The Ohio Democrat. (Logan, O. [Ohio]) 1886-1906, 1888-07-14
BATTERY OF BOILERS.
Terrific Conclusion and Frightf,il
Force Of an Explosion.
Houses Crushed In and u Car Cut in Two
by Flying sccticns--Six Persons 1n-
Jured, Three of Whom Will Die.-
= Miraculous Escare OF y Num-
Der @. Employees.

PITTSBURGH, Pa, July CA battery Of
boilers at the tannery of A. G. J. Groet-
singer, Allegheny City, exploded this af-
ternoon, wrecking several buildings and
seriously injuriig six persons, three Of
whom will probably die. The following
are the names of the injured and their con-
dition: VIM. Wetzcl, engineer, leg blown
off and terribly Turned: will die. Christ.
Neidt, bruised and scalded; injuries be-
lieved to be fatal. L. l.. Farbic,
burned, bruised and scalded; death prob
able. Otto Berghaendler, bruised and
scaldcd; will recover. John Staab, arms,
face and body be lily burned; not fatally
hurt. Annie Meyers, crushed and bruised |;
very serious. The cause of the ex-
plosion is believed to have been
high pressure. A few minutes
after four o'clock William @. wetzel, the
engineer, noticed the pressure higher than
usual, and he started for the furnace to
turn down the natural gas, Before he had
time to do 80, however, there was a ter
rible explosion. and Wetzel was blown up
through the roof of the tannery and landed
in the yard outside. The conclusion was
terrific. One side Of the main building, a
brick and frame structure one hundred
feet long, was blown out, and portion Of
the front was adly wrecked. The boiler
house, fifty feet long by ~ feet wide, built
of brick, was totally demolished, and the
office, which was situated across the way,
was completely shattered. A heavy
double wagon was blown against
Wetzel's residence, sixty feet
away, and the side of the house
crushed in. Pieces of the boiler flew in
every direction. One section was carried
across the Allegheny river, distance Of
over thousand feet. Another piece struck
the Third Ward school house, twelve hum
dred feet away, and tore outone end Of the
building. A third piece struck horse and
killed it, and fourth piece almost cut q
Grand Rapids and Indiana railroad freight
car in two that was standing on side
track near the scene of the accident. A
scene of the widest excitement immedi-
ately followed the explosion. Fully sixty
men were at work in the tannery, and all
who were able to do SO rushed panic -strick-
en- from the building. To add to
the horror of the situation the
building caught fire, but before the
flames got much headway they were
extinguished. The injured were then
taken from the wrecked structures and re-
moved to their homes. They are still liv-
ing, but very slight hopes are entertained
for the recovery of at least three of them.
The boilers that exploded were twenty
eight feet long by forty-two inches in di-
ameter. They were made of steel, and
have been in use six years. The damage
by the explosion will not exceed $4,000.
Engineer Wetzel died at eleven o'clock to-
night and Annie Myers is not expected to
live until morning. The others are resting
easy, Mr.. Groetzinger, one of the owners Of
the tannery, says that the boilers were in
spected last year and found to be in good
condition.