New-York tribune., 1882-02-17
EXPLOSION OF TWO BOILERS.
BROOKLYN FLOUR MILL BADLY DAMAGED.

Two mufiled reports in such quick succession that
the second was almost merged III the first, both
louder than the boom Of ihe heaviess srs edI in ts
neighborhood of Fulton Ferry. Brooklyn. Yesterday
morning at 11:35 o'clock The next moment an I'm;
eogd ~ tbs al air oyer the
six-siory building. at Fulton and FqIman- ,l
sis, and then followed downfall OF III bricks, can.
Jeweirs weH Brooklyn City flour ills had exploded,
distance of fifty feet Oae man was killed, and sew
eral others were more OF less injured. The c1ncus-
sion was so great that Il shook every yS hrne u,
large quantity of glass. For minute me sltuauon
was appalling. In the street in front OF the mn IS
and within 100 feet of the boiler-house are the
Slips of the Fulton Ferry and OF 1he me
IRE fs of aPq The NewJersey % ferries had just left
their slips and escaped injury One OF the Union
Ferry Company's boats, the Fulton was in her shp,
the westerly one. and many who were on Doard OF
her suffered slight injury. The boiler-house ad;
Joined the mill the north side and the blgh wal
of the mill sheltered the from harm I None eY
eral wOme tainted and were carried INTO nelghool
ing stores: u,
ming tight aud day for several weeks, stopping only
on Sunday. At the moment Of the eAp11iiIon pt1ir1n
men in the building. They believed that
the mill was falling upon them and made haste ;re
to 1 fnc0 h @ ans Ry Most Of the
men gained the street by this means, but those who
were on the lower floors left the building by the
usual exits. The boiler-house was completely de,
stroved What was ieft of one of the boilers stood
at an angle of forty five degrees and rested on the
ruins OF the second. The casing OF the second pOer
was completely gone 1t was torn TO ribbons, ana
was seen whirlBg in the air far above the hlgh
building The pieces fell back into the debris Inc
third bpier was thrown frsm ils bed to the whari,
distance Of fifty feet, where 1t ieil almost
nnhurt. The boilers were seven feet IN
diameter and twenty-one feet long and before the
nlnsiou they stood side bV side IN q OnC-sIOIy
brick building, which had frame rOoi; In9y Weie
built twenty years age IN Hartford and had oeeh III
The office of the Erie Annex was, partly
wrecked, and three women who were IN the walt
iar-roem became much alarmed. They were
not injured, however. A heavy piece OF timber,
which was carried high in the air, fell upon the
roof of the Office of the Pennsylvania Annex,
and, striking on its end, penetrated to the ceiling.
Some of the flying bricks and timber struck the
fenyboat Fulton and fell on the passengers: me
only person hurt was Captain Elias BALDWIN, the
pilot A large hole was cut III the side of the boat,
Roome. of Cedar and William-sts., New York. was
Sitting on tho seat Of truck which
was on the front part, OF the, ferry
boat. flying brick struck, the top Of his low, low
crowned felt hat and cut il oil as clean as II shIp
knife had been used. Mr.. ROome was unhrt.
Al the time of the explosion the only person In the
was instantly killed. he had been employed In
the mill for sixteen years and bore an excellent rep
utation He was forty years OF age ana 1e ieaTes &
wife and four children His body was found about
four hours after the explosion under the middle
boiler 1t was not greatly mqthated and
found % it Is believed that his death was nstantane-
ous. The fireman, Miles Walsh had very marrow
escape He had Just left the , noe5r2o4 & % foTed Sf Ge %
order 10 bring I'D fuel for the boilers and was barely
within the mill building when the explosion oc-
cured. lie was unhurt. la conversation with a
TRIBUNE reporter he said that he cond give no eX-
PLANTATION of the explosion. The boilers were all
fu OF water, and when he LETT me Doer-rooih theIe
was between AZ and As pounds OF steam pressure OH
each of them. .
John Titus, the driver of wagon owned by
Henry Werner, wosd-turner, Of No. 81 Sch mer-
born-st Brooklyn, was standing on his wagon,
which backed up in the rear OF the 6oller-house
aud Was seriously injured. The third boiler in its
Titus was thrown under the wagon but how he got
there he is unable to say ,ol;l Inc Hgid wagon
The horse was badly nutilaed, and was
subsequently, killed. ritus had several confused
wounds about the head and shoulders, and Geep
cut on his nose. He was taken to the Long Island
Hospital in an ami mbulance. NiIlam Cowan, a
cooper employed IN the mil as a header was al
mos scalped by the falling debris. He was taken
to the same hospital James Hussey, a packer, was
coming ont of the beiler-room when the boilers ex
ploded The conclusion threw him into the street but
heescaped unharmed Thomas Walters, workman
was struck the back by brick and slightly in
iured John Nelson, employed the ice barge
Arctic. was struck by falling material and was
wounded in the hip and shoulder. lie was cared
for ia the cabin of the barge:
from the box at Furman and fulton-sts. just after
the explosion, but the box was out OF order. some
DELAY euSueQ, Dut Hhdlly an NdS given lIOiu
A number of engines and trucks arrived at the
scene of the explosion and lines OF hose were ald III
case of the breaking out OF ire At the same time
ambuazces were summoned from the Long Island
Eastern District and the Homeopathic HOspltal,the
was injured. 1t was several hours before
an attempt made TO search The
Tnins owing TO the threatening condition of the
northern wall of the mill and the chmzey of the
bolerhOuse. The wall was broken in several places
and large cracks appeared in different parts OF IT,
explosion and it remained in its position only be-
cause it built into the wall Of the mill and be-
cause II was anchored by iron rods TO the opposite
side of the mill. Finally, these who were
considered competent to judge Of the cOndi-
tion of the wall and chimney gave It as
their opinion that there was no immediate
danger and the employees of the mill began rcmOv-
ing the debris about the boilers An hours hard work
cleared the space in front of the boilers and the
bedy of stevens was found wedged between the
end OF one Of the boilers and the floor. The boiler
was raised by means of Jack-screW and the cody
was taken out. 1t was taken TO the office of the
PENNSYLVANIA Annex, and was afterward removed 10
an undertaker's shop in liigh-st.
Herbert :. Jewell WAS IN the Office OF the nl on
the first floor of the building, when the explosion
occurred lie was Eet by TRIBUNE reporter while
standing in front of the boer-house, and, in reply
TO questions said: i cannot account f0r the cXc
plosion in any way. was in the boiler-hOuse half
an hour before the explosion, and everything at
that time seemed right. Stevens, our engineer, had
been with us Tor sixteen years, and he was thor
oughly competent and careful man. The bOiieIs
were insured III the Hartford Steam Boiler and In
spectiOp Company, and boilers in its care are
thought to be in such good hands that the
Government does not require any other
inspectiOn The boilers were protected
by low-water and hgh-pressurc alarms. 1t is true
that they wero old boilers, but they had been in
Company. The boilers were insured for $4,000
but double that amOust will not replace them and
the bOiler-rOOm as they were this morning.
Supervisor Bgb bcOck, the manager of the Hartford
Steam Boiler Inspection and Insurance Company
was on his way 10 his office in this city when the ex
plosion occurred fe remained at the scene all day
until alleh AWAY To aftrnd a meeting OF The Board