Telegram-herald., 1890-03-29
DEADLY MlLL-DUST.
It Explodss with Fearful Results
IN the Chicago sugar Refinery.
TIE sIRCH-HOUSE pEYOLlSHEA
ia Eeaies Iskea from ths Rams sea
ssrce othsrs stiu bsried There
EaEhtseu WORKINGS keeeiss
ferrltls ts9 0rles.

CmcA6o. March e. - TIE ChloAgo Sn-
gar Henuery's stsrcb-houso. - t~o-story
brick structure. a0al20 feel. 81 The foot
of Taylor street ~as completely
wrecked By dust" explosion Thurs
day afternoon sbout asa AAny men
were 81 work al the lime. sRa 81 these
nine were KILLED. The bodies -
six have been recovered. and the other
three are still in The wreck. Eighteen
Others we're badly burned aud injured.
many Of them 80 seriously that their
lives are despaired Of The identified
bodies are thosS 81 August Theiman.
Frank wallich. Mike nyer, Henry Hob
baldt, Albert Hess aud John otto.
Those eth in the ruins are Morris
FLYNN, Fred Grof and Albert NlUke.
The oonousslon that accompanied the
explosion shook the walls Of the great
twelse-story building. which Is he
main structure o. the plant The work.
men rushed 10 the rear 81 the building.
The starch house ~as a mass 90 flames.
Here and there men were seen crawling
from such Apertures a. were lefi lu The
ruins Three scrambled through tie
windows % a @O0dshed that Adjoined
the starch-house. The roof ani
FIRST floor we're lifted by the fore Of the
explosion and fell 10 the ground. The
walls stood for 3 moment. then tumbled
on the mass of ruins When the IRE de-
partment arrived there was nothing left
OF the building.
The news Of the 'rightful casualty
travelled with It's esual speed and with
| in an hour the place was besleged With
anxious members OF the families - enl-
ployes Men who were en- pl0yeo Ia de-
partments FAR remote from tie Some ~
tho explosion IN many instances re
NAMED 10 assist In the work Of remov-
! ing the dead and dying. The wives
and daughters Of many such employees
faced the fearful storm aud wGded the
| nasty miro IN q frenzy Of anxiety which
would not De quieted until they had
seen with their own eyes the living
persons OF their husbands, fathers or
brothers.
A Chicago Rock Island a Pacific
railroad employe told the story OF tho
explosion. OF which be Was al eye-Nit-
ness. as follows:
Il was standing on the corner OF Taylor and
| Sherman streets IN plain view Of the refinery.
when heard the explosion what sight -
was YoD couldn't tell whether The roof or the
| sides went Up frat al n q bunch Wa sooB
/ Joined by two comrades, anc together We
worked Ike wild men in the ruins. and Dc
/ rushed into the place where the Old building
! stood saw two OF three men rush out kight
/ down there IN tie corner lpoinung - = DARK
cavern OF smoke Ere and burning sm-
bsrs) / saw q man pinned down by q heavy tim
Der. He stuck his head and hand Qua and
yelled 10 me: I amt hurt Mueh. but Ntiis
/ bUntr. and cant get OUT trieo ny beet %
move the plank 70 free him but hen The Gre
which Wa breaking out al The time got 60 bot
/ that had 10 leave him 70 be burned % death
/ All three OF US had q run for cur Lives. and
We barely escaped ourselves n vac
mighty hard 30 leave nal that way.
but II was no use: 80 bad 70 De doEs There
was just about ten minutes from the explosion
until the firc got 50 hot that nothing could De
done Under my feet could beGy voices. and
know that more bodies are ~ tue ruins. ono
man saw jast for minute WHO wss burned
SO that when ] grabbed his hand The skin
dropped Of"
The clearest account o! the cause Of
the explosion is given by Or Behr, the
sugar refinery chemist who told Dr. J.
B. Murphy how the explosion took
/ place. Directly under the room where
the explosion occurred" said Dr..
Behr, was plant for the manu-
fscture OF printers rollers The plant
was owned by the Chicago Sugar Be
fning Company. The gummy substance
used in making the rollers is heated in
a nun Der OF pans. One 81 these pans
caught fire and this set the ceiling
sblaze. the fire then comm uuicating
with the room above. where the men
were engaged drying the starch. The
dust then ignited and exploded"
The force OF the explosion eau hard 7
be estimated. The building in which
/ 1t occurred was substantial brick
structure IS feet long boy 30 feet IN
width. The roof Was hurled into The
air a. II it were made o. card board and
the walls were entirely demolished
The losses on the demolished building
are figured at 81 900 on the structure
and SIS, 600 on stock