, 1888-03-08
THE OLD STORY.
Explosion of Giant Powder In
the City.
One Man Very Dangerously In
jured.

The danger OF handling giant pow
der carelessly has been again illus
trated by terrible accident which
occurred in this city yesterday. The
scene of the disaster was in o small
shop which had been put up by Roe &
Henderson for the use OF their men
who arc engaged in removing the
rock pile. 1t was about 5 o'clock and
only two men We're in the shed. J. E.
Davenport. the foreman, and Peter
Paulson, blacksmith. The foreman
was thawing out some giant powder
which he had put in II tin can con-
tanning water. when suddenly the dan.
gerous substance exploded.
Father Jacquet. Mt the time, was
coming out of the Catholic church,
Just across the street. He heard the
report and saw the roof of the shed
rise in the air aud man rush out
This proved to be Pau'son who es-
capped with bad wound on the back
of his head. Davenport WAS found
among the debris, horribly mangled
but conscious, aud was ut once taken
to the hospital and his injuries exam
ined. They proved to be very severe
His left ear was torn open by II
ghastly wound which laid bare the
skull. There were two ragged open
ings on the left side of the chest, near
the heart, and bad cash in the right
fore arm. At first it was thought that
some of the ribs were also broken.
The doctors at once went TO work and
soon extracted from the wound in the
ear large jagged piece of tin, proba-
bly, portion of the can in which he
was warming the powder. Another
piece OF tin was taken from the
wound over the heart, and so near
had it approached that vital organ
that, after it had been removed. the
probe rested against the pericardium
and moved back and forth in unison
with the heart beats. The other two
wounds were of a lessAerious nature
though very painful. Tae man suf-
fered terribly during these operations
but bore them bravely. He has
magnificent physique and il was pitt.
BILE to see the broad chest and massive
shoulders stained with blood and heav-
ing in agony. His great strength and vi
tality are in his favor and may pull him
through, though as yet it Is impossi-
BILE to tell just how badly he is injured.
The temporal bone is fractured and
the delicate organism OF the ear hor-
ribly shattered. Whether the injury
will affect the brain is yet to be seen.
Mr.. Henderson was seen at the hos
pitsl where he was doing everything
in his power TO minister to the unfor-
tunate man, and stated that Mr.. Da-
venport was his foreman and had
been working for him for three years.
He was sober and industrious man,
had had great deal of experience in
handling powder, and was considered
to be unusually careful. He came
from North Carolina and has no
family.
Paulson the other man who was in
the building at the time of the explo-
sion, could not be found afterwards,
but it was learned that he escaped
with bad wound in the back OF his
head.
A visit to the shed in which the ex-
plosion occurred gave some idea of
its terrible force. A portion OF the
roof and the south side were blown
out and the debris piled up in wild
confusion. There was considerable
powder stored in the place and the
only wonder is that the shock did not
cause it to 90 off. The can in which
it is supposed the powder was heating
was also found torn and shattered.
This accident should serve as a
warming, but it will probably be dis
regarded like many Others of the same
character which are constantly oc-
curing. 1t will make men cautious
for few days and then they will for
get it and go on taking risks until
some day they become the victims OF
their own folly.
At last reports Davenport is resting
uiIietlv