St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-09-08
Forty-Five Men Believed to
Have Been Crushed by
Masses Of Rock.
Eighteen Bodies Taken Out
Twenty-Seven Hen Unae-
counted For.
Thirty Men Buried Together
in a Big Cut Beneath a
Cliff.
The Han Who Stood Beside
the Tamper Miraeulously
Escapes Death.

lime only HelgnUeDS Un6 horrors
wrought by the premature explosion of
blast ill the Northern Pacific freight
yards here last night. At II p. m. the
men engaged in the sad task of taking
out the mangled victims were forced to
deSiSt, because among the rocks which
were being cleared away were five other
blasts that might be exploded in the
task of removing the mass of debris
that buried the victims. Up to that
hour eighteen bodies had been taken
out. OF these the following have been
Identified: Henry Jacobini Veyeller,
Henry Aptell, Charles Veyeller,
Andrew Puelonelio, F. A. Hahn,
Joseph Ray, John Joseph Cartliono,
James Mcpherson, Roy Pinckney, R.
Vitter, j. Talbo, Henry Jacobini, A. W.
Warren, Isaac johnson, Dan Macarthur,
Homer Olsen. There are yet twenty
seven men unaccounted for. all of whom
are probably buried beneath the mighty
mass of rock. The fatality was terrible.
The men were given no chance for life
1t was either instant death or slight in
jury. There were about 200 pounds of
giant powder in tie blast. The acct
dent was caused by some ones careless
ness. The man In charge of the blast
and three assistants were blown to
atoms. 1t IS the custom to prepare
blasts and charge them, and at the hours
of IL, noon, and o'clock, after the men
have left work and gone to place of
safety, to shoot them. In this case,
however, it seems that one blast had
been prepared and the foreman, G. Nc
Pherson, was preparing second. The
men had all
Finished Their Work,
and were putting On their coats and
picking up their lunch pals ready to go
to their homes after their days work,
when they met a horrible and unex-
pected death. Either the rock was too
hot from the action of the drills, or else
tamping exploded the second blast, and
that exploded the first. The. man who
was tamping paid the penalty with his
life. A man who stood beside the one
who was tamping escaped with slight
bruises, although 10000 cubic feet of
rock we're hurled for hundreds of feet
in every direction. Another man who
was near the deadly blast, and who was
supposed to be dead, was seen shortly
after the explosion in half-crazed con-
dition walking around, with. his clothing
torn to shredS. The men were working
in cut leveling off the ground for the
new freight yards. The cliff of
rock on the side of the cut which was
being removed was twenty feet high.
The blasts are so arranged that the rock
is thrown toward the cut. Not antici-
pating the blast, about thirty men were
under the cliff when the blast exploded.
A great mass of rock and earth raised
in the air and pitched over into the cut,
burying the men beneath its awful
weight. None of them had time to run,
but few escaped in a miraculous man.
ner. Over 100 men were at work in the
adjoining cuts, and at once were on the
scene of the terrible accident, and be-
gan with pick and shovel to hunt for
the buried bodies. From all over the
huge mass of rock groans and shrieks
issued, and the air was filled with the
horrible noises and the appeals of the
wounded and dying. A short half-hour
and all was still, except for the work
ingmen with pick in hand, who, with
the light of lanterns, worked late into
the night removing the dead bodies.
Crowds at the Scene.
The explosion was the all-engrossing
topic of conversation in the city to-day.
Curiosity led hundreds to visit the
scene of the accident. During the day
eager crowds watched the work of re-
moving the immense amount of rocks
thrown by the explosion into the cut
below, under which most of the bodies
of those killed were found. The scene
of the explosion presented fearful ap-
pearance on the top of the ledge of rock
wheresthe unfortunate foreman, James
MCPHERSON, was tamping the blast by
the explosion of which SO many were
hurled into eternity. A deep hole was
eXcavated into the earth, and it is esti-
mated that $500 cubic feet of rocks and
earth were hurled upon the unfortunate
men directly beneath in the cut. The
explosion was terrific one, it being
stated that $50 pounds of dynamite
were in each of the two blasts
discharged. Although a large force
worked to-day until all the rock
dislodged was removed no more bodies
were found. The total number of dead
found last night was fourteen. In adj
dition to these one man died at the hos
pital, aud it is also reported that two
more badly injured have died at their
homes during the day. Many of those
injured were SO badly hurt that recovery
is almost impossible. Foreman Charles
Bolt states that forty men were
in the gang at work on the cut
in that ledge. OF this number
fifteen and perhaps seventeen are dead.
eight in the hospital, and it has so far
been impossible to determine the
whereabouts of the other men. OF these
many supposed to have been hurt will
probably be present at roll call to-mor-
row. Until then the number missing
cannot be determined. Funeral sery-
ices will be held tomorrow at 10 O'Clock
at the morgue over the remains of the
fifteen already dead and apublic burial
will be given.
NTORTGAGED FOR $4,000, 900.