Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1883-01-23
CALIFORNIA.

ESPECIAL DISPATCHES TO TEE REooRD-USIos.l
CALIFORNIA.
The Powder Explosion AT West Berkeley
Further Particulars.
OAKLAND, January 221.-The scene at the
giant powder works this morning is one of
desolation and death. In the gemi.circular
excavation where the packing houses were
located the ground is covered with debris and
timbers. Huge rocks, thrown by the VIC.
lence of the series Of explosions, Lie on all
sides, and broken timbers and boxes testify
to the force of the explosion. Lying on the
ground, covered with white sheets,
are the mangled bodies of twenty.one
Cinnamon, taken from the debris. One
Chinaman died last night in the temporary
hospital. So far as known at noon to-day,
one white man and twenty-five Cinnamon
were killed. The white man killed is Ferdi-
nand Kompff, Assistant Superintendent. He
passed through the two former explosions at
the same works, and escaped death. Yester-
day he could have saved himself, but re.
NAMED to try to save the works. When the
first explosion occurred in one of the
packing. houses, he ran to the nitro
glycerine house to turn on the water to
extinguish the fire, TO save that part Of the
property. He was killed by the explosion of
the nitro-glycerine house. When his body
was found, one arm was raised as though to
shield his face. There ara probably the
bodies of other Cinnamon in the ruins. Su-
perintendent Roller will organize force of
men this afternoon to clear away the debris
so far as possible, in order to recover any
bodies that may be buried under the
rock or timber. 1t is thought
that eight or ten bodies are in the. ruins.
Many of the corpses are terribly mangled.
In one place on the ground pile Of pieces of
human bodies are placed. A piece of China
mans cue, part of an arm, pieces of flesh
and bone are among the horrible relics. Some
of the dead Cinnamon were identified this
morning. In most cases the mutilation was
not such as to prevent the possibility of
Many of the bodies are minus
member. The arms of some are blown eff,
and many are blackened by the powder or
by fire. Oscar Forgofsky, the only white
man wounded, is dying at the boarding house
of the works. Thirteen wounded Cinnamon
are lying in the quarters of the Chinese.
The greater number of these will recover.
The one most seriously wounded died
last night. Coroner Hamilton will hold
an inquest this evening on the ground.
A jury was impaneled this morning.
The cause of the explosion still remains a
mystery. Superintendent Roller says he has
no theory by which the origin of the disaster
can be explained. From the appearance of
the ruins this morning, the first explosion &C.
Cured in packing-house No. s, the second
from one end of the semi-circular excavation.
The explosions communicated to the other
packing houses, of which there are ten in all,
and to the mixing-house, the dipping. house
and a small store.house. Tie three last
mentioned houses were apart from the exca-
walton in which the packing houses
were. Thirteen tons of powder was
in the store-house. Whether the powder in
every one of the packing-houses exploded
cannot yet be told, as they are all caved in
and fillel with debris. This effect may have
been caused in some manner by the explosion
in the neighboring packing-house. The work
of this afternoon will probably tell, and will
also show several bodies if any more are IN
der the ruins. The six-by. six timbers with
which the packing houses were built are
splintered in small pieces. At the ruins this
Judson, james DeFremery and Mr. Varney-
all heavily interested in the destroyed
works. Mr.. Judson thought the explosion
must have been caused by fire from one of
the heating apartments. One of these was
at each end of the packing houses. and was
used for heating water (; but from the appear
ance this morning the first explosion did not
occur at the packing-house at this end, but at
the second one. The amount of loss can not
be ascertained.
The Tehachapi Calamity.
SAN Francisco, January 22d-Superin.
tendent Fillmore states that full list of pas
sengers cannot be obtained. At the office in
this city there is list of those only who
started from this city. AS the train went
south passengers got on and were registered
on the charts kept by the conductor, and as
these charts have been burned there has been
no means of learning the names of those pas
sengers who boarded the train after it left
this city, except by kilograms from friends or
relatives Of such passengers asking for news
of them. At the general Office it was not
even known who were the train men engaged.
The only men known to the Superintendent
are Engineer Horton and Conductor B. +.
Reed. No news had been received at the
general Office concerning the inquest at Los
Angeles, and there was no theory regarding
the cause Of the accident which has not been
before published.
Following is the list of the dead as
far as known at the present time
Mrs. John F. Cassell San Francisco Mrs.
John G. Downsy, Los Angeles; Ferdinand
Gromefort, a discharged soldier from Arizona;
Thomas Keegan, discharged soldier from
Colonel Lsrabee, San Francisco F. w.
Pierson, Wells. Fargo & Co.'s messenger,
Oakland; H. o. Oliver, ex.County Clerk of
Lake county Miss M. E. Squires, Oakland;
Wright, sleepingcar porter Lewis Weth.
erell, San Francisco.
Of those injured, the list embraces the fol-
lowing Porter Ashe, San Francisco, slightly
bruised; Mrs. j. X. Brown. Alameda,
slightly Miss Ida Brown, Alameda, slightly;
Harry Connors. nevsboy, badly hurt about
the head J. F. Csssell, San Francisco.
slight bruises ex- Governor Downey. slightly;
E. W. Dougherty, mail clerk, badly hurt
Mrs. FL. G. Hatch, San Francisco, slightly;
A. r. McUall, slightly; Miss Minnie Peter
sen, San Francisco, three ribs broken Cap
tain A. L. Wsterhouse. wife and two chill
dren, New York, bruised Woodall, bag
gageman, slightly Howard 1flton, T, II,
Thatcher, J. w. Searles, r G. Ross, A. r.
Michael, Stephen Coffyn, II. G. Hatch.
DR.. Carson, of Fresno county, and Henry
J. Scott, supposed to have been on the train,
are missing.
A Bakersfield dispatch says that when the
train halted at Tehachapi station, the con.
ductor left it to register its arrival. One of
the two brakemen left it to show q lady to
the sitting-room, and when he came out the
train was gone.
II. J. McKusick, Superintendent of the
Railroad Mail Service, returned from the
scene Of the disaster last evening. bringing
with him the injured railway postal clerks.
I, w. Dougherty and a. r. Mccall. They
were taken to the Russ House, and are suf.
fering from cuts and bruises, but no bones
are broken. In a few days. il is exps0tsd,
they will be able to return to duty. Mr..
McKusick reports that the through registered
pouch of mail matter for ST. Louis was
saved, as also most of the registered way
mail. Very little of the Eastern general
letter mail was saved, and about thirty sacks
of California pspar mail were lost. Nearly
all Of the Arzona and Eastern paper mail was
saved, and about one pouch of letter nail, a
greater part Of its contents being for points
in California.
The coRoNER's VIEWS.
BAgEgsFIELD, January 22d.-The Coroner,
J. f. MAR, who went up to the scene Of the
railroad disaster Saturday morning, returned
today. He arrived on the ground at q P. NJ
a large crowd was there, and they had already
pretty thoroughly investigated the ash heaps
which represented the train. The human re.
mains were disposed in seventeen heaps, each
ore of which was supposed to represent
human being. Some of them probably did,
but most of them were bits of calcined bones.
that might have represented several. He