HAD BEEN vARNIsH-
ING By LAMP-LIaHr.
-Four men were burned 80 shocking
ly yesterday by an explosion of the
vapor Of varnish in the fermentinp
room Of Peter Dodgers lager beer
brewery in East Fifty fifth street that
they died of their injuries. A fifth
was slightly burned while roscuing his
comrades. The fermenting room.
which is 50x200 feet, is in The base.
ment and contains about one hundred
wooden tanks or vats which need to be
frequently painted inside with shell
lac varnish. Yesterday morning Chas.
Binlar, John Pfanner, Anton Whit
schareck and William Braun went in
to . tank 10 feet high and 10 feet in
diameter TO give 1t a coating Of shell
lac. The tank is open at the top and
has hole in the side thirty inches
above the level Of the floor, just large
enough to admit q man. The four
men entered by this hole, carrying a
covered lamp and a can of shellac var
nish. George Adams Arnitz was at
work outside. The men had varnish-
ed the sides of the vat and were at
work ON the floor when there came a
flash and fzmes filed the vat. Tbs
men conld not get out at the top of the
vat and could get through the manhols
only one at time, Braun first came
to the manhole with his clothes and
hair afire. Arnitz pulled him out and
turned him over to the other employees
who threw blankets around him and
extinguished the flames. Pfanner was
next extricated ablaze all over, and
when Binlar crawled to the hole he
was so exhausted az to be unable to
make any effort to get ont. Arnitz
succeeded in hauling him out, Wint-
schareck, the Oldest of the four men,
had held back to give his younger
companions chance of life. His
clothing was almost entirely burned
away, and he was blistered shockinply
from head to foot. These three men
were taken to Bellevue Hospital
Arnitz's hands were severely burned,
and he was sent to st. vincent's Hos
pital. Planners burns extended over
his whole body above the knees. He
said to a World reporter that the
sperm oil lamp they carried had ex-
ploded-explosion is not a habit of
sperm oil-and that the newly warn
ished sides of the vat, together with
the residue Of the varnish, was imne-
diately atire,
BiDlAr was unconscious when the re-
porter called al the hospital. The only
thing he said after his admission was to
ask If his three companions had been
taken 70 the hospital. Braun was cared
for in Ward 8. he was very badly burn
cd about the face, body and arms. He
also said that the lamp had exploded
In Ward Is Wintschareck was in toe
critical condition TO talk. Arnitz said.
81 did not bear an explosion, but there
might have been one. They had the
Shellac varnish in an open can with q
handle TO it. ! helped them out as
quickly as possible"
All four OF the men taken from the
vat died at Bellevue Hospital in the
evening.
At the brewery the reporter was as
sured that the safety lamp had not ex-
ploded. II sperm oil was used in the
lamp, tits probable that the safety Ap-
paratus was in some way broken, so
that the vapor Of the vsrnish had access
to the fame.
At st. Francis's Hospital Ludwig
Burkhardt and Max Endier, who were
burned In similar manner in the brew
cry on November "a last, and Andrew
Friedel, who was burned while varnish-
Ing vat on December 70, are slowly re-
covering. The physicians who have
charge Of the men at Bellevue Hospital
will not predict that any Of them will
recover.