Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-01-16
AN AWFUL UPHEAVAL.
BURNING TO DEATH OF A MAN IN HOT
METAL.

Six Others Badly Burned, Some of Whom
VIII Probably Die-Frightful Suffer-
irgs of the Injured-The Cause of the
Accident-The Tarentum Murderers
Notwithstanding Old Oil Terri
tory.
PITTsBURG. Jan. IA horrible ex-
plosion occurred yesterday at the Lucy
furnace, resulting in the death OF Michael
Welsh and badly injuring several other
| furnace men. The explosion occurred
| at dinner time. Little knots of men had
gathered in the vicinity of the furnace,
getting ready for the midday meal,
when unexpectedly, and with awful
suddenness, a tremendous report was
heard. followed rapidly by burning coke.
limestone and metal Ieaping from the
upper bell of the furnace, and flying
over the metal beds and the yard. The
liquid metal came pouring down the out
side of the furnace, where a number of
men were standing. Mike Welsh stood
Immediately beneath the liquid stream.
The metal completely covered him. Just
as the fiery iron touched his head he
made an attempt to run, but the fire had
completely overwhelmed him. He stag
gered and fell from exhaustion. The
poor man was soon lying in mass of
metal and uttered faint gasp for help.
A number of strong. sturdy men, indif-
ferent to their danger, got a few grap-
pling irons and fished him out from the
metal. The patrol wagon was on the
spot, and the man while being taken to
the hospital died.
The Other Victims.
The other poor men, John McGinnis,
Mike Larrisey, Tom Summers, Martin
Summers, John Quigley and Harry Skill
ford, were caught in the liquid shower
and rushed out into the open air. Their
sufferings must have been intense. They
writhed and groaned with excruciating
agony. The burning metal was roasting
their flesh. Some of the furnace men
attempted to take the iron from the
flesh of the unfortunate men, but every
time they pulled piece of metal great
lump of flesh would come with it. This
only intensified their sufferings. The
men yelled under the operation. Some
of them rolled on the ground in dead
swoon, and we're taken to their homes in
a comatose condition.
When the furnace exploded tons of
limestone, ore and cinder were swept
into the air and scattered in all direc-
tions. Those who witnessed the ex-
plosion say that they viii never forget
it. The flying metal, tossing and rolling
in a burning condition, attracted the
attention of the people for miles around.
To those at a distance it was like an ap-
partition.
The Cause of the Explosion
it appears, was the bad working condi-
tion of the furnace. No. furnace had
been out "a hours, undergoing repairs.
1t was Lit up on Thursday and was ready
for charging yesterday morning. AT 3
O'Clock the furnace was charged. About
10 o'clock the furnace boss noticed that
the mixture in the bosh was working
slow and the furnace was hanging. He
gave orders to slack the furnace, so that
the metal would drop from the bosh into
the furnace below. During the time the
furnace was Stacked great quantity of
gas accumulated in the bosh, which was
partially full of limestone, coke and ore.
When more gas and blast was turned on
to the furnace at II o'clock, the accumu-
lated gas in the bosh, which had failed
to escape through an aperture in the lid
of the bosh, became ignited, and the ex-
plosion followed. The lid of the bosh
was absolutely torn from its fixings,
twisted and hurled some hundred feet.