Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1888-05-10
IN THE DEAD OF NIGHT.
a Car Load of Dynamite Explodes
Near ShanoEin With Terrible
Eject.
Seventeen Houses Wrecked on tho
Sleeping Inmates-Eight Killed
and Thirty Injured.

duu 1Nlrty 1hJuEcu.
Circus Train Wrecksd-Great Loss Of L:fs
By Hail Storms in India-Drowaings
on Lake Erie.
SEAMoKIN. Pa, Nav IA freight train
on the Philadelphia & Reading railroad
was passing through Locust Gap. six miles
from this place, at eleven O'clock Saturday
night, VIXEN car loaded witt, powder ex-
ploded, killing eight people, wounding
thirty, some seriously, burning eight
houses. .eveling four blocks to the ground
and destroying twelve loaded cars.
The freight train, con sisting Of seventy
1--WE cars bound for Wi Transport. had be-
me disconnected by the breaking of a
coupling and the engine and three cars had
run half a mile before the crew discovered
that the train was dlvidei. The first
section then awaited the arrival Of the
second at the foot of heavy grade. The
two brakemen lost control Of the second
section and 1t dashed into tho frst section,
causing an explosion in the third car, which
was loaded with powder.
Az tuO SC-uC VI OuC OCCluCuS Tue IdtTOdQ
runs along steep hill, a: the bottom Of
which stood two rows Of houees occupied
by the Philadelphia & Reading Coal and
Iron Company's employees. Ga the hillside
stood little cottage occupied by John
Quinn and his family Of four children, two
boys and two girls. The force o. the ex-
plosion wrecked the buildings seventeen
IN I'll. and the stoves set Ere to the r.ins,
l. zeal
burned to death. The two boys escaped
with burns.
Simon kerwick's family consisted Of
Mary and Willie Cavanaugh, ADOPTED
children aged respectively eight and four
en- years, Danicl Kerwicl aged eight,
Alice kerwick aged five. and his wife and
8 new born babe. kerwlck carried his
wife from the burning bull ding. but the
children were burned 20 death.
Thirty persons were injured, the most
serious being Mrs. Miles Dougherty, leg
broken, bruised and cut; her mother. Mrs.
Mathews, bruised and internally injured !;
Mary. daughter of Mrs. Miles neck cut and
bruised; Andrew McElwee, right eye de.
siroyed and neck cut; John DOMAIN. left
hand amputated and cut about the limbs !;
Mrs Patrick McAIanus. injured by mis-
siles; Mrs. Simon kerwick, suffering from
shock, condition serious. Several Of the
injured were sent to the miners hospital.
In all twelve cars were destroyed and
seventeen houses with their furniture. All
the windows in the Locust Gap churches
and schools were broken and the doors
blown of. In Mt. Carmel large store win
dows were broken. The total loss is esti-
mated at s75OOO.
The force OF the explosion shook the
ground for twenty miles around, wrecking
many houses IN Mt. Carmel and the neigh
borhood.
None of the train hands were injured,
although one is said to have been blown a
considerable distance. The engineer of the
locomotive wnich was very close at the
time Of the explosion was stunned, but
soon recovered.
The sufferers were soon supplied with all
the help that willing hand, could give, and
shortly after the explosion large numbers
Of people were Oh the scene. Yesterday
the roads leading to the horrible wreck were
lined with vehicles going and returning.
Locust Gap is town Of about 2, 0OO inhabit-
ants.
FATAL LANDSLIDE.
STEUBENvILLr, O., May AT one o. clock
yesterday afternoon, about three miles
above this city, at Misanna station, as the
train OF the Miller q Freeman circus was
passing through a deep cut known as the
Backbone" it met a landslide which threw
the engine and five cars from the track,
pillng them up in confused and broken
mass. The cars were badly broken and
were burned. while the engine was turned
over directly across the track. A. 3. Still
well. of Welsvi,le, O.. the engineer, Was
terribly scalded and 1t is feared received
internal injuries. Elmer Ellsworth, Of
Columbus, o., the colored cook, was killed
outright.
CLOUD BURST.
WICHITA, Kan. May YESTERDAY morn
in- about six o'clock u cloud burst is re-
ported TO have occurred in the vicinity Of
Maize, town about fifteen miles west OF
this city. The territory drenched was about
two hunlred yards wide and a mile long.
For about twenty minite the water poured
down, as expressed by an eyewitness, '';,s
if the ent re heavens were !. tank OF water
and hole had been punched into it, the
size Of the paralIelogram receiving it,"
TIE noise was terrible, the down-pour
sounding much louder than the falls of
Niagara. 1t did not look as though one
could see ten feet into the pouring water.
In fact il came straight down. The cloud
did not seem to move The clouds were as
black as night, but to the east was clear
sky, Just a small strip Of i: above the hori-
ION giving 4 little light. Had it not been
for this it would have been perfectly dark.
Most of the territory covered by the storm
was q corn field and it is thought there was
not stalk of corn left.
TIE ARLINGTON, NEB.. HOLOCAUST
OMAHA, Neb., May Tue csrcum,, ances
attending the burning OF the widow Freese
and her family in the barn near Arlington
Friday are still mystery, but further
investigation tends to remove the suspicion
that murder was one Of the features Of the
horrible affair. The fire, with the excep-
ton of few smoldering heaps, had gone
out, and another thorough search resulted
in the discovery of the eighth victim OF
the holocaust-Lewis Grotzen, the hired
man-near the east end Of the barn among
the remains Of the horses.
TWO PLEASURE sEEKERs DROWNED.
ERIE. Pa, May IA sail boat in which
were party Of Germans capsized on Lake
Erie near Westtieid yesterday, and Will
liam Bann and August Piercher were
drowned. The other two, q. Bader and
George Smith, were picked insen sible by
passing vessel. They will recover.
"A special dispatch from Nashville,
Tenn, dated April -, says: Miss Mollie
Green is heroine in Perry County to-
night. She is but eighteen years old, and
teaches school on Cypress creek in Perry
County, though her father, Robert Green,
lives across the Tennessee river in Hick-
m nfv