Daily tobacco leaf-chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1890-1895, 1891-10-28
A BOILER LET'S GO
And Starts a Disastrous Fire in
Louisville.
The Loss Estimated at Nearly
Half a Million,

An Explosion in the Electric Light Plant
of the Louisville Gas Company Scatters
Fire in All DIrections--Big Dry Goods
Store Completely Destroyed-Prairie
Fires in Oklahoma.
LOUISVILLE, Oct. 2S.---By boiler ex-
plosion here Monday afternoon one man
was killed, several persons injured, and
nearly $500 900 worth of property de,
stroyed.
AT o'clock William r. Adams, a fire.
man at the electric light plant of the
Louisville Gas company, was throwing
coal in the furnace, when one of the
nest of seven boilers let go.
The shock in the vicinity was like an
earthquake. Adams was thrown to the
ground with terrific force and received
such internal injuries that he will
die. The shed In which the boilers
were located was demolished and pieci
Of iron, and of timbers, and showers Of
red-hot Goals were thrown in every di-
rection.
A great mass of iron and a deluge of
burning Goals was thrown across
narrow alley into the rear of Kaufman
and the wall Of the store was carried
away. Half a dozen clerks were gathered
about the bookkeeper at the back OF the
store. With the bookkeeper, solomon
Dreyfus, thev were caught in the wreck
age, but it is believed all escaped ali e.
Dreyfus was severely injured, but NJ
dangerously; Carrie Dinkelspiol Hattie
Ennis and Lena Sickles were Slightly in
jured.
Fire Follows.
In q moment, apparen tly, the whole
building was in flames. The weather
has been very dry for two week
the wreckage and goods burned lik
der. An alarm was turned in, ana
department was quickly at work. 1
wrecked building was at once beyoLu
control. Att Jntion WAS turned to sa
ing The Courier journal building, two
doors north of the Polytechnic library
building, two numbers south. pha
water tower was manned, and the no
in The Courier-Journal building wer
attached and turned through the
and rear of the building, and foul.se
fire engines put in position and set to
playing on the flames.
With all this force it was half an ho'-~
before the flames gave way and an hou
before they were under control. AT GA
time it seemed The Courier-J Journal
would certainly be burned. The feN
printers who were in the composing
room left ana reporters and editors wh
were on duty gathered their valuables
and prepared to escape, most of them
actually leaving. But the wind WI
from the north and carried the heat
the opposite direction. BY strenuou'
of ha pn1t MI, hull tba
south was saved, with heavy damage
from water to the books, pictures and
other art collections.
The fire caught in and burned out the
two upper floors of J. V. Escott & Sons.
dealers in pictures, fine mirrors, wall
paper, photographers supplies, and the
two lower floors were flooded with
water till hardly anything was saved
On the south Leverone's confectionery
and Porter's millinery store were slight
ly damaged.
The losses, as nearly as can be learned,
are about as follows: Kaufman
Strauss q Company, retail dry good
stock, $500, 900; nearly covered by insut
ance. Bamberger, Bloom % COMPANY
owners Of the building, $50, 900; insure,
j. V. Escott & Sons, fine woodwork and
supplies, $50, 1000; insured. Polytechnic
library, building, books, etc, $4,000;
partly insured. Louisville Gas com
pany, $1,000; covered by insurance.
Leverone, confectioner, $500; insured.
Porter, millinery, $3.50; insured
William Willsher, engineer at the
electric light boilers, was with CurC
Dawson, dynamo tender, in room ad.
joining the boilers, and they barely es-
capped. He says he had ON only one
hundred pounds of steam, while he was
allowed 120. He thinks some part of
the boiler was displaced by the heavy
work it was doing and the explosion re-
anltad from II