Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1890-01-30
q TRIPLE DISASTER.


Il TRIPLE DISASTER.
D01hae c. Expaosaoa aad Fnsal Ruavxv
II Ohios Capttal-Neariy . Dsssn Knee
aad OtheEs Ff1GhtfoIy Injured
COLUMBUS, O.. jan e5--A few min
utes after ave o'clock yesterday after
noon an alarm of fire from the corner Of
Main and High streetscalled the IRE de-
partment out and the news spread that
there had been q natural gas explosion
The sharpness Of the day had brought
to the streets thousands Of shoppers and
promenaders and the crowd thoughtless-
~ rushed to the scene.
The explosion had occurred In the
one story dwelling at the southwest cor
ner of Wall and Noble alleys in the
middle of the square bounded by High,
Front, Main and Mound streets. Patrol
No. was on the scene, but NO rome was
stretched and the people crowded by
hundreds into the narrow all
ley and pushed up close to the
house, as the cries of injured people
within could be plainly heard
The city had recently been supplied
with natural gas and leading past the
house occupied by Marriott and Bowers
was one of the mains. This had leaked
| and the gas had found its way through
assures in the ground to the cellar and
becoming ignited in some unknown
manner exploded, wrecking the building
| and filling the air with debris.
The house where the injured woman
lay was soon crowded with people. at
| tracted by the accident, and it was soon
| necessary to close the doors, that no
more might enter. Suddenly the air
| was rent by a tremendous explosion,
1 ;ol. 10 <h1 1x1 f3loT
| the air with flying timbers, bricks
and debris Of all kinds. Dark
ness ensued and then death
like stiffness reigned for q few
moments, broken by shrieks and death
groans- The house in which lay Mrs
Marriott had been blown to atoms and
It's occupants buried beneath the wreck,
and hundreds of spectators who lined
the sidewalks were knocked violently
down by the shock.
The people fed. shrieking, in all direc-
lions while the alley was instantly COW
cred with a mass of debris from which
the means of the buried came. mo-
ment later trembling women tottered
and ran across the alleys and streets
shrieking. and men with foreheads and
| shoulders drabbled with blood staggered
from among the debris.
Then to cap the climax, team of spir-
tied horses attached to one of the fire
department trucks became frenzied by
the explosion and dashed through the
crowd in the street carrying death in
their wake. They ran over and injured
scores of people. A little babe was
knocked out of its mothers arms and
| falling beneath the wheels of the vehicle
| was crushed to death.
As soon as the maddened horses had
disappeared in the darkness many of the
spectators and firemen who had been
uninjured turned their attention to dig
ging out the persons buried beneath the
| ruins of the house. Guided by the cries
| and means of the mangled and dying,
| men CROPPED in the darkness pulling out
q dead body here and mangled yet
living form there and conveying them
to resting places
1t required several hours toremove all
the dead from the ruins and it is not yet
| known who or how many are the victims
Following is the list of killed so far as
ascertained: Charles Becht. Mrs John
| Marriott. an infant SON of Charles Berry,
James Seymour, colored boy: white
man, name unknown; a babe, parents
| unknown.
The injured were: DIR. 7. X. Wish
niger, badly and probably fatally burned
and bruised; Herman Baker, badly
burned; Daniel Cherry, burned pain
fully; Charles Woodruff, cut and bruised
seriously; Mrs. Fuller, burned and in
jured internally. probably fatally; Pat
rick Suiskie, cut on head; Aaron Beers,
GU. on head and face. BENJAMIN
Morgan, gashes on head and inter
nal injuries: Charles Lowry, burned
and bruised: Albert Ticklider, bruised
and cut: - Brady. burned and cut;
Edward Wiener, cut and burned. Wolf,
cut and burned: Miss Belle Smith. badly
hurt; Mrs. Corn, badly burned: Peter
Marriott, terribly burned about the
shoulders and neck; Tom Doyle, hands
burned partially of; Emma Bowers,
probably fatally burned; Marshall Kill
| bourne. horrible injuries on neck and
head; William Brady. probably fatally
suffocated: William James, hands and
face roasted, will die; Mrs William
James, badly cut and bruised.
The explosion as near as can be ascer-
tanned resulted from an accumulation of
natural gas in the cellar of the house
occupied by Michael Bowers and Mr..
Marriott No natural gas pipes were
ever put in the house, but the cause was
| a natural gas main in Noble alley which
leaked The ground was frozen and the
gas seeking its way out went by the
easiest way. and of course entered the
cellar 1t has no scent, and its presence
could not be detected 1t saturated the
buildings
Torpedo Boat Launched.
BRISTOL r. l., Jan. 25.-The first
United States sea-going torpedo boat
was successfully launched at s:45 o'clock
yesterday morning from the ship yard
of the Herreshoff Manufacturing Com