The Osceola times., 1886-06-12
TERRIBLE EXPLOSION.

A Building Containing Country store nm"
Dwelling Demolished by an Explosion
of Gunpowder. and the Inmates Nlne
teen in Number An More Or less injured
DETROIT, Mich, June 4.--The little !
four.coner town OF Ecorse, eight
miles below Detroit, was treated TO
frst-class sensation last night at ABOUT
nine O'Clock, when the genera! store ahu
residence combined Of Joseph sallio'te
was blown to fragments with powder
and nine persons scattered In every direc-
ton and one probably fatally injured
The store proper was two-story frame
structure. and was a large one ior
country village. 1t contained the usual
stock OF groceries, boots, shoes, dry
goods, etc. An adjoining one-stoF
building under the same roof, containing
a quantity Of paints, oils and fonr, was
used as a store-room. In the rear oi this
addition was an l.. The store was MY
feet long from front TO rear. The hands
in large mill had been paid of during
the day, and the store had been unusually
full all evening of men and women pay
lug their accumulated bills Of the
previous month. AT the extreme rear
of the store, under counter
that extended across the end
of the room, on the floor, stood twenty
flve-pound keg of gunpowder, out oil
which five or six pounds had been sold.
II had a small! oritlce for pouring out the
powder, which was generally covered
with a metal can. Under the rear hall oil
the store was eel ar, and over II, IN the
second story, we're bedrooms. Persons
belonging to the family, adults and chill
dren, or customers who had not yet leii,
were scattered throughout the building
TO the number of nineteen. just after
the neighboring clocks had struck nine,
a tremendous explosion took place in the
rear lower part Of the store, while fierce
and sudden blast Of hre tore away the
rear part of the building and shattered the
front and sides. The grocery floor and
roor above were shattered into splinters.
The proprietor, Sallotte, his son-in-
law, Columbus Labadie; Simon Labadie,
his brother; II. Morris and Louis Pre-
-
ter of the proprietor, who was In an
upstairs room preparing to retire, was
sent skyward. The i've men were COW
cred with falling debris. The wreck De-
low prevented the daughter from falling
farther than the first floor, but she was
covered with fragments OF the roof.
The tremendous force of the explosion
threw four boys standing at the front
part OF the store into the street.
c. A. Ferguson was thrown through
the window into the road, but only re-
ceiyed a slight cut on the hand from
broken glass.
Six others, Mrs. Morris and her child.
Alex Labadie, Felix Cicotte and two
boys, were thrown through the front
door into the street, a. though projected
from a catapult.
Lottle Sailiotte, girl Of thirteen, was
blown into a side yard.
Mrs. Salliotte and two young children,
whom she was preparing for bed, were
covered with debris and received some
bruises.
Mrs. Salliotte was struck By the door
leading in from the store. Her body was
bruised and her face covered with blood,
Mrs. Columbus Labadie, who stood
near the center OF the store, had nearly
all her clothes stripped from her body
but escaped without scratch.
A bedroom which contained a sleeping
infant was wrecked but the babe escaped
comparatively unhurt.
The people Of the village were fright
ened by the noise OF the explosion, anC
rushed out in the daIkncSs adding TO the
momentary confusion. Soon lanterns
were procured and then the work of res
cue began. Fire broke out in the ruins
but a line Of men with buckets was
formed to the river near By, and The
flames were soon extinguished.
The work of rescue was not a difficult
one, as none Of the timbers were heavy,
and the whole party in the ruins were
extricated in a short time.
Columbus Labadie, being in the rear oil
the cellar, had to work ms way to the
front, from which point he was rescued
His clothes had taken fire, and he had to
tear them of. Hc was the only person
dangerously hurt. lie was badly burned
about the head and face, hands, feet and
side both by the powder and the flames,
aud was cut on the head and badly bruis-
ed by the falling beams. He lies in a
] very tIlAlNAi tbuNllibNf anu II - i'ol'
that even if he should survive, an ampu-
tation of some OF his limbs win be neces-
sary.
The rest of the persons In the store es-
caped with severe bruises and scratches,
The cause of the disaster, was, with
out doubt, the ignition of the power,
| How 1t occurred remains a mystery
Smoking is an obvious solution, but tn,
persons In the rear Of the store all de-
clare that none of them we're smoking at
the time.
The building is a total loss, and a
| $1,000 stock was damaged tO the extent
OF 81 900. Mr.. Salliotte took in about
$500 during the day In payment Of debts
and had si00 Of 1t in a leather bag
Some $50 of this has been found, but the
rest has disappeared.
Why They Did Not Accept.
NEW YORK, June 4.-General Wingate