The times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1882-1897, 1890-07-18
A TERRIBLE DISASTER
Explosion on a Large Lake Yes
sci at Chicago,
RIGHT IN THE HEART OF THE CITY

The Vessel Was Loaded with Naphtha
and OIL, Which Immediately Took Fire,
Imprisoning "a Score of Stevedores i'm a
Fiery Furnace-Human Beings ThrowM
Hundreds of Feet into the Air-A Long
List of Victims.
CHICAGO, July l2.-By terrific explo-
sion that shook all the buildings in the
center of the city and startled thousands
of residents the stern of the magnificent
freight steamer Tioga was blown out at
1885 o'clock Friday night and no less than
fifteen men met instant death. There was
rush of steam and smoke, cloud of
shattered timbers, and the agon;zing
cries of those not killed who were unable
to escape from the flames that at once be-
gan to eat up everything within reach of
their awful fury. There were '5c barrels
of oil stored in hold No 5, and it appears
from the testimony of those who escaped
the wreck that this was the immediate
cause of the explosion. At z o'clock the
porter, William Palmer, of Buffalo, de-
scended into the hold with several lamps,
which he placed about on the deck that
the roustabouts might see to continue
their work far into the night, as the YES
sci was to have left on her return trip to
Buffalo Saturday evening. No sooner had
Palmer as cended to the upper deck after
joking with the men below than the ex-
plosion came. 1t is believed that the va
por from few barrels of naphtha COM
municated with the light of the lamps
and did the fearful work.
Heard a Mile Away.
The noise of the explosion was heard
nearly a mile distant from the scene. I'M
mediately following it came shower of
wood and iron thrown hundreds of feet
into the air, with here and there the burn
ed and mangled form of some human be-
ing plainly visible to the horri fed specta-
tors, and then falling into the murky
waters of the river, probably never to be
seen again. A sheet of flame wrapped the
gigantic vessel from about amidships to
the stern, shooting 100 feet up into the air,
lighting up the neighboring ware houses
and shipping with dull glow which only
added terror to the scene. When the first
engines arrived their efforts, under the
direction of Marshal Champion, were di-
rected toward checking the flames, which
were fast rushing toward the forward part
of the vessel and threatening her with to-
tai destruction.
Awful Sights Witnessed.
From the depth of the vessel could be
heard the roar of the flames and the occa-
sional explosion of barrel of oil, while
the forms of half score of unfortunates
penned into the fiery furnace could be
seen writhing in agony and unable to
escape. The sight was an awful one and
the firemen who made heroic efforts to
render assistance were steadily driven
back from their position. On the upper
deck lay the unconscious forms of several
men who were hurled up from below by
the force of the explosion. Meanwhile the
firemen were having a fierce battle with
the flames A third alarm soon followed
a second and twenty streams augmented
by the powerful streams from the fire.
boat Geyser, were pouring tons of water
into the hold of the burning vessel The
object of Chief Swenie was to flood the
immense vessel with water and cause her
to sink to the bottom of the river, which
is very shallow at this point. An hour of
this work, aided by the water rushing into
a large hole torn in the bottom by the
explosion, had the desired effect, and the
vessel slowly found a resting-place in the
bottom of the river, the water being level
with her main decks. AS the water poured
in over her deck and through the hatch
ways the flames, with venomous hiss,
died out and the work of recovering the
dead by the truck companies was begun.
Names of the Killed.
The names of those who were killed are
given below: G. Levalley, lookout, of Buff
falo;. William Cuthbert, Waterman, of
Buffalo; T. K. Fitzgibson, waiter, of Buff
Cal T4h Ie1 h. A1I
ored stevedores living in Chicago: Walter
Duckes, Thomas Lewis, John Lewis,
Henry Alexander, Lewis Alexander, John
Golf, Jacob Churl, Alexander Smith, j.
Braxton, Osborn Polk, Charles Foster.
About a dozen other persons were badly
injured, some of whom will probably die
The steamboat Tioga was built at Buff
falo in 1886 by the Union Dry Dock COM
pany for the Union Steamboat company
as part of the Erie lines feet She is
3I2 feet long. 80 feet In the beam, and is of
2,085 gross tonnage and LIZA net. Her
depth is IA feet. She cost when new $780,
600.
Impossible OF Recognition.
At Klaner's morgue, at 143 Monroe
street, Saturdays scene was one of I'M
varying sadness. All day long came
wives, mothers, fathers and children look
ing for relatives that were missing Seven
bodies, bruised and blackened beyond re-
cognitiou, were there, and at these the
visitors looked and turned away no wiser
than before "None of those bodies will
ever be identified" said Fred Klaner. 1t
is impossible to tell white man from
colored man.
Two More Bodies Found.
Two more victims of the Tioga steam
boat disaster were found Monday. They
are Edward Fitzgibbons of Buffalo, en-
ployed as a waiter on the vessel, and
Thomas Lawrence, deck hand. Both
were discovered floating in the river. This
brings the number of the dead up to
twenty-one. Eleven men are still missing,
and of these four belong to the boats
crew.