New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-12-04
ATITG-BOAT BLOWN TO ATOMS
FIVE MEN ON BOARD INSTANTLY KILLED
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION ON THE EAST RiVER-No oN"
,rFr TO TELL WHAT CAUSED 1T.


LEFT TO TELL WHAT CAUSED liz
- - living on the shore of the East River near
1;f.r o;ybtb-st startled by terrlnc eNP'o,U"
90 40 n ILL., yesterday. They looked out uio" ',io
80 hnt the darkness had already begun 10 n"N0
nyervthng indistnct. 1t was soon known I'%V
t,o.Lo1t had been blown out of the water anu 'U%'
several men ION board had met with sudden uI"Vl
FRAGMENTS of the boat had been hurlcu on 'N0',
aid the rest of the wreck had suak. ol'o"
badlv damaged was drifting with the STRONG HoU"
tJe Men on the scow called for help soon 'n0
lights of several small steam vessels heale" '"o
sccne of the disaster. There was cohluseu J"' sO
of voices "a the damaged scow was made tast 10 oho
hoot and drapped away in the darkness Honho
Gch,o wcre lowered over the water ana i"
ort;c,cs including mans hat. were picked up ouV
no bodies were fould Within hall an hour tue
,ioer WAS MS quiet as usual. Most persons oh '"o''
remained in ignorance OF Il details OF the
Abill-head which was blown out oi the water WV,
soma portions of a desk showed that the wrecNcu
hoat was tho Dorie Emory, OF llOboken Inc Hi'n
who had been rescued from the bricK SEQ" to"i"
give little more information a0out inc Tug
EorIv in the afternoon the Dorie Emory steamed
mast the Battery from the North RIVER LOWING
scov loaded with bricks. The scOw was toWed up
tbe East River to Harlem dock, where the OrlcNs
war, noloadcd and about p. m. the tnS-oo''
star,ed bacE with tAe scOw. Some paVins-S'ohcs III
the scow served only for ballast lnstead oI ooi"E
towcd with a long hawscr the SEQ" was '"'"'"
closely to the side of the tug-boat fonr I"oo'c'S
who had been hired to unload the bricks Sctti'u
themselves comfortably in the scow, keeping them
sslves rs much cut of the col wind as possible On
the Emory were Captain Garrett Morris ana ms
con Enqjneer Louis Caleragh Fireman Van
Uausea and Charles Davis, thc cO"k. NomE down
the East River, the tlg-boat hug ged the NeW-Fork
tho f,rsp Of hp
T(ty-ninth-st was reached the tlg-boat was Close
nudrr the bluff The current was setting strongly
about the point below the blum and extra steam was
needed lust rs the boat WAS nearing tiitN-
eighth-St. the boiler eNpodcd Both OF her SIDES
were torn ont and the upper portion was shattered
and sent flying in all directions. One side OF the
scov was torn out and some OF the pavingSt"hcH ID
The hold were hurled upward and toward tbr s"oIe'
The men in the were stunned by the cAp!O' 'oh'
hut they saw the bodies OF some OF the boat ere"
going up with the fragments of wood and IRON.
There was no doubt that every man on the tus-ooAt
Lad been killed instantly. Following is list OF
the men:
hoat lived at No 81 Jefferson ST.. HoOokcn. lie
leaves wife, child and mother Mo "eI0 % p, of
him for support His sister, MIS-. Aiiot Tr i ~
the agent of tine tug, owned the vessel lolnuy WI
and tor several years was employed as engineer on
The boats of the Pennsylvania Railway SIX month.
boat. aud Only the day before the accident talked
about her machinery with pride
DAVIS CHARLES, was the cook His home was IN Brook
lyn. He was single man ana MS par'hiS were
dependent upon hun lie was I'll IN & ie Nay at one
MoRRs GAERhII the car,3i" H'Io yn IN %i ng
baSing "erished witn hm. II. had been a river pilot
for twenty-five years. never having hdd ah acc!'e
previously. lie had ooJy been IN command oi the
Dorie Emory two days.
MoFEIs, GlRREIT jr, dcck hand son of the captain
VAN HorsEN. THou>s the fireman. was single man
ana lived IN Brooklyn
At the time of the explosion the Health Depart
mcnt boat Franklin Edison was lying at the Black
wells Island dock, the river, and the steam
launch w. ii. Wickham was moOred at the foDt OF
Fifty-thrd-st Both boats started at once for the
place of the disaster. They soon joined by the
tug-boat Secor which was steamiug up the river
The Secor made fast to the damaged scow aud took
it to the loot of Forty-second-st. where the four
laboIers were landed. The men went away with
ont giving their names none of them being hart.
Then the scow was towcd further down the river TO
a place where it could be bcachcd.
Engineer Horace A. Greene, of the Franklin Ed
son. who was seen at his home, No lS6 Lexington
aGe by II TRIBUNE reporter. said:
Ihave seen several explosions, bqt this the worst
enginc the starboard side, looking toward the
NewYO.k shore, when tn. explosion took pace. We
were about abreast o FiiV-hih'H u Sd" :, prgnt
fash :ich followed ~ dcaieniug reuot and IN
ffom the pIot-h and saii: There Is steamer
blown up. Give her more steam" Immediately
Ed,on for the wreck: Before wo reached her a
large towbo at pushed IL ahead OF us and reached
also made for the wreck and ran up 10 the scow which
& the HE a be be men ON bT were e All s
The on board the scow replied: I'VE are |
astern of the scow and held lanterns over
the side to see II there was any one in The water We
but eceiyed no answer We cruised around in that Vi
enty ic for few ,9inntGs Gown when VIC ryry sS%
GG MiyA dabeG We went to her
5 9d 9ni ha s wa R r the he tS ah d
her into ,he dock at Fify-fOurthst. The large tug
sion took the scow and carried her down the !
river. After tho explosion tho river was covered
that the watof in the boiler of the tug had been allowed
mes and When she started tie engine again The water
was raised by the steam tea ghiii Ill., 1t touched some
plOon The water IN the boiler of small tux win rise
IRON eight to twelve inches when she has large mead OF
steam
William Hare, cap'ain Of the coal barge Manhat-
tan. No. ii. Wing a the foot Of Last Sxtieth-st.
Baw the explosion. lie SAID:
The ting was coming down tho river with a
no9d tide There was an awful noise.
chunks OF iron and wood and coal. and something
5 na' rho Looked sn f IKE into so Hs9 r9nE end over
body saved nat. coat and tmpal came ashore. The
shattered hulk hOated up abreast OF us and sank.
Harry Daniels a boy ten years Old, was sitting
on the fence ou top OF the bluff at the foot Of
East Finy-ninth-st. He said that the tug
was only fow rods from the shore
when the explosion occurred He was knocked
half way across the street and didn't wait TO see
more.
Edward McEvoy, captain OF the William II. |
Wictham, the steam launch connected with Black
wells Island, witnessed the explosion and gave
the following version OF it:
We were lying just off Flny-thlrd-st when the boat
all that VIC could sudden gust OF smoke and
steam, which lasted but moment. We FASTENED 20 the
scene Of the catastrophe as quickly as possible |
and found tho empty brick-scow drifting |
about with four board Her side had been |
stove in and tho water pouring iutO her None
the scOw's had been injured however or / would |
have takcn thcm TO tho hospital at once. In moving
around the scOw sorrow became nntanrlcd In tln |