Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1883-10-13
BLOWN To PIECES.
A Boiler In q Pittsburgh Iron-Min Ex-
plodes - -Four Men Killed and Several
Others Terribly Injured.

pIO0cS -FOUR Men htlloQ ana several
Others Terribly Injured.
PITTSBURGH, Pa, Sept. 21.-Between
one and two o'clock yesterday afternoon a
shock was felt drought the city which shook
many buildings to the foundation, smashed
windows, and terribly frightened the resi-
dents of the South Side. Immediately after
the shock an alarm of fire was struck. It
was found that the large boiler in the fang
ing department of the Sligo Iron Works had
exploded, scattering tie flying fragments in
every direction, setting fire to the Lake
Erie Shops and a number of dwelling
houses.
The boiler department, a brick structure,
was completely wrecked, as were also a
number of passenger and freight cars and
the master mechanics shops of the Lake
Erie Railroad, while a row of dwellings on
the opposite side of the street were in
flames. Men, women and children were
running about, wringing their hands and
calling for friends whom they supposed
were either killed or wounded. In the ruins
of the Hanging department, scattered
around. were the dead and dying, some
with arms and legs off, some %distigured al
most beyond recognition, and others suffer-
ing from painful burns and scalds.
Killed-John w. Allen, top of head blown
off; Charles Douglass, side of head blown
off; Jessie Douglass, daughter of the above;
Louis House, had leg and arm broken and
was otherwise mangled; John McGavigan,
scalded and sides crushed in.
Injured.-William Stewart, both legs
broken, injuries believed fatal. William
Rodeman, compound fracture of right leg
or1 o{Ior ipirrinc Y,rchohlv Fatal. TNboo,oo
Smith, hand blown off and other injuries.
probably fatal. Christ Miller, badly scald-
ed. Edward Malley, head hurt by falling
debris. Patrick Lee, leg and arm blown
off, serious. Patrick Welsh, shoulder-blade
fractured. John Douglass, (boy), scalded
seriously. Willie Douglass, injured about
the head. Baby Douglass, scalded with
steam, very serious.
The establishment in which the explosion
occurred was hemmed in by narrow alley
ways, railway tracks and manufactures,
and the surging of the crowds toward the
scene choked the alleys with terrified
women, excited men and screaming chill
dren, all bent upon learning the extent of
the disaster, The flange-shop, at one end
of which the boiler had been located,
was demolished as thoroughly as if
it had been RACED Intentionally.
LIZ IidCAuICoIOp duJOillIlS WAS SldL'
tered into a mass of rubbage, while
the only portion of the Inflated boiler re-
manning in its original location was the
heavy iron bottom, which remained i'm
bedded in the masonry. Emerging from the
debris could be seen soot-begrimed beings,
so thoroughly changed as to be unrecogniza-
BILE even by their most intimate friends.
There were willing hands at work
removing the mass Of timbcrs. While
this was going on the firemen
We're battling with the flames which
had been caused by the shower of red-hot
cinders, and a thrilling incident, involving
the rescuing of four little children from a
horrible death, was transporting. They had
been imprisoned beneath a heavy door in a
shed adjoining the t1ange department, and
were slowly being roasted to death. when
they were accidentally discovered and res
cued: but not until they had been terribly
burned.
In every direction huge pieces of the rup-
tured boiler could be found. Guy-rods
which had been wrenched from their fasten-
ings were twisted in every imaginable shape
and deposited on the roofs of sheds or
lodged in the sickly looking trees which had
been subjected to the shower of hot steam
and burning dust. Here and there were
portions of the steam-pipe, some imbedded
in heavy timbers, while grate-bars and huge
sections of the iron sheeting which had
formed the roof of the structure had been
hurled hundreds of feet and dumped into
Uncomfortable shapes and in every imagina-
BILE place. One huge piece of the shattered
boiler, weighing nearly a ton, was hurled
500 feet. lighting in the middle of the Mo-
%nongahela River.
No theory as to the cause of the explosion
is advanced, the only person who might
have unraveled the mystery having been
killed instantly.