The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1885-05-05
MANGLED AND CHOKED
DEADLY WORK DONE BY A BOILER
EXPLOSION.
Several Persons Fearfully Mangled Tire
msndous Force of the Burst-Nine
People Lose Their Lives I'm New
York Tenement House.

GALVESTON. Tex, May 5-A terrific ex.
Sunday morning. 1t occurred in the en-
gine-room of the fremont hotel. A group
Of persons standing on the south side Of
Church street, between fremont and Twenty.
fourth streets, opposite the boiler-house,
were terrified to see the building suddenly
expand into cloud Of smoke, fire, dust and
debris from which shot the bodies of men
and missiles of every description, accom-
panied by Kissing, rumbling sound imme-
diately followed by terrible dsafening
crash. The main building shook and trem-
bled as il in the throes of mighty earth
quake.
The boiler house was completely demol-
ished, not one brick remaining upon another.
The tall chimney fell with a crash, while
from the rear shot out with terrible force
one of the large sixty-horSe power boilers.
This was driven with fearful velocity across
Twenty-fourth street, nearly to Bath ave
nue., a distance of 500 feet, crushing in it:
course the north end Of a two-story fran,
laundry building in the rear of the hotel
Careening upward it grazed and dam
aged the roof of two-story blacksmith ant
wheelwright shop on the west side Of
Twenty-fourth. Then plunging downward
it demolished like eggshells three small
frame tenement houses located on the alley
and in the rear of the smithy, occupied by
negroes, and finally spent its force on
house of ill-repute kept by Julia Winter
one room Of which was occupied by Glars
Miller and Newbery Morris, alias "Yank Sui
van" Upon this hou,e the huge piece O
on dropped, crushing it into kindiing anc
t,inioning the unfortunate woman and mar
beneath a mass Of debris and penetrating
one-h half of its length into an ad joining
house. The man and woman were quickly
removed from beneath the ruins. Tn
woman was found to be badly crushed anc
died before reaching the hospital Sullivan
had his collar-bone badly fractured. hor
ribls cut in the neck, and was badly bruiset
about the body.
The scene In the immediate vicinity o
the explosion presented CHASTITY, sickeninl
spectacle. Ready and willing hands ex
humed from beneath mass Of twistel
iron, brick, and mortar the body Of JOIN
Cross, the engineer. The feet and legs o.
Lawrence Carr, the fireman, were found
but his body was not discovered until som
two hours after, when it was foun,
on the platform of the pump-hous
in the court The body must hav
been hurled upwards by the fore
Of the explosion to a very great height. thel
carried eastward 140 feet over wing of tn
hotel five stories high and dropped with sue
force as to crush through the iron and plan
roof of the pump house and lodge on tn
platform below, shapeless mass. The bod
Of Anderson Jones, who was engaged as
scruther in the hotel, was horribly mutilate
and was picked up on the opposite side G
Twenty fourth street sixty yards away.
The following is a complete list of th
killed: John Cross, engineer, married; Law
renee Carr, fireman, married; Clara Miller
Anderson Jones. negro.
These were injured: Jose Aquillo, pastr
cook, badly bruised about the head; Mr.!
Burns, assistant housekeeper, hit above th
eye with a flying brick and badly hur
John Axman, bell-boy, collar bone broke
and scalp badly cut; r. Walton, a negr
waiter, arm badly fractured in two plact
and otherwise injured. These, with Morr
Sullivan, the newsboy, rescued from Il
debris Of Julia Winters house, comprise th
list Of those who were seriously injured, an
are under treatment The damage to pro-
erty is about $4,000.