New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-12-12
PRICE THREE CENTS.
BLOWN UP WITH THE MILL.
AN OATMEAL FACTORY DEMOLISHED AND
FOUR MEN KILLED.
A MYSTERIOUS EXPLOSION WITH DISASTROUS
RESULTS IN CHICAGo-THE OATMEAL
TRUST THIS TINE
fSv TELEGRAPH TO THE rrrsr-~v.'

fsv TELEGRAPH To rvrsr~yV
Chicago, Dec. l1.-Another explosion startled
Chicago this morning. Yesterday dynamite
cartridge burst at the Shufeldt distllery. and the
responsibility for 1t was put on the Wbskey Trust
by the owners Of the distillery. To-day there was
an explosion which totally demolished David
divers oatmeal factory, at Nos 6s and ss North
Hasted-st., killed four men and damaged surround
ing property to the extent Of $50, 900. The ex-
plosion occurred soon after a. m Only five
men were employed in the mill at night OF these
John Holmes, miller, escaped being picked up in
the street almost 100 feet from the wreck in an
unconscious state. Charles Miller. Ernest Casper,
John Christiansen and Mich Anton were buried
beneath the masses Of brick and mortar and killed.
There were not many people astr in the vicinity
Of the mill at the time of the explosion mum
Der of men were at work in the Aldrich bakery
across the street, and the first ntimaton they had
of the accident was when they were lifted of their
feet by the shock and hurled various distanceA
Generally they kept going till they were stopped By
wall or something equally stationary
Holmes, the only survivor, this afternoon told
the story of the explosion as he lay in the hospi-
tai. AT the moment of the shock / was in the
room where the mllstones were grinding. ] was
sitting on the edge of the lower stone and had my
band buried in the meal feeling it to see whether
thc stones were grinding all right The room was
dimly lighted by one gas Jet. I had heard Mill
er, the engineer firing up only few seconds
before SO by that | know he must still have
been in the boier-room. Ernest Casper the Ger
man, was on the top floor. At any rate, thene
is where he should have been, because IL was
his business 10 that the machinery was run
ming all right up there John Christensen, the
other night man, was over in the klln-rooms.
It would have been impossible for him to have
escaped from tn, re. Suddenly there was a deaf
ening noise and the floor seemed TO burst into
splnters under me. l am sure the report came
from beneath the floor. / felt myself thrown up
into darkness and then all was blank
was knocked senseless and when | became
conscious l could hear the tmbers cracking
and the floors and walls tumbling down.
The air was hot as a furnace, and the steam was
beginning to pour in. 1t seemed as though the
planlls had fallen over me that l was not
crushed. knew there had been awful
plosion of some sort and began to crawl along to
see if there was any way to get out | soon found
that was lying on pile of bricks and stuff, and
it was all burning bot. There no light, but
I thought it couldn't be far out, because | could
feel the cool air. Sometimes | thought OF
Christensen in the kiln-rooms and called at the
top of my voice for him to come toward me. He
didn't answer and / kept crawling Before I
could get out the steam and flames got around
me- and that's how my hands and face were so
badly burned The next thing knew some men
were picking up and carrying INC away.
What could have caused the explosion? p he
was asked.
That / cannot say. 1t is all mystery TO
me- The bin where the oatmeal dust was kept
was up stairs, and I'm sure the explosion came
| from below the first floor
The Oatmeal Trust has many enemies among
the firms not in the combination. among them
J. H. Druley, the proprietor OF the kensington
Oatmeal Mlls. which burned down about
two weeks ago. Mr. Druley was seen and said:
4" | know absolutely nothing about the cause
Of the fire. but have my suspicious. Last night
| went 10 Joliet and did not get back until
o'clock this morning. l see by the accounts in
the papers that the fire is attributed TO an
explosion of mill dust. Now, have had great
deal of trouble myself IN that direction, and
know that il is next 10 impossible for the dust
to eXpl,de in tn manner indicated. In my mill
| was greatly troubled with the dust and / ex-
perimcntcd with the stuff and tried to set 10
afre but il would not burn Therefore ! have
come to the conclusion that the Trust Will have
to look elsewhere for the cause OF the fire. The
boilers didn't explode, and TO my mind the dust
was not the cause. and therefore what was lt'
Careful investigation might prove something In
tcrostng. To lay the matter against the enemies
Of the Oatmeal Trust is nonsense"