The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1891-10-08
MANY XII LED.

0Oog - Ch1Ako Isl -
CHIcAAo, Ost Bad water, vhich
was drawn from the Chicago river,
caused the boiler Of the tufboat
Charles w. Parker to explode Sum
day. afternoon ut $50 o.lock, killing
eight persons and severely wounding
ten o&herls The PARKER, with three
other tugs, were trying 70 extricate the
propeller h 8. Pickands,s Of De-
troit which had J become wedRed
lnl e-'s".tt the draw 81 the Archer
avenue bridge. When the Parker ran
optsofs wster tina captain ordered that
The boiler be supplied from the river.
IS there wasn't time enough. for the
Ing 70 gvssafters clear water. The
river 1t Archer avenue is thick and
filed with the refuse Of the district
through (which It. runs. To the use of
this &atef Ii Tie dresdful calamity at.
tributed. 81 =.
The putting of the tugs, the open
bridge auds the hapless steamer soon
drew q large crowd to the scene,
Fully $500 people. were gathered
p thel two approaches OF r the
bridge and lined along the rails,
the maneuvers of the boats.
: Capt James ,. Carter, master of the
Parker, was standing on the top of the
cabin when the explosion took place,
issuing orders TO his men. That, was
the last seen Of him. Harbor Master
Dean is of the opinion that his body
was blown TO- atoms, as he Stood di-
eectly above the boiler. The force
Of the explosion seemed to 20
directly upwards. John C. Moore, the
engineer. was in the engine room and
it is supposed that he was scalded To-
death by the escaping steam before he
had chance to escape, and that his
body was carried down with the wreck
Of the tugboat.
Samuel Armstrong, the steward, was
in the cabin of the boat and was car
ried down with the wreck. A small bow
about Is years old had clambered from
the bridge to the tug and was sitting
in the bow, the object and envy
of 100 smaller boys. No one
connected with the vessels knew him.
but it is thought tina: he was Charles
Boyle of No. S057 Locke, street, who
was seen on the bridge short time be-
fore the explosion, and of whom moth.
ing has since been seen.
A large piece of tie furnace door was
shot out of the wreck and crashed
down amid the throng of people who
crowded the eastern abatement of the
bridge on Archer avenue. 1t struck Mrs
Mary Rice and her daughter, Barbara,
crushing the life out of the mother and
inflicting mortal wound on the little
infant in her arms Mrs. Rice's body
was horribly mutilated by the furnace
door. Her face was covered with
blood which flowed from her eyes
and ears. Her dress was almost
torn from her body and blood gushed
from hole in her side. Her child lay
gasping on the pavement half buried
by the senseless form of its mother. 1t
was carried to the bridge-tender's shed,
bnt died a few minutes after the ex-
plosiOn. -.
An unknown man, whose appearance
bespeaks the occupation of a mechanic.
was also stricken down close to Mrs
Rice. While these scenes were being
witnessed on the bank of the
river lesser crowd was grouped
around the dead body of a man
On the opposite bank. In the yard of
the Union rolling mills before the acct
dent Samuel Sawyer stood ON heap of
ore watching the tugs at work. When
the steam had cleared away he was
found lying face upward, dead.
Charles Kirtin, who was standing on
the bank, was struck to the ground
and his skull fractured. 1t is thought
That he cannot recover. Frank Wag-
rer's arm was broken by a piece OF
steam pipe, and a laborer named Jos ,ph
Bomorazk received a fracture Of
the skull. Joseph Cullen, the fire.
man, and Henry Bell, deck
hand, were standing on the right
deck and were thrown into the water,
but not before they had received in
juries which will probably prove fatal.
Cullen was fearfully burned. He was
standing on the deck near the
door of the fire hold and when
the furnace doors were blown
off q deluge of burning Goals
and steam was poured over him.
He was drawn out of the water
by the crew of the tug Van Setback,
who threw towing ropes overheard as
soon as the nature of the disaster was
known. Engineer j. A. Coyven, of the
Pickands, Immediately ordered boat
lowered, which was rowed to the spot
where Bell had been seen struggling in
the water. Before it reached him, how
ever, he had swan to the west bank of
the river, where he was drawn out. Ut
all the crew of the Inflated tug he is
the only one who stands chance for
life. He was badly scalded about the
hands and face and his left leg is tenn
porarily paralyzed. Six others re-
oeived severe injuries,
When the waters Gained down q
b-foot length of bow of what was re-
Gently well-built tug-boat was all
that showed its position. The Parker
belonged to the line of the Chicago
Towing Company. 1t was built in 1873
for the; Vessel-Owners' Towing Com
pany in this city. About ten years ago
t blew up off Lincoln park, killing
our out of the five in the crew.
he remains were raised and
Drought into the harbor, where they
were sold to Jacob johnson for $3.50.
The boat was extensively repaired In
1883, and was considered to be in good
condition. From the day it was rebuilt
1t had been engaged in harbor towing
The insurance valuation was 81, 900.
Big Elevator at Baltimore, Nd, burned
|, 81. Case Of Spontaneous Combustion.
BALTIMORE, Nd Oct. 5.-Elevatol
ga" of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroat
Compapy's system, located At Locus,
Point. was completely destroyed
by fire about 7 g. m. Sunday, togethel
with all the machinery and tn,
135, 900 bushels of wheat. which i
contained. Elevator IA" cost to con
struct and put in the machinery $500,
0oo.g All is gone Its capacity wa
500, 900 bushels. = The fire did its worl
quickly, Half an hour after the dis
covery of the flames the roof and wall
had fallen The fire is attributed I,