St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1886-03-11
BLOWN TO ATOMS.
Five Men Instantly Killed in Tug Ex-
plOsion.
Twenty Persons Lose Their Lives in a
Railway Accident.
Montreal Visited by Disastrous Con-
fagration.
Hurled TO Eternity.

Boston, March 1O.-The tug John Mar
kel left her berth at ''T'' wharf at 6:30
o'clock this morning and started down the
harbor in search of vessels desiring her SER
vices. There was a large number of per-
sons on the wharf who watched the boat
steam away. Just as the boat arrived off
Long Island, an explosion occurred on
board, the noise of which was plainly audi
bic in this city. The boat was blown COM
pletely TO atoms, and her crew of five men
were instantly killed. The crew consisted
OF
CAPT. CYRUS NICKERSON, aged So years;
married.
CHARLES HosKINs, mate, aged So; un-
married.
DENNIsoN H. CRooKER, engineer, aged
FRANK W. CROoKER. fireman, aged So;
married. He was brother of the engineer.
ALBERT SMITH, cook, aged 30; unmar-
ried.
The bodies of the captain and engineer.
were recovered by tugs that were cruising
in the vicinity. They were brought here
and taken to the mOrgue. The boat was
built in Philadelphia about twelve years
ago. and piled in Philadelphia waters until
eight or nine years ago, when she was
bought by Capt. NickerSOn, a man named
Sprague and another person.
THE EXPLOSION A MYSTERY.
No cause can be assigned for the ex-
ploSion. The boilers were inspected year
ago and found safe. The vessel was valued
at SO, 900. Capt. Riley of the tug Camilla,
who witnessed the explosion from point
about 800 feet distant, says just before it
occurred he saw Capt. Nickerson in the
pilot-house smoking. His arm rested on
wiRdnw-sill and he was looking up the
ho rINo The out NJ fbr
door of the galley, and the fireman was
standing outside looking into the fire-room.
Suddenly the boat trembled, and the eX-
plOsiOn instantly followed. Capt. Riley
saws:
The steam prevented my seeing what took
place directly above the water, but 1 should
think the whole boat, with the exception of
the hull, went into the air. a man was
thrown 200 feet high, going higher than any
thing else. 1t was probably the fireman, who
had been standing outside. A big trunk
went almost as high as the man did. Spars
and pieces of wreckage fell all around within
a radius of 100 feet. The greatest force of
the explosion seemed to be submarine, as the
water was thrown to a great height.
CAPT. DOLAN
of the tug fremont said:
Our boat was quarter of a mile away when
! saw the boat blown up hundreds of feet into
| the air. There seemed to be million pieces.
| IN the MIDST OF Inein cOulu see Ine DOCleS OF
two men as they fell back into the water.
at once directed our boat toward them and
succeeded in getting the body Of Can't. Nick
erson out of the debris, in which it was
wedged so tightly that it could hardly be eX-
/ tricated. His foot was fractured and his face
and breast were terrible injured. He was
| lying across spar so that only his back could
be seen, with his head and feet under water.
/ He must have been killed instantly. The body
/ of the fireman was terribly mangled. His
head was split open and his face was badly
| gashed. The force of the explosion had
blown or both of his shoes. The end of one
| foot was gone and from both of them the
| flesh had been stripped as with knife. There
was an ugly hole in his side that looked as
/ though a piece Of coal had been blown
! through him.