, 1890-11-20
A SHOWER OF ROCKS
A Terrific Explosion on the Hill
side on Sunday After
noon.
A Blast Which Played Havoc
With Property for Blocks
Around.
Several Minor Casualties Report
ed--The Contractor Is
Arrested.

In the week in Spokane Falls was
rudely broken Sunday. SO were
nearly half II hundred windows,
several standing monuments to the
carpenters art, and numerous ar
ticles of furniture and bric-a-brao
that were in tho vicinity of Fourth
and Post streets. Tho cause was the
explosion of n blast on the hillside
ut the southern end of Post street.
The unruly batch Of giant powder
was put In place by the workmen
on the rock cut, and was exploded
by John Sampson, the foreman ON
the work, between 4 and O'Clock in
the afternoon. The reason that 1t
was so destructive Is said
to bo that the holes were
not drilled deep enough, and its
power was expended chiefly In an
outward direction. The mass of
rock was scattered over several
hundred acres of the neighborhood,
and the force of the shock was felt,
mentally and physically, by u large
number of persons.
The lumber-yard Of the Spokane
Mill Company, located next to the
hill on Fourth street, was the worst
sufferer. Hundreds of tons of rock
were deposited in the driveways
and between the piles of lumber.
One pile, containing eighteen 2x8
joists twenty feet in length, was
broken In two by q falling boulder,
and the timber was splintered and
broken promlscuously. Mr.. j. II.
Meal, the manager of the yard, es-
Inmates the damage at Sl0o.
The Grand Central hotel was
shaken considerably. Fifteen W in
dow panes were broken and a hugo
stone entered the kitchen through
the roof without closing the en-
trance behind 1t. The cost of re-
pairing the damage will approxi-
mate $50. The roof Is strewn with
bouldcrs and branches of trees, sug-
gesting, at q glance from the top of
the hill, u small section of u farm in
the vicinity of Reno, New.
A stone crashed through the roof
of the cottage at 2l9 West Third
street, occupied by William Hell
man, and tore out section of the
parlor floor. The break was re-
paired yesterday by workmen em-
ployed by Mr.. Boston.
Another flighty boulder made q
hole In the sidewalk directly opposite
the Heiman residence.
The st. Louis house was slightly
damaged. The lower panel of the
door In the Lincoln street entrance
was shattered, and the guests were
badly frightened.
"Thought L was goner, sure,
when zat splosion done tux place."
said negro woman, the wife OF j.
NJ. Lee, who lives in Lincoln street,
near Third. "Rock ez big ez your
head came a-crashing ut the doah,
en- brulx lot o. things on the table
by the wall" The door was badly
splintered, but no colored lives were
lost.
Bill Peterson, the night bartender
I'm the Arcade saloon, was rudely
awakened by tho noise and the en-
trance of three and three-quarter
pound boulder into his room through
the ceiling. The stone fell within
two feet of the slumberer's head.
The house, which was considerably
damaged, was occupied by the family
of John Larsen. The stone Is now
on exhibition at the Gem. 1t is q
fine specimen ofrough hewn boulder
granite, and when assayed will
doubtless yield l pennyweight of
mineral to the ton. 1t Is being pre-
served by Mr.. Peterson to be used as
"a mascot.
The conservatory of j. ID. Allen
was damaged by falling shower of
small stones.
Mr.. G.. w. Crane stood at the
window of his home at 81 West
Third street when the explosion
was heard. One of the amateur
meteors struck the Intel of that
window and the broken glass cut
his head in several places, not
seriously however. Mrs. Crane
was thrown to the floor by the
shock, but escaped with few slight
bruises.
A log seven inches in diameter
and five feet eight inches In length
was precipitated through the roof of
the Windsor hotel and shattered
the ceiling, besides shaking the
plaster off the luths. 1t travelled
nearly 200 pards, its flight being
reported by eye-witnesses to rival
the phenomena of Nebraska cy-
clone.
The damage done to furniture and
other property foots up to nearly
81 900. The shock to the nervous
systems of the loungers on the streets
mt that time, based on their own
conservative estimates, would scarce
ly be covered by a sum sufficient to
buy the exposition property and pay
the national debt. Several other
items of minor importance will be
included In the bill of costs when
the time comes for repairing the
damage done.
After the explosion, Charles Bos-
ton, the contractor, was arrested by
Officer Sullivan, but was released on
his own recogniZance. Yesterday
he appeared for trial. The case was
continued until to-day.
The breaks made by the novel
rainstorm We're many of them re-
paired yesterday by the contractor,
who has assured all the property
owners who were injured that
everything will be put in as good
order as il was on the day before
the accident.
MASY of the Palouse farmers having
demonstrated to their entire satisfaction
that their country is unsurpassed as n