The Evening critic., 1882-04-14
FATAL EXPLOSION.

large boiler In the building on Pratt
street, next to the corner Of Fremont, Baltl-
more, exploded yesterday afternoon, with q
terrible loss OF life. The Immediate part OF
the building where tho explosion occurred Is
occupied by A. II. Sibley & Co. rs a chop aud
feed mill, and the floor above on King street
by Miller Il Coleman rs n sash and door facto-
ry. The machinery had been idle for some
time for repairs, and fire had lust been started
TO resume work when the explosion occurred.
portion Of the boilor was propelled north.
ward, entirely demolishlng. two twost0ry
| brick dwelling-houses on King street, and
throwing down the side wall of n rear build
ing adjoining. At tho time OF tho ex-
plosion John Addison, engineers Harrl-
son waters, colOred, fireman; Andrew
Cooper, machinlst, who had been making re-
| pairs, and Frank Kranng,a n boy of Is years,
were In the englno-room. All were killed ex
ccpt Cooper, and he was 50 badly scalded that
his life Is dcspalred Of. In the house No 173
| King street, George Pcntz aged 10, was killed,
and Ida Rosenberg had ono OF her legs broken
| Ellen Rawlings, colorcd servant woman, was
severely hurt by the walls falling upon her.
| In No Ill King street Grace Gray. aged 30,
| was Killed. In the yard adjoining the factory
| Abraham Hebron, colored unloading a lum.
| Der wagon, was struck by flying missile and
his skull fractured. james Roden, aged 10,
| had his skull fractured. Edward Callahan
| had leg broken. Mrs. Margaret Kauf,
| living Mt f54 Pratt street, adjoining
the the factory was standing landing at her wash.
| tub In her kitchen whom she
was struck by the flying bricks and killed.
c. w, Gates, at work in granlteyard, a
| square distant was struck in the face by n
| brick ana severely hurt. Edward Kelly, one
| of the employees In tho building, had leg
broken and several others seriously hurt
The building and machinery and dwelling
| houses are owned by Richard Cromwell, ir.
Several bodies are supposed to be still under
| the ruins, including those OF the engineer,
| fireman and the boy Kraning. Firemen are
| at work TO recover them. The damage to
machinery m and property is estimated at about
| same building twelve years ago, when ave
| persons lost heir lives.
The Casualties.
The complete list of casualties is as follows;
:, Killed - Mrs, Mary Q. Kaupp, aged 90 years,
No. 454 West Pratt street
Frank Kraning, aged IS years. No. 60 South
| Parish street.
Mrs. Georgeanna Pentz, aged 33 years, No.
113 King street.
Abraham Hebron, colored, aged about 10
| years, No. los York street.
| Supposed to be killed and still buried in the
| ruins: John W. Addison, aged about IS years,
engineer, No. 400 West Lombard street.
] Harrison Waters, colored, fireman, No. I2S
| Grace Gray, aged 10 years, No. III King
| street.
| Wounded: Ida Rosenberg No. 173 King
| street, scalp wound and contusions of face and
| body.
Edward J. Callahan, n moulder. No. 242
| Barre street, fracture Of leg, scalp wound and
| bruises on head and body.
Bernard Taylor, colorcd, aged 4 years, No.
| 167 King street, leg broken.
| Maria Howard, colorcd, No. 160 King street,
| face and head bruised
Andrew Cooper, aged "a years. No. OF
| Thames street, scalded on right side of face
| and on left hand and wrist. The left side of
| his face was badly burned, and also his neck
James B. Wroten, aged Ii years, No. 117
Parkin street, back of head crushed and con-
| dition critical
Frank Sanford employed at George Garri.
sons moulding factory, hit on the head with a
| brick.
Ellen Rawlins, colored, No. III King street,
burned about the body.
Effects of the Explosion.
The Baltimore StDe of this morning says;
The explosion scattered debris for great
| distance around the scene of the disaster. The
air was filled with flying fragments, bricks,
| plaster, broken furniture, &c. large piece
Of the boiler fell upon the roof of the planning
| shop, crushing ii In and damaging the adioin-
| ing house. Tho widest scene of the confusion
| was on King street, where two dwelling
| houses were totally destroyed, and several
others shaken and cracked as II by the Jar of
an earthquake. Children cried and clung TO
the skirts of their frightened mothers. Men
| ran from place TO place trying to render as
| sistance. Meantime a thick, almost impene
| trable cloud Of dust and smoke assembled from
the ruins, obscuring the vision and increasing
the excitement tenfold. Suddenly, and with
| added terror, fierce sheets Of flame darted
through the dusty clouds and burned
furlously. An alarm of fire was sound
| ed from box 43, Lombard and Penn
streets, by Police Sergeant Baker, but some
delay was caused by the wires having been
|
responded as soon as possible, however, and
worked bravely and laboriously. Very little
damage was done by the fire, as II was soon
| eXtinguished. An immense crowd of people
| collected in the vicinity, and as usual on such
occasions, showed morbid desire to see tho
dead and mangled. This was especially the
case with women, who pressed forward per-
sistently, despite the hustling of the men.
Captain Delanty, OF the Southern, and Lepson,
of the Western police districts, and a large
force Of policemen Were on hand, and by un-
| tiring work they succeeded finally in quleting
the people and bringing orderout OF chaos.
Houses Blown TO Atoms.
| Dwellings Nos. III and 173 King street were
blown into atoms simultaneously, All that
remained of No. 173 were two panel pictures
OF flowers, which still hung to the wall of the
adjoining house after the former had been
given way, showing that one wall had served
for both houses. Mrs. Pentz was found under
n pile Of bricks and mortar dead, her head
having been horribly mashed. She was 80
| years Of age, and a daughter of Mrs. James st.
l.. Perry, No. 154 Aisquith street, where the
has three children, the Oldest aged l3 years.
After the body was taken from the ruins II was
at first conveyed TO the residence of Mrs. Mag
relative Of the dead woman, and knew her
only about three months.
The injured women In the list above who
were taken from the wreck OF these houses,
were nearly dead with fright They are not
seriously hurt. A demolished organ and fur.
nituro OF all descriptions was found and
No. 109 King street, occupied by MollIe
Hopkins and owned by Mr.. Cromwell, was
damaged in the back building and on the
roof. The occupant OF the house was not AT
home when the explosion took place.
No. 167 King street is occupied by Louise
Taylor, colored, whose four-year-old son Ber
nard had his leg broken. The boy was in the
water-closet In the yard whore the boiler
burst. About a ton of debris fell Into the yard
and completely demolished the closet. The
boy was half buried, and when extricated II
was discovered that his leg had been broken
The fence OF No. 167 was knocked down, and
the wind0w-sashes in the rear OF the building
shaken out Of position. The walls were cracked
also.
A Distressing Casualty.
One Of the most distressing Incidents OF the
disaster was the killing OF Mrs. Mary @. Kaupp
She was 90 years old, and widow with Ave
| children-three sons and two daughters. She
resided at 454 West Pratt street, the yard o
which runs back 10 the mill property Mrs
kaupp was In the yard washing. Suddenly
and before she had time To look up 10 SEQ whai
was happening, she was buried under the fail
Ing bricks and timber. 1t Is believed her deatl
was instantaneous. When the romans were
taken out they were frightfully mutilated
She was borne into the house, where many o.
her friends called 10 view tho body, over whicl
thoy cried and lamented. No. f51 Pratt stree
is owned by Mr.. John II. Koch. Tho damage
was small.
The Boiler.
The Sun also says; "The boiler, IL appears
was an old tubular which had been recentl,
patched, and one week ago inspected and d q
clared safe. cOrOner's jury was summoned
| DIIt tho al the a exfllosfoo a. 4,