Belmont chronicle. [volume] (St. Clairsville, Ohio) 1855-1973, 1890-01-30
Death and Destruction in Col
umbus, o.

COLUMBUS, Jan. 2j.-There was
scene of death and destruction in this
city last night whose horrible features
and sickening details are surpassed only
by the Johnstown food Never in the
history OF Ohio has such a dreadful dis
aster occurred as that which sent thrills
of horror through the thousands who
witnessed ii. A double explosion &C.
CURED, and it dealt out death with dual
force.
A few moments after o'clock an
alarm of fire sounded. calling out the
entire department. The streets were
thronged with the thousands of toilers
who were returning to their homes from
workshops and factories, and quickly
spread the news that a frightful calam-
ity had happened in the southern part of
the city. The streets leading to that
street were soon crowded with people
going to the scene. Their presence there
heaped horror upon horror, as will be
seen later on. An explosion had oc-
CURED at the double residence of Messrs.
Michael Powers and John Marriott. at
the corner of Wall and Noble allies The
cause of the calamity was an accumula-
ton of natural gas in the cellar of the
house referred to. The city has recently
been supplied with natural gas and lead
ing past the house occupied by Marriott
and Bowers is one of the mains through
which the commodity is furnished to the
public. The pipes had leaked and the
explosive fuel had dfound its way through
assures in the ground TO the cellar which
was the seat of the horror. 1t became
ignited in some unknown manner and
exploded with terrific force. wrecking
the building and filling the air with de-
bris.
Mrs. Marriott was blown out of the
house and a man named Goulding, who
was standing near the structure, was
blown across the street. Mrs. Marriott
was carried across the street and into
the residence of William Jones, book
keeper for the book firm of Clock &
Beck The house where the injured
lady lay was soon crowded with people
attracted by the accident, and it was
soon necessary to close the doors that no
more might enter.
A Second ExpIoS'
Little knew those scores of spectators
huddled around the sufferer that they
were standing i'll a death trap, which
was then on the verge of carrying them
into eternity. Suddenly the air was
rent by a thunderous explosion which
made the earth quake and fill the air
with flying timbers. bricks and debris of
all kinds. Darkness ensued and then a
death-like stiffness reigned fer a few
moments. 1t was broken by shrieks and
death groans. The house in which lay
the powerless form of Mrs. Marriott had
been blown to atoms and its occupants
buried beneath the wreck. Hundreds of
spectators who lined the sidewalks were
knocked violently down by the shock
and laid powerless.
Then to cap the climax, a team OF
spirited horses attached to one of the fire
department ladder trucks, became freD-
zied by the explosion and dashed away
into the crowd, carrying death in their
wake. They ran over and injured scores
of people. A beautiful little babe was
knocked from its mothers arms, and
falling beneath the merciless wheels of
the vehicle, was crushed to death.
Digging Out the Euried.
As soon as the maddened team had
disappeared in the darkness many of the
spectators and firemen, who had been
uninjured by either of the horrors,
turned their attention to digging out the
persons buried beneath the ruins of the
house. Guided by the cries and moans
of the mangled and dying men CROPPED
in the darkness, pulling out dead tody
here, a mangled yet living form there,
and conveying them to resting places.
Groups of men, women and children
gathered around the prostrate forms and
blood curdling shrieks made the awful
scene more revolving, as friends recog-
nized friends, injured or dead, parents
found their mutilated children and vice
versa.