Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1886-09-03
DEATH.DEALING POWDER
A Monster Magazine at Brighton Park
EXplOdes With Fatal
Results.
Chicago TrembleS Under the Shock as
if it Were an Earth
quake.

/ cover an area of some forty acres and
/ about mile and half west of Brighton
and some seven miles direct southwest
| from the central part of the city. exploded
! yesterday forenoon during the height of a
terrific thunderstorm. Hundreds of
| thousands of dollars worth of property,
not only in the immediate vicinity of the
/ explosion but throughout the entire Dor
| ton of the city was destroyed. One girl
was killed instantly, four persons were in
! jured fatally, and twenty-five or thirty
| Others were wounded by flying debris.
! Houses and trees and acres of growing
| plants in the immediate vicinity of the
magazine were blown to pieces, and the en-
! tire prairie for miles around looked as if a
| cyclone had blown over it. And there
were many people who watched the vivid
| binding lightning, and shuddered at the
| terrific thunder claps which seemed to
| shake the very earth who imagined that a
| cyclone was at hand.
Shortly after o'clock the storm, which
| had been increasing in fury, seemed to
| have reached its height. The flashes of
| lightning REQUIRED with greater frequency
and the thunder was louder and more ap-
/ palling than ever. A gentleman who saw
the explosion describes it as follows: Il
| "tN7 'tCtAAAo ''N III l'ttA4Ol Watching
! the lightning. Each recurring flash seem
ed to be nearer to me than the other, and
| the peals of thunder became absolutely
| appalling, so loud and sharp were they.
| | was about to withdraw from sheer fright,
when there came flash so vivid and
binding that | thought my house was
struck. Directly ahead l saw grand
burst of flame, which shot upward to a
great height. 1t looked as if a pyramid
of fire hpd risen from the earth 1t was
a mere flash, and it disappeared in a
black cloud. The peal of thunder which
followed the lightning was simply terrific
| but b2fore it subsidized another sound
struck my ear which appalled, me more
! than did the thunder. 1t was not loud
| and sharp, but more like the report of a
distant gun, but SO intense was it that
imagined 1t was the fOrerunner of an
earthquake. The earth trembled, nv
house shook and swayed, and everything
about me began to tumble at my feet in
confused mass. | confidently expected
to see the house tOpple in upon me and
my family, but l was so awe-struck that
l stood rooted to the spot. The light
ming had struck the Latin & Rand Pow
der company'8 great magazine which is
located as above stated in the very midst
of a dozen other magazines. The explo-
sion of sixty tons of powder and dyna-
mite, which was stored there produced
shock which was felt with effect in every
residence in the city. The report of the
explosion was like a distant roar and so
unlike the clear tones of thunder clap
that thousands of persons easily distin-
guished it.
In great buildings like the Palmer
House, the Grand Pacific. and the Board
of Trade, the walls and floors trembled.
Gas jets were extinguished by some hid
den hand, clocks stopped ticking, and
there was confusion among guests and
employees. The latter were no less fright
ened tnan the former. Thousands of
persons were awakened from their sleep
| by the trembling of their beds and the
| unusual sound which followed the explos-
ion. and they sprang up to escape what
seemed to be their doom. The shock
was quite as violent at the western limits
of the city as it was ON the South Side,
and even as far north as Fullerton aven-
ue it was so distinct that many people
distinguished it as some force entirely
foreign to the storm which was prevail
ing. Yet no one could even guess at
what had happened. The destruction of
property throughout the city was simply
enormous. 1t was impossible during the
scare last night to get an estimste of any
sort from the fact that the damage is
confined to the interior of residences and
houses. 1t Is not known how many walls
have been cracked and lOoSened, and how
many cealing have been ruined. or how
much merchandise has been injured in
one way or another. The destruction
of window glass alone, especially in the
down town business part of the city, is
enormous and will amount to thousands
of dollars. Plate glass of the most cost
! ly sort, parlor windows transoms. and
door glass were scattered everywhere.
A short walk among the business blocks
! in the heart of the city shows that the
destruction of glass was simply enor-
NOUS.
After the shock had passed over the
! city people began to wonder what had
/ happened. Many gathered in the rotun-
daa of the different hotels, in public halls
| in saloons, and in churches and discussed
| what they considered phenomena OF
nature. They believed it to have been
! the result of a combination of the ele
ments, anything just short of an actual
! earthquake. 1t was not until the day was
nearly over that the news of the explosion
became generally known. And then
everybody was Mortified. Reports OF
great loss of life and destruction of prop.
erty everywhere in the city, especially il
! the southwest portion, were circulated
and were so enlarged upon that it became
current belief that dreadful disaster and
loss of life had occurred. 1t was true
| that the great factories, like McCormick's s
the Malable Iron Works, the packing anG
slaughter houses. were all more or less
damaged, bnt the actual loss of life wa:
only one. The only wonder is that the
| explosion was not followed by a dozeG
others. There were ten other great maya
zines around the one which exploded, anc
nearly all of them were laveled, but theil
contents did not ignite. The explosion
is perhaps the greatest that has occurred
since cs--load of dynamite blew up il
Stratford. Canada, few years since.
Foreign Born Members of Congress.
The Washington correspondent of Th,
! New York Staats-Zeitung writes thus con
corning tbs nationality of the member:
of the house of representatives,:
There are eighteen members who wer,
! born abroad, seven of them being native:
of Ireland. namely: Davis and Collins OF
Massachusetts, O'Neil of Missouri. Wood
burn of Nevada, McAdoo OF New Jersey
I. J. Campbell and Dovdney of New
! York. Two were born in Scotland, Hen
derson of Iowa, and Farquhar of New
York; two IN England, West and Sprigg;
of New York; two in Canada, Gallinger OF
New Hampshire and Adams of New York
three in Germany, Lehbach of New jersey
Gunther of Wisconsin and Romeis Of
Ohio: one in Luxmbourg, Muller of New
| York. and one in Norway. Nelson OF
| Minnesota. To this number may be add
ed Caine, the delegate of Utah territory
who Is an Enblishman by birth. Aside
from the Pennsylvania Germans, Erment
rout, Sowden, Negley, Brumm, Everhart
Storm, etc, all of whom speak German
more or less correctly and iuently, there
are to be mentioned among representa-
tives of German descent who have no
neglected that language only Belmont o.
| New York and hleiner of Indiana Her
man, OF Oregon. the son of German
physician. has almost completely forgot
en- his German. On the other hand ther,
are quite number OF non German repre-
sentatiyes who know German very well
Henderson, of Iowa, speaks and writes Il
his German constituents only in that Ian
guage; Adams, of Illinois, having con
quered the high German, Is now bus,
with VTuela RraSivsS piatr.ieutsrb- Patti