The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1885-10-03
REPORTERS EXCLUDED.

uUuI9 pttou6A away MtSh tAV HSSpA0 SSAAAAts
and going to the mill, until late hour !
the afternoon.
IMPORTERS EXCLUDED.
The several reporters who were on tn
scsne early In the morning were met &
the entrance to the mill with the ar
nouncement from the officers: "You can
get in here" In vain were messages ser
in to the officials Of the mill. They woul
neither allow reporters to be admit
ted, nor could they come to the door t
speak to them, though they were request
ed 80 do so. Why this was tho case, wa
q matter Of no little comment.
"Thsy don't want you in there, and
can tell you Why" exclaimed workman
who was standing OF the door. "Probabl,
there Is something they don't want you L
see.." As he said this he pulled q littl'
piece OF the wrecked drum head from hi
pocket and handed it over for inspection
i.Perhaps that will account for It," he con
tinued. "There Is the kind Of sheet tina
the, drum Is composed oi." The piece
Was down to thinness that coult
hardly be believed to be that Of the drum
head: II was not more than 1852 Of an
inch In thickness,
, Boiler Inspector McMahon Just ther
came out Of the mill. He was surround
ed by the reporters. 30
4"Is that piece OF the broken drum
head?" was asked Of him, as the reporter
gave him the specimen that was handed
70 them.
ayes, that's a piece ofit,p was the re.
ply. "Ths sheet ought 10 have been 5-le
Of an inch in thickness. found large
place on the wind drum worn down to
this thickness. It Is probably not over
1852 Of an inch"
"When did you inspect the boilers last2''
"About one year ago. was to have
come here on next Sunday and inspect
the boilers. l understand that about two
months ago an insurance company had
the mud-drum inspected. am glad / did
not make that inspection" and the In
spector looked relieved.
'l"was this the cause Of the explosion ~
asked the reporter, referring TO the worn
plate.
i"It undoubtedly was. Another thing,
Just here. This mud drum, like some
others in this city, was enclosed in brick.
told them here to take away the brick
encasement the last time l expected it.
l have had trouble over this matter be-
fore. Mill owners have been enclosing
the mud drums in this way to save ex.
pense in fuel, butt does not give an in.
spector the chance Of making an inspec-
tion like an open mud drum does shall
insist hereafter that these brick walls be
removed from all the mud drums in use." "
- STORIES or THE WOUNDED.
In answer to the reporters question,
said; ~ was standing by the
shears about fifteen or sixteen yards
away from the boiler, when l heard the
rush Of the steam, and l knew it was time
TO run. Run did, but the steam caught
up with me and knocked me down. The
whole thing happened so suddenly and ]
was done for SO quickly thatI havenot the
slightest notion Of how the accident hap
pened," Euwright's worst external in.
Jury is where the scalding steam SCARED
his nose. This happened as he lay on bis
back, so a witness OF the accident says, the
steam rushing along over the fallen mans
face. -'''
Jacob Bender, who lay in q bed opposite
to Enwright's, was handsome fellow be-
fore the steam SCARED and blackened his
face. He said: II was bending over the
ground, picking up some hoop iron when
heard q horrible crash, the lights in the
mill all went out, and l felt scorching
stream OF what thought was water strike
me. I saw nothing Of the explosion, and
knew nothing OF It's cause. was knocked
insensible, and can't tell how got out Of
the mill" He was carried out OF the mill
after the steam had cleared away.
In the main ward little Frank Holt was
found cheerfully chatting with his father,
who had come to see him.
The bright.eyed, intelligent boy did not
seem to be very badly hurt, and the doc
tors said he would be all right in day or
two. The boy himself said: "It was
lucky for me that changed places with
Jack Murray last night. We change
places now and then and Murray was
standing near the boiler, and they tell me
he is very badly hurt" He did not know
his friend was dead. Then he continued
"When the explosion happened | was
standing near the rolls, the train was just
over, with the tongs in my hand. l had
my back turned to the boiler, which was
not twenty feet away. l knew what the
terrible noise meant and I lit out as hard
as could, and though the steam tried
hard to catch me ! got out ahead with only
q few burns"
THE RNcNRER's STATEMENT.
Engineer Steiner was seen at the mill
this morning. He had been blown back
from the drum-head at the time Of the ex'
p!osion, but had not been in the direct
line Of the contents Of the mud drum,
Beyond having his face scratched little,
he was uniniured. II was in charge Of the
three engines and the boilers last night
- uI.nn