Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1886-09-02
FR,cHTFuL EXPLOSION.

The Iaf,,n-Rand Powder Magazine on the
3 Outskirts of Chicago Struck by Light
ming and Exploded-One Person Instant'
ly Killed-Three Mortally and severaI
Seriously Injured-The Shock Creates
Havoc for Distance of Seven aiiies-A
Scene of Indescribable Ruin.
CHICAGO, Aug, 30.-At fifteen minutes
past nine O'Clock yesterday morning, in
the midst of heavy thunderstorm, the
powder magazine belonging to the Lafiin-
Rand Powder Company was struck oy
lightning. An explosion followed which
destroyed property valued at $4,000.
One person killed and four fatally injured.
The dead and injured are:
Miss Carrie Aherenworth, killed in
stantly.
John Guhl, teamster for the Oriental
Powder Company, ribs fractured; right
leg broken in two places; internal
wounds.
Mrs. Guni, skull crushed.
Mrs. Eliza Devine, right leg crushed to-
iellv; breast transfiXed by strip OF glass.
Besides the one dead, and four who
can not survive, the following lisa partial
list of those who are known to be serious
ly injured:
Peter Kenn, twenty-eight years old;
gardener.
James Shannon, sixteen years old; par
ents reside on Joseph street and Pearson
avenue.
Two Kelly brothers, fourteen and six
teen years old respectively; parents re-
side on Western avenue, near Thirty
sixth street.
Madden, small boy, whose parents re.
side on Thirty eighth street, near Pear.
son avenue.
Philip Bowler, cabinet-maker, 1872
South Union street, arm crushed by flying
stone, and amputated.
John Lordey, Jr., seventeen years old, OF
165 Canalport avenue; leg badly crushed.
John Jung, fifty-two years old, garden
err; resides south of Archer road.
Mrs. Jung, forty-six years old, wife OF
the former.
Miss Kennedy, eighteen years old; par.
ents reside on johnson street, a quarter
of a mile from the scene.
The shock caved in the two magazines
of the Oriental Powder Company, and
also those belonging to the Warren Com
pany, the Hazard, the Dupont companies
and the Forcite dynamite storehouse.
only one which exploded. Where it
stood is now an immense excavation
nearly fifty feet in depth.
The combined efforts of hard-fought
battle, cyclone and the whitening in
fiuence of lightning could not have pre-
sented a picture of more abject desola-
ton and destruction than did the country
for half a mile in all directions from the
exploded magazine. The day had OPEN
ed gloomily. At eight O'Clock rain be-
gan falling furiously from immense banks
OF clouds. Flashes of lightning were
seen chasing each other across the entire
armament, until the heavens seemed
ablaze. The thunder was deafening.
About quarter past nine fash,
which all agree was much brighter
than those which preceded it, was
followed by report that shook the
greater part of Cook County. 1t was a
sharp report, but, strange to say, by most
of those who lived in the vicinity of the
explosion it was hardly distingushable
from the series of thunder-claps which
had been the order of the morning. All
agree that there was Il tremendous shak-
ing of the earth. Articles of furniture
not stationary were thrown about as If
they were playthings in giants power.
Men, women and children were tossed
around at the will of the terrible, resist
less force released by the explosion.
The scene of the catastrophe is about
two miles from the extreme southwest
ern edge OF the city, near where Archer
avenue settles down into conventional
country highway. On one side were five
great fields of ripening corn. On the
other broad stretch of prairie runs for
nearly mile in all directions. On this
are, or rather were, dozen plain, but
strongly-built houses, with walls of yell
low brick, roofs of slate and strong iron
doors, used as magazines.
The force of the explosion travelled
across the city in northerly and easterly
direction and left trail about three
quarters of a mile wide. The shock was
distinctly felt in all parts of the city, and
many people were greatly frightened.
The explosion played sad havoc at the
Bridewell. The female prisoners were
terribly frightened, but none were injured.
Mrs. Armour, one of the matrons, was in
the upper hall in the rear part of the
building. She was FRUSTRATED by the
nervous shock, and will not be able to
attend to duty for several days. The
ceiling in the upper floor of the main
building was cracked through from
east to west in straight line, and
patches of the plastering fell in all parts
of the building. The greatest damage
was done to the ceiling in the main hall,
which was nearly all torn down. Several
doors in the building were blown from
their hinges, and about two hundred
panes of glass were broken.
At McCormick's works about two hun
dred panes of glass on the river side of
the building were broken, the building
was shaken, and doors were blown from
their hinges.
The Board of Trade building. although
seven miles from the scene of the ex-
plosion, was greatly affected by the dis
turbed condition of the atmosphere.
The main hall on the second floor is
lighted by three sheets of plate glass,
each about twelve feet square. The
upper and lower of these sheets were
shattered, none of the fragments being
larger than a fifty-cent piece. The man
who cleans the electric-light lamps was
in the tower, which is $50 feet high,
doing this work when the explosion oc-
CURED. He states that the tower swayed
in way that led him to fear that
the structure would topple over. The
shock of the explosion was distinctly felt
at the Palmer House and caused sud-
den extinguishment of all the lights in the
barber shop. The substantial hotel was
shaken from the roof to the foundation.
The same may be said of the Grand Pa
cific Hotel. In the Union building, in
which are located the general offices of
the Associated Press, many windows
we're broken.