The daily gazette., 1883-10-30
THE DEADLY DYNAMITE
FIVE MEN KILLED BY AN EX-
PLOSION.
THEIR BODIES TORN TO P1Eors
A Fearful Explosion In u Railroad Tunnel
fragments of the Victims Bodies scat
tered Around.
rPhiladslphta Press speclAl.

CoNNELLsvILLE, Oct. 2e.-Twelve thous-
and pounds of dynamite exploded yesterday
morning at Brooks Tunnel, Somerset county
on the Baltimore 81 Ohio railroad. Five men
were blown to atoms, and the shock of the
explosion was felt 25 miles from the tunnel.
The names of the killed follow:
X. Burch6eld, aged 2G, unmarried,
lived at Beusire. Ohio; w. A. Dean, aged
60, tunnel blacksmith, supposed to have
lived at Parker's Landing, in the oil
regions; Robert Hammond, aged 90, watch
man at the tunnel, lived at CumOeri AMI,
Md; George Reynolds, aged 20, engineer OF
construction train, married, but no hid
ren, lived In Confluence, "a lew miles west of
the scene Of the accident; Charles lissull,
aged rs, married but no children, lived at
Confluence.
WHEN THE EXPLOSION TOOK PLACE.
The railroad company as been strength
ening and wide ing the tunnel, which i, IS
miles east of Pittsburg, and some distance
inside a magazine had been erected, in which
was stored 200 pounds of dynamite, to be
used for blasting. The freighS train, OF
Which Rey' olds was engineer, had passed
through the tunnel aud was side-tracked
for an hour to allow an express Jiain to go
by.
Reynolds and his companions walked
back In tho tunnel to the vicinity of the
magazine to get out of the rain, and were
engaged in conversation with the watchman,
when the people in the vicinity were startled
by terrific conclusion.
SCENE OF DEVASTATION.
A mass Of stones and dust arose toward
the clouds, trees were uprooted and rocks
weighing many tons were loosened from
their fasteniDgs and thrown intO the river.
Houses for Is miles around were shaken to
Al.ns.- ,1.Ng e. IA
of seven miles were shattered, while tele-
graph poles for half mile were prostrated
into fragments.
The stout oaken planks of the shanty
where the dynamite was kept were reduced
to splinters not larger than lucifer matches,
and they were scattered for incredible dis
tances to all points of the compass. On the
site of the BUILDING nothing remained but
huge rent in the earth 10 feet in depth and
of corresponding dimensions. The struc-
turc was located at the mouth of the tunnel,
and on each side arose the high, rocky wall
of the cut.
MARKS OF THE DISASTER. '
For distance of 200 yards up the track
the rails and ballast were spotted with
shreds of human flesh and drops of blood.
The sides of the cut bore the same awful
marks, and high up above the tunnel, on a
stately chestnut tree, waved a piece of
bloody cloth, about the size of handker-
chief, torn from the garments of one Of the
victims. '~
The trees of the mountain side were
broken and twisted by the violence OF the
explosion, and the tracks were Uttered with
debris.
Horror-stricken people rushed from their
houses and search was made for the party
who had gone to the tunnel. For time
nothing bearing q resemblance to any part
of the human body could be found, but
after awhile pieces of flesh and bones, with
fragments of cloth clinging to them, were
discovered.
FRAGMENTS OF THE DEAD.
The largest pieces were the foot and hrnd
of Reynolds, the engineer. These were iden-
titled by peculiar ring on the hand and by
the shoe on the foot. Afterwards portions
of bodies, including legs, arms, hands and
heads, were picked up half mile distant,
but SO badly dis6gured as to be unrecogniz-
able. A great toe was discovered. hanging
by long tendon to the bushel two miles
from the mouth of. the tunnel. With the
exception of the headless and limbless trunk
of one of the men, all of the remains would
not fill two gallon measure.
Near lockwood, almost eight miles dis
tant, O congregation had assembled for wor-
ship. The shock Of the explosion caused
their little wooden church to rock to and
fro and the more superstitious cried aloud
in terror that the bay of Judgment had at
last come, while others feared an earth
quake.
The cause of the accident is unknown.
The dynamite was stored on the hillside In
tin cans. A gun has been found near the
scene of the explosion. 1t is thought that it
may have been discharged by one of the
party and the conclusion caused the dyna-
mite to explode.
The most popular theory, however, Is that
one oil the victims, needless of the dangerous
character of its contents, h ndled one of the
boxes containing the dynamite in careless
manner, and, perhaps, dropped it on the
floor.
An inquest was held to-day, and the Cor
oner's jury rendered a verdict of accidental
death.