The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1891-10-27
Wall of Nearby Building Crushed In by a
Mass of Iron and Several Clerks Injured
Large Dry foods Store Burned.
Fifteen Persons Killed and Fifty Wound
ed in a French Railway Accident.
Nineteen Lives Lost by Collision Between q
Steamer and Bark-Miners Hurt by an
Explosion of Dynamite-0ther Casualties.
EXPLOSION AND FIRE.
One Man Killed. Several Injured and HALF
Million of Property Burned.

One Man Killed. Several Injured and Half
Million of Property Burned.
LOUISVILLE. Oct. 26-By boiler explo-
sion here this afternoon man was
killed. several persons injured. and nearly
half million dollars worth OF property
destroyed.
At o'clock William X. Adams. fireman
at the electric-light plant of the Louisville
Gas Company. was throwing coal In the
furnace, when one OF the nest of sew
en- boilers let go. The shock in
the vicinity was like an earth
quake. Adams was thrown to the ground
with terrific force and received such in
ternal injuries that he will die. The shed
IN which the boilers were located was de-
molished and pieces of iron, and of timbers,
and showers of red hot Goals were thrown
IN every direction. A great mass of iron
and deluge of burning Goals was thrown
across narrow alley into the rear of
Kaufman d Strauss's big retail dry goods
store. and the wall of the store was carried
away. Half dozen clerks were gathered
about the book-keeper at the back of the
store. With the book-keeper. Solomon
Dreyfus. they wero caught in the wreckage,
but it is believed all escaped alive. Drey-
fus was severely injured, but not danger
ously; Carrie Dinkelspiel, Hattie Ennis
and Lena Sickles were slightly injured.
In moment apparently. the whole build
ing was in flames. The weather has been
very dry for two weeks, and the wreckage
and goods burned like tlnder. An alarm
was turned in, and the department was
u tx-, aH hni
was at once beyond control Attention was
turned to saving the Courier-J J ournal build.
ing, two doors north Of the Polytechnic
library building, two numbers south. The
water tower was manned. and the hose in
the C0urier-Journa building were attached
and turned through the side and
rear of the building, and four
teen fire engines put in position
and set to playing on the flames With all
this force it was half an honr before the
flames gave way and an hour before they
were under control. At one time it seemed
the Courier-Jonrnal would certainly be
burned. The few printers who were in the
composing room left and reporters and ed
itors who were on duty gathered their val
uables and prepared To escape, most of
them actually leaving. But the wind was
from the north aud carried the heat in the
opposite direction. BY strenuous efforts
the Polytechnic building on the soutt was
saved. with heavy damage from water to
the books. pictures and other art coliec-
tions.
The fire caught in and burned out the two
upper floors of J. V. Escott IL Sons dealers
in pictures. fine mirrors, wallpaper. pho
tographers' supplies, and the two lower
floors were flooded with water till hardly
any ything was saved. On the south Lev
erone's confectionery and POrter's millinery
store were slightly damaged.
The losses, as nearly as can now be learned,
are about as follows: Kaufman, Strauss
Il Co.. retail dry-goods stock. $500. 600;
nearly covered by insurance. Bamberger,
Bloom d. Co., owners of the building, $780,
600; insured. j. V. Escott & Sons, inc
wood work and supplies, $50. 900; insured.
Polytechnic Librsry. building. books,
etc. $4,000; partly insured. Louisville
Gas Company. $500; covered by insurance.
Leverone. confectioner, $500; insured. Por-
ter. millinery. $3.50: insured.
William Wiiisher, engineer at the cleo
tric-light boilers, was with Curt Dawson,
dynamo-tender, in room adjoining the
boilers, and they barely escaped. He says
he had on only one hundred pounds of
steam. while be was allowed one hundred
and twenty. He thinks some part of the
boiler was displaced by the heavy work it
was doing and the explosion resulted
from it.