The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1883-07-25
EIGHT woRKMEN KILLED.
A Terrible Calamity near syracuse
The Walls Of n blast furnace fati
In. Buryipg the Men VINO were Re
pairing 10 Under sixty Tons oil
Es-Heart-Rcndtng scenes.

af the OnOndaga Iron CompanNs blast fur-
mace. about a half mile west OF the city. in
Geddcs. For several weeks the blast fur
mace has been unused. Il having been out
of rcpair. Joseph Dawson, with gang OF
men, has been engaged for several days in
removing the inner or iire-bricks OF the
arch. leaving only the outer course stand.
inc. The foreman considered this course
entirely safe. Without the slightest
warning the arch caNcd in, bmying
the workmcn beneath il in the mass
OF bricks. mortar. SCOT, and ashes. An
alarm was a; once given. and the men at
The mill set az work with Il will TO remove
the victims. In less than an hour eight
bodies were taken from the ruins. The
scene AZ the mill beggars description. Sc
Neral hundred people were at the place.
Sons. daughters. and wives wept iranti-
cally as the dead bodies were removed.
People gathered i'm knots in the village OF
GcddeS o. hurried 20 the scene OF the ca
sualty. Business was almost entirely sus-
pended i'm the village, and the place looked
rs il stricken by panic. II was fully five
minutes after the calamity before the dust
cleared away. 50 that the Debris could be
viewed. The force Of the falling bricks
was so great that they were forced ont OF the
openings in the furnace aud crowded Seve-
raj feet into the space about il. Patrick
Cannon. an employee OF the works, was
the first one u hear the crash. He stood
only a few feet distant. He was nearly
blinded bv the dust. Mr.. Cannon rushed
around To the front OF the building and
gave the alarm. my God. it was awful"
said Mr.. Cannon. q had just left the Vi
cinity OF the furnace, followed by William
White, who was a helper. and carrying
bricks 10 the mlsOnS. He barely escaped
being killed with the others. Joe Dawson
was the head mason. Jack Barry and Tom
Lydcn, who were killed. had been en-
ploycd in the works for some time, ana had
charge Of the furnace when II was IN ope-
ration. The works were shut down Tor
repairs June Cd. and had not been started"
A LIST OF THE KILLED.
The following /, list OF the victims, all
Of whom were 6illed outright: John Bar
~, was married, hut had no children; he
i the only one of the victims who was
heard to make any cutlery. Michael Car
roll. was married and the father OF two
children. 0,cph Dawson, the head ma
son, who had formerly been employed at
the rolling-miN>: he leaves a wife and ten
children. John Fogarty, who was single
man and tine support OF an aged and Wild
owed mother. Frank Heily, a German,
who was married and had a family. An
thonv Lvden. has been married three years,
and was the father Of one child. David
Rcgan. married. and leaves an invalid wife
and family. John Wendell, had been ut
work hut short time, and but little is
known about him; he had family.
THE PLACE KNOWN TO BE DANGEROUS.
The gang OF eight men were lining the
inside Of the furnace, which IS sixteen
feet i'm diameter and sixty feet high a
small scailold was across the furnace ut the
height Of eight feet from the ground. II
was said by Mfr. Gcre, the manager OF the
company. that it was known that the lining
of the upper part was in n dangerous con-
dition and that ne warned the men before
they went IN. The iellow-workmen OF
the dead men said that il was not known
that the lining was IN dangerous
state. Without signal or warning the
lining OF the upper part gave way and
sixty tons Of brick fell upon the
men. The sound Of the falling mass
was muilled 10y the iron walls and there
was no crash. \ great cloud OF dust blew
ont from the doors Of the furnace, filling
the factory. Men knew that Their fellows
were inside OF that iron tomb. but their
eyes were blinded by the clouds of dust.
and if was several minutes before they
could erope their way inside OF the fur
mace. with hoes and shOvels men began
10 di., out the mass of bricks, pitching
them on to the floor. After digging nearly
half an hour and throwing out mass OF
bricks about four feet deep they found the
bodies.
They were crushed and broken. Their
faces were covered with dust, which had
settled into the cuts and wounds made 10y
falling bricks. and their hair and boards
were covered with the yellow powder.
While the men were busy throwing out the
dfJriS they were frequently lmpOrtuned by
their friends 10 leave the place at once, as
they were working in imminent danger
every minute. They paid no heed, but
worked on with will. More bricks were
liable 10 fall at any moment. The TALL OF one
brick from such height would Kill man
outright. The bricks are fire-proof ana are
about fifteen inches long and six inches
square a, the end. They weigh from thirty
to forty pounds each.
At this time it is impossible TO give any
intelligent idea Of the injuries the men suS-
tanned or whether death was the result OF
sutfocation. They are al, cut and bruised,
and their bodies present a CHASTITY specta-
Gle. The news OF the tragedy spread from
the blast furnace 10 the homes OF the men
who were killed. Women and children,
waiing and crying, fastened to the FUR
mace. The limp. shattered bodies were
carried ont bv men whose faces were stern
and set, and laid on the bare ground.
SObs filed the air n, like so many sacks,
the bodies were lifted into open wagons
and driven down through the village. Al
the little cottages women stood with aprons
10 their ewes. and even the children stopped
playing. The excitement among the en-
ploy6s and many outside laboring men
was intense.
TIE MANAGERS THREATENED.
Omen threats OF violence were heard.
Excited men were heard to volunteer to
shoot both Manager Gere ana the general
foreman. who were both present. The I'M
preston prevailed among the excited that
they were criminally negligent In allowing
the men 70 20 INTO the furnace TO work IN
the condition i'm which it was. The po-
lice were called on to quell any disturb
ance. Mr.. Gere and the general superin-
tendent are in safe quarters. Were
they on the streets the excited mob
would very probably. do them bodily
harm. IL Is reported that Mr.. Gere has left
town. Coroner Knapp was soon on the
scene. and rs the bodies were brought out
had them carefully placed in wagons and
sent 10 the morgue. The most searching
Investigation will no doubt be made, espe-
cialy as the employees charge gross negli-
gence on the part Of those IN authority,
and. on the other hand, the manager claim
ing that the men had been sufficiently
warned OF the danger. The loss to the
works will be very slight. At . Z. Nj. 1t Is