Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1886-11-12

An explosion occurred in the cigar box
manufactory Of Henry Fl. Sheip & Co., Ran
dolph street, Philadelphia, yesterday after
noon, which blew out the rear wall, badly
inJuring number Of young men, women,
and girls, and imperiling the lives OF over
100 more. The manniactorv is q brick
structure, with depth of $50 feet: back are
located number Of sheds for storing The
lumber used in the manufacture of cigar
boxes. The first and second floors were
used as planning mill and carpenter shop.
and on the third floor were employed about
twenty five girls in pasting paper Things in
the boxes. Just before the explosion the
engineer started up steam by throwing :.
large amount of saw dust on the fire under
the boiler from the saw DUST in bin, which
was located short distance cfi, anG! then
started to The Randolph street front OF the
building. he states that he had been there
but few minutes when he wus startled hv
the report of loud noise which was fol-
lowed by the upper portion Of the rear wall
falling cut and the screams Of the women
in the uppe: story. Tho bricks were fall
ing in all directions, and in less than a min.
ute afterwards the whole rcar portion OF
the mill appeared TO be in flames. The
greatest excitement existed among the en-
ployes in the building, and especially the
females. Some of them ran for the stairway
leading TO the street, while others ran TO the
windows, and few started 10 Climb ont,
but they we're prevented from jumping to
Lhe ground by their companions During
all this time flames were spreading from one
floor to another Crowds attracted bv rae
smoke and screams Of the women block ed
the streets, but tho excitement among them
was SO great that they appeared powerless
for time TO assist them. Finally several
men ran into the building and succeeded in
getting them all out The excitement
among the people was increased when the
girls and young women appeared in The
street, some bleeding ana others badly
burned. The fire burned sLubbornly. despite
the efforts Of the iiremen to check the flames. |
and in remarkable short period, owing 10
the lniiammable character Of the contents, !
the two upper stories of the iuctary and the |
shedding in the rear were ahIaze. She fire
was gotten under control, after hhviug des
troyed almost the entire building. The
livery stables Of j. NJ. TRULY and 4. {. |
Cresswell, adjoining the rear Of the cigar
box factory, were blown out by tie force
Of the explosion. IN ;ruiiy's place
some fifty sleighs and carriages were crush
ed to atoms, and q number OF carriages were
also ruined in Cresswel's building. About
two hours after the fire had been extinguish-
ed the body of Carrie Bruner, aged so years,
ali employee, was found in the third story
Of tue factory buried under steam pipes and
heavy timbers. Her body and clothing
vera but slightly burned, and her death
was, in all probability, caused by tho heavy
timbers falling upon her when the explosion
occurred. Fifteen persons were more or
less seriously injured but it is thought that
n"ac Of the injuries will prove fatal, with
the probable exception OF Annie Wolfnger,
aged % years, vino received severe burns
about the face and body, and also sustained
injuries from flying timber. The injuries Of
the others were burns and bruises sustained
in jumping or falling from the upper stories.
The accepted theory OF the origin Of the ex.
plosion is that after the engineer had bank
cd up the fire in the furnace back draft
had blown the flames out, that they had
communicated with the sawdust in the bin,
and the flames shooting upward through
large dust flue, which was air tight, had
caused the explosion.