The Sunday morning news. [volume] (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1886-1891, 1889-09-08
A BOILER TAKES FLIGHT.
Six Men Scattered in All
Directions by an Ex-
pl0Si0n.
FOUR RESCUED FROM THE WATER.
Two Lives Endangered by a
Blow-up at Dry Docks in Com
munipaw.

The explosion of an upright boiler, at
tached to fifteen horse power engine at
McKeever's dry docks at Communipaw
late yesterday afternoon, did considerable
damage, frightfully scaIded and other
wise severely injured Engineer Charles
Martin and precipitated four men into ten
feet of water.
A BOILERS FLIGHT.
A miracle alone prevented all five from
being blown to atoms. The boiler parted
near the middle. An eight-foot smoke
stack, fifteen inches in diameter, with the
upper portion of the boiler was blown 300
feet into the air and fell over near the
Lehigh Valley Railroad tracks, distance
of 800 feet away. The lower portion was
jammed through the platform upon which
1t rested, and now lies at the bottom Of
the gap.
The boiler and engine were covered
with board shanty. aOx1o feet dimen-
sions and ten feet in height.
The engine was used for pumping water
out of the dry dock. and ran eight twelve
inch pumps, capable of emptying the
docks at a rate Of 200 hundred gallons per
minute,
The shanty covering was splintered.
The engine was damaged but slightly.
When visited the scene of the accident
last night the vicinity was almost COM
pletely deserted. The wrecked shanty
and twisted and broken 1nacni1lery were
but dimly discernible in the shadows OF
the adjacent docks and surrounding ship
| ping.
From solitary individual employed as
night Waterman, who was not present
/ when the explosion occurred in the vicin-
ity, | learned the following meagre de-
tails of the accident
ONLY FORTY POUNDS OF STEAM ON.
| The canal boat Annie Leary had Just
been showed off, and the engineer, Charles
Nelsrn. of Philadelphia was getting up
steam. preparatory to pumping out and
raising the dock The boiler had been
known to carry ITO pounds Of steam. It
is supposed that not more than forty
| pounds were up when the explosion took
| place. My informant could not tell me
| the make nor the age of the boiler, nor
did he know when it was last inspected.
II had been in use. number of years.
| Four men, two caulkers andtwo carpenters
We're on the runs looking after the flood
| gates.
! Young Peter McKeever stood at the
\ bulkhead watching. the process Of raising
| the dock. The engineer had just opened
| the furnace door to shovel in coal when,
| quick as flash, the upper and lower por-
| tions of the boiler parted with deafening
report. The upper portion was hurled
| skyward, the lower disappeared beneath
the platform on which it stood.
| MEN HURLED ALL WAYS.
| When the clouds of Kissing steam
cleared away, the engineer, scalded and
| bleeding, was found lying few feet
away. The caulkers and the carpenters
were seen struggling in the water several
acting as though they were crazy. One
i QvyinfIninOr mkt 1rrfr,
on his back. Young McKeever, almost
| paralyzed with fright, soon re-
| gained his senses, and sprang
| into the water to assist the struggling
swimmers. He was Immediately followed
1 by Mr.. Kicker, of the firm of Kicker. 81
| Son, whose docks adjoins those of Nc
Keever. Mr.. Ricker's arm was grazed
| with piece of flying iron. The captain
of the Annie Leary, which had not yet
| fairly cleared the dock, also plunged into
the water, and the three hearty rescuers
| soon had the frightened quartette safe
ashore. Nelson was Immediately con-
veyed to the City Hospital. The other
| men We're not badly njured and left inn
mediately for their homes. Nelson had
several ribs broken, and was otherwise so
| badly injured that his recovery is not re-
| garded as possible.
THE DAMAGE IN MONEY.
| The damage is estimated at between
| 81, 900 ard 81 500. McKeever, the pro-
| prietor, owns dry docks in Brooklyn, which
he personally superintends His son,
Peter, runs those at Communipaw
The force of the explosion sent the door
ofsthe boiler flying outward and it struck
Nelson, who was standing by His knee
was fractured and he was badly scaldec.
He was thirty years Of age and single.
Thomas Murphy, a laborer, who was
standing near Nelson, was struck in the
back with piece Of the boiler and
severely injured.
NELSON CANNOT LIVE.
At the hospital near midnight Nelson's
condition was reported as being very low.
He was terribly scalded about the face
and upper portions of the body, and was
also suffering with a compound fracture
of the knee. The doctors did not think
ha would live till morning