Butte semi-weekly miner., 1889-02-06
MIRACULOUS ESCAPE.
EXPLOSION OF GIANT POWDER
ON MONTANA STREET.

A Miner Undertakes 20 Thaw Out Twelve
| Sticks ON Stove, and EnectualI,
Accomplishes It, Wrecking the House
but the Occupants Escape Uninjured
The neighborhood of Montana and Silver
streets was considerably shaken up Satur-
day morning by an explosion that took
OF where these streets cross. 1t is a one
story brick structure divided by thin
wooden interior. partitions iito two tene.
ments, and is a frail looking structure at
best. It belongs to Mrs. Hopkins, and
the southern tenements in which the explo.
sion took place was rented by Mrs. Con-
nor. Recently four men working on John
A. Leggat's mine, the Washington, the
shalt of which is west of Montana street,
went to room with her. Among them was
Finn named John Talkar. He las been
several years iu this country, and worked
in Colorado before coming here.
He worked on the day shift, and having
some dozen sticks OF giant powder that
were slightly frozen, which he wanted to
use, he went to the house with them yester-
day morning and undertook to thaw them
out on the stove in his sleeping room. Two
OF the other miners, Gus Gerry and Andrew
Hansen, who roomed there, were then
asleep in the room. Mrs. Connor was also
in the house in rear room. 1t was be-
tween 8 and 10 O'Clock when Talkar went
to the room. The stove stood within five
feet of the front door close to q board par
tition, on which rested q short brick chin.
ney. He placed two sticks OF the giant
powder on the plate in front of the stove
door and the other ten on the floor under
meath the stove. The sticks were not as
much frozen as he thought, or the thaw-
ing properties OF the stove were more
powerful than he calculated on, for
just as he was in the act oi
reaching for the sticks they ex-
ploded wrecking the whole interior OF the
house. Talkar received a good deal OF
the powder in his face and breast and was
blown out through the door into Montana
street in dazed condition, but miracul-
ously escaped any other injury. The rest
of the inmates OF the houss were equally
lucky, escaping without scratch. Talkar
was taken to an unoccupied cabin on the
opposite side of the street belonging to Mr..
Leggat where physician attended him
who found him comparatively uniniured.
he COmDlAlu6u Ok Iccuuk 6OE0 Ill
his breast and suffered from the shock.
Mrs. Connor, in the course of the day,
became seriously i'll from the effects of the
shock, and was taken to the house of her
daughter, Mrs. Gates, in the neighbor-
hood. Gerry and Hansen were both SO
disgusted at the stupidity OF their COM
rade that they would not 60 near him at
the cabin, and although word was sent at
once to the authorities, Talkar was left
unattended all day in the cabin.
The wonder is that any of the house was
left standing. The interior partitions were
wrecked, the canvas lining hanging in strips,
the ceiling blown in showing the rafters, and
q hole in the floor where the stove had
stood, together with the debris on the
floor, showing the effect OF the explosion.
That it was not more serious in it's effects
was due to two cases-the giant powder
not being in confined space, and deep
cellar allowing the powder to expend its
force in the way natural to it. Fragments
of the stove showed it the most serious
sufferer by the explosion.
The northern half of the house is oc'
cupied by a family named DAVIS. Mrs.
Davis was at home at the time OF the ex-
plosion, and thought some one had been
playing tricks with her neighbours fire.
wood, putting powder in it. The wooden
partition between the two houses WAS left
standing, but the canvas lining next it bad
been blown loose. The furniture i'll her
house was undisturbed, with the exception
that the pictures were blown out ol
their frames, and bird cage blown
off it's perch. The door handles
of several houses near Ey were
blown off. Such were apparently all the
effects of the explosion. Undoubtedly, but
for the cellar there would have been another
tale to tell, with the probability that th'
whole house would have been blown tC
pieces, and more or less serious injury tc
the inmates.
The trick of thawing out giant powder thi'
way is not an uncommon one and Talka
said he had done it hundred times hefor
without danger. 1t was most crimina
act, however, to undertake in q house in /
thickly inhabited neighborhood.