Los Angeles daily herald., 1888-02-29
THE EXPLOSION.
Investigation as to How it
Occurred.
SOME SURVIVORS, STORIES.
Vallejo in Mourning Over the Sad
neutrality-suspicious. for
the Funerals.

feeling of sorrow overspreads the
community.
No bodies have been found this
morning. Divers have been explor-
ing the wreck, and found one boiler
blown overheard and the other torn
apart.
The oil tanks are unbroken and
there is oil still remaining in them.
The Coroner's jury met this morning,
examined a number of witnesses and
adjourned till afternoon.
THE FOLLOWING TESTIMONY
Was taken during the course of the in
quiry:
Timothy Murphy, by occupation
a longshoreman, who vas on board
at the time Of the explosion stated !:
81 was going forward to light my
pipe when was struck in the face by
something; I looked back, saw blaze
and saw parties lowering boat l
could not say who they were as was
dazed by the shock. Have been 60
ing back and forward for the last
eight months and never heard any
one say anything about the boilers
before the explosion"
r. w. Burton, laborer, stated: "I
wen4 aboard the boat about 6 and
went straight to the engine room;
looked at the clock, it was 6 10 and l
said to George "We will make good
time to-day. Just then the bell rung
and he picked up the rod to start the
engine. Then the explosion occurred
and the next thing I saw and felt was
pieces of wood falling OH me. When
| recovered from the shock called to
George and asked him where he was. :"
"Charlie / am fast, my foot is caught
and cannot get out" as the reply.
went to his assistance and got him
free. | saw man under the chain
box. Said he, II can't get out" Wal
lace got a sledge hammer, but could
not break the box, or get it off the
the man. then called for boat,
and being told that there was one
over his head, lowered the star
board boat and took four men off the
wreck. There was 105 pounds of
steam on the gauge when the bell
was rung. She was allowed to carry ITO
pounds: / was not hurt at all.''
VIM. Smith testified: l got on
board at North Vallejo, and went up
Stairs where there were only two
other men. was lying on a seat
doing, but awoke as the whistle blew
to leave South Vallejo. Had Just put
my head down when the crash came.
l heard no explosion, as the first thing
| knew everything came tumbling
down on top Of me. 1 tried to escape,
and was perhaps five or ten minutes
doing 80. While creeping out heard
men underneath crying for help. Had
not much difficulty when freed from
the wreck in getting off.
James McCudden testified: My
clerk thinks that he sold eleven
tickets on Sunday morning. Sunday
and Monday are kept as one day, ac-
cording to the railroad custom. The
tickets may be bought at any time,
or any number may be sold to one
man. We sell single trip tickets
only.
j. N. Rhorer stated: My clerk
thinks that he sold from thirty to
thirty-five tickets. Many men buy
six tickets on Monday morning to last
the week through. Did not see the
firemen or engineers, as was in bed
when the first boat left.
Master Mechanic Mckenzie, of the
Southern Pacific company, was pres
ent to request that the examination
of the boilers be postponed until the
arrival of United States Inspector
Hillman.
IN THE AFTERNOON
The jury again convened, and the
following evidence was taken: Man
uel Trietos-Never heard any one
say that the boilers were in bad
condition. Have travelled on the
boat about year. Never heard any
one say that those boilers have been
condemned lately, and can not say
how many passengers were on the
steamer; think that there were about
thirty-five or forty. Was talking to
James Rule at the time of the ex-
plosion.
j. J. Smith tallyman for the Port
Costa Lumber Co. was the last one to
go on board. He said, 81 was about
to 60 inside on the lower deck when 1
was hit by something on the calf of
my leg and knocked down. got up
and was struck on the back by a
piece Of wood. I then crawled under
a truck. l don't know how long l
was there but when got up l saw a
a flame under the starboard
stairs and heard the captain order
the boat to be lowered. 1 assisted
in doing this and afterwards got
ashore. When the Captain gave the
order he was standing forward at the
gang plank. The captain helped to
lower the boat. I had my senses all
the time. Saw no effort made by the
crew to save the passengers. Do not
think any more lives could have been
saved by extra efforts. The sliding
doors were open when the explosion
occurred.
HOW THE JULIA WAS WORKED.
The Julia was fitted with petroleum
burners at about the same time as the
Oakland ferries, some months ago.
Before that time Rocky Mountain
coal was used, and when the change
in fuel was made it was found that
about 100 gallons of petroleum were
equivalent to a ton of coal. This
boat carried about 250O gal
Ions Of petroleum. 1t was car
ried in a heavy boiler-iron tank
which was placed at a distance of
forty feet from the furnaces. From
the tank small pipe about an inch
in diameter conveyed the crude oil to
the furnaces, where it was blown in
by steam and consumed under the
boilers. 1t was claimed that the
apparatus, which was the same as on
other boats, was perfectly safe, and
that q leaking from the tanks would
have only the effect Of making q bet
ter fire, but could not cause an ex-
ploeion.