The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1888-12-21


Wnks u : Terrible Explesiea ~ Neal
Dnst o. sDltver's O.snenl Min ~ Cstesgo
-Tnree Msn killed. DEE nostatsy In
1arsa and : Vast Amount ~ Property
D~ssreysA- >elrncsIsas ksrnpe>.
CHICAGO, Dec ll.--An explosion, NJ first
supposed 10 have been that Of the boiler,
shattered the building a the corner Of
Hal<fcad and FULTON streets, occupied BY
David Oliver a. an oatmeal factory, II
few minutes before two o'clock this morn
inc. The shattered walls fell upon and
crushed the saloon Of Charles Murphy
and the wagon factory Of Jacob Press, adj
Joining. and in moment all three build
ings were In flames. Four men were
known 10 have been in the oat-meA. mill
At the time Of the explosion. and all but
one were instantly killed. Those known
90 have persisted were:
Ernst Copper. millwrieht-
Charles Miller, engineer.
John Schmidt.
John Holmes. who was working in the
second story Of the building, was blown
through window 70 the opposite side 81
the street and was taken 70 the County
hospital in dying condition.
How the Murphy people escaped with
out harm Is remarkable. There We're IN
the corner building asleep Charles MUIR
ply. proprietor 81 the saloon. his father
George. his brother James, his mother
and three children. Lizzie. Joe and
George. ten, eight and six respectively.
They had hardly been awakened by the
report Of the explosion when there came
a crash that almost turned the building
over on its side. The family who occupied
the upper floor were thrown violently
- .I..1.~
crashing through the roof, crushing
IL in and throwing the building
over so that il slanted N an
angle OF forty-five degrees The entire
roof Immediately took fire, and then con-
menced fearful struggle on the part OK
the family 10 escape from the wreck.
Pinned down BY great beams and hemmed
in on every side by debris Of every sort,
this was found difficult. Charles Murphy
seized his little boy. who was sleeping be-
side him, Just as his aged mother came
crawling into the room. half blinded by
| the smoke. To see II he was safe. As she
saw her son and grand-child she tainted,
! and Mr. Murphy had 10 carry both his
/ mother and son down stairs. and- after
| considerable difficulty made his way % the
I street. Therest OF the family escaped with
1 few bruises in a similar manner. John
\ Holmes. the man who was blown ont o.
4 the window. was found about sixty feet
/ away from the mill. He was lying on .
1 pile OF brick with his face fearfuliy man
1 rled and his body a sickening mass N
I burns and bruises.
| Adjoining the mill at the west was q
| two-story frame building occupied oy n
\ p. lawson. The ground floor was usedas
I = restaurant. while ON the floor above
| lived the restaurant keeper. his wife and
/ baby. the cook and The waiter. The ex-
| plosion threw all these people out
l of bed. stunning them for several seconds
4 When they recovered sufficieatly 10 make
, an effort 70 escape they went 20 the back
( stairway. but il had been blown down and
they were Obliged to stay in the second
| story Of the building until the firemen
took them out on ladders. The restaurant
was wrecked. A large hole was blown in
4 the roof. every window was shattered. the
chimney was toppled over. doors forced
from their hinges and the plaster
ing shaken TO dust The streets fol
block in every direction were
strewn with debris Of every sort
There was not whole pane Of glass IN
any building within a quarter OF mile q
the mill Lake street for block east anc
west or Halsted street. was sprinkled wit1
the glass Of demolished windows Here
and there the panels of door were blown
out. And this was one ot the curious
features ~ the accident The glass anu
woodwork were pushed out instead q
smashed in, as one would naturally ex'
pect them TO be-
What caused the explosion could not De
! ascertained. Several people who claimed
1 4I4tAf FrA *
4 the mill thought II was boiierexpl osion
| but Marshal Murphy was positive that il
1 was an explosion OF oatmeal DUST and
that no boiler could cause an explosions 80
.. terrific a. ID cover the neighb0rho0d sew
eral feet with debris
1 Geo. Barber. the day engineer. sais
that when he left the building az eveniue
the engines and boilers were In prrpe'
) condition. and he did not think that ths
wreck was caused by boiler explosion
.. ! The losses will aggregate >l5OVW. Eigh
horses were burned 20 DEATH
! An immense crowd gathered on thu
} scene " the disaster 70 watch the work o
clearing up the debris. By nine o'clocl
the fire department had succeeded In *
tinguishing the FIRE, and the work Of ex
cavnting in the ruins was begun.
Up to ten o'clock no bodies had beenre
covered \.
In prosecuting the excavation the Doll
ers were found 70 be intact This doe
I away with the theory that the expiosio
| was the result Of the bursting boilers.
About 10:D O'Clock the body Of q ma
supposed 10 be that Of Engineer MiIler'wn
found In the north driveway Of the mil
II WAS covered with about three feet 2
deSris- The lower part Of the body wa