The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1890-02-01
A Terrific Natural Gas Ex-
plosion in Columbus Wrecks
Two Houses.
Six People Killed and Over q
Score Receive Serious
Injuries.

the LIOuSdlluS WIN WITNESSED " W.
night. A double explosion occurred
and it dealt out death with dual force
A few moments after 5 o'clock an alarm Of
| fire sounded calling out the entire depart
ment. 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 fright,
full calamity had happened in the southern
part of the city. The streets leading to that
section were soon crowded with people
going to the scene. An explosion
had occurred at the double resi-
dence of Michael Bowers and John
Marriott, at the corner of Wall and
Noble alleys. The cause of the calamity
was an accumulation Of natural gas in the
cellar of the house referred to. The city
has recently been supplied with natural gas
and leading past the house occupied by
Marriott and Powers Is one of the mains
through which the commodity is furnished
to the public. The pipes had leaked and
the explosive fuel had found its way
through assures in the ground to the cellar
which was the seat of the horror. 1t be-
came ignited in some unknown n
and exploded with terrible force, wrecking
the building and filling the air with debris.
Mrs. Marriott was blown out of he 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 James.
The house where the injured lay was soon
crowded with people, attracted by the acct
dent, and it was soon necessary to close the
doors that no more might enter. Suddenly
the air was rent by a tremendous explosion
which made the earth quake and filled the
air with flying timbers, bricks and debris
of all kinds. The house in which lay
Mrs. Marriott had been blown to atoms and
its occupants buried beneath the wreck.
Hundreds of spectators who lined the side
walks were knocked down by the shock and
laid powerless. Then, to cap the climax, q
team of spirited horses attached to one OF
the fire department ladder trucks became
frenzied 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 before her eyes.
Guided by the cries and means of the man.
gled and dying, men CROPPED in the dark
ness, pulling out a dead body here, a man.
gled, yet living, form there, and conveying
them to resting places. Groups of men,
women and children gathered around the
PROSTATE forms, and blood-curdling shrieks
made the awful scene more revolving, as
friends recognized friends injured or dead;
parents found their mutilated children and
vice versa. It required several hours to re-
move all the dead and injured from the
ruins, and it is not yet known who or how
many are victims. Following is the list of
killed and wounded so far as known:
~Killed-Charles Becht, Mrs. John Marriott. in
FAINT son OF Charles Berry, James Seymour, col
ored boy, unknown white man, unknown babe.
ably fatally burned and bruised; Herman Baker,
badly burned; Daniel Cherry, burned painfully;
Charles Wolff, cut and bruised seriously, Mrs.
fatally; Patrick Suiskie, cut on head:
Aaron Beens, cut on face and head; Benjamin
Morgan, gashes on head and internal. injuries;
Ticklider, bruised and cut; - Brady, burned
and cut; Edward Wiener, cut and burned; -
Wolff, cut and burned Miss Belle Smith.
Peter Marriott, terribly burned about shoulders
and neck; Tom Doyle, hands burned partially
off; Emma Powers, probably fatally burned;
Marshal hllDOufN6, horrible Injuries OIL neck
and head; William Brady, probably fatally sui
located; William James, hands and face roasted,
will die; Mrs. William James, badly cut and
bruised; - Blankinger, horribly burned and
cut.
MANY OTHERS WERE BADLY INJURED,
bnt were carried away by friends and their
names cannot be learned tonight. The
houses for several blocks around the scene
of the explosion have been made into hos
pitfalls, where many are being cared for.
Miss Belle Smith, who was badly injured,
had'gone into the doomed house just prior
to the explosion. Her face was badly
bruised and she was suffering from many
bruises about the body. She was
completely buried in the
debris and had to be dug out.
The doctors pronounce her injuries
but think she will recover Elmer
Gales, a young man, was standing opposite
the house when the second explosion oc-
Cured, and was struck by a missile which
broke his leg. A young man named
M eshilder, who is a resident of Granville,
Ohio, was severely burned and shocked.
Pet Morritt, a fifteen-year-old girl, was Sc
riously burned about the shoulders and
chest. When she reached the street she
was almost naked. Her life was saved by
turning a stream of water on
her. DR.. T.. X. Wissinger was in
the James house when he was
hurt. He was attending the patient in
jured at the other place when the second
explosion occurred. Those who heard him
talk say he said he suddenly saw the flames
creeping along the floor of the room, and
Immediately threw himself under y table
and placed his hands over his eyes to shield
them. Benjamin Morgan, also a spectator,
was badly injured. He was knocked down
by one of the hose carts in the general rush
for safety, after the first explosion, and then
run over by the mad crowd. Morgan lives
at Shawnee, and was a delegate to the
miners convention which has been in ses-
sion here. He is thought to be
INTERNALLY INJURED.
Theodore Shouting was watching the fire
across the street when the explosion oc.
Cured. The blaze and falling debris
frightened the horses of Q hose cart,
which wheeled and ran on to the pave.
ment. The gentleman was knocked down
and had one leg broken in two places.
q most horrible manner. When the
impromptu bandages were removed
from his hands the flesh dropped of
in many places, leaving the bone exposed.
Police Officer Lynsky was in the house al
the the time it fell and was badly injured,
The scenes at the morgue are chastity. The
remains of those killed are cut and burned
almost beyond recognition. Peter Marritt,
q lamplighter, occupied n part OF an ad'
joining House, which was wrecked. HI
has four children, and all of them ar
badly injured. Another part of th.
same. house was occupied by .
widow, who disappeared when the explo.
sion occurred. and cannot ha fnnnd