Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1893-03-22
BLEW IT TO RUINS
Terrific Explosion in a Big
FIGURING Mill.
HORRIBLE DEATH OF A MILLwRIGHr

| Legs and Arms Burned on and Body to a
Crisp-The Structure Reduced to Splint-
ers and $1,000. 900 in Property Con-
| sumed-The shock Felt Fifty Miles
Away, and the Machinery in a Manu-
factory Damaged by the Jar-Nine Per-
sons Badly Hurt-Details of the Itch
| field Disaster.
| LITCHFIELD, Ills, March 22.-One of the
| largest and most destructive fires ever
| ,hronicled in this city's history visited here
| yesterday morning, resulting in a loss of at
east one life and about 81 ,00O, 900 worth of
| property. The facts as near as could be
| cleaned are as follows: About 3:I5 a. IN.
an alarm of fire was turned in, and upon
| investigation it developed that the Itch
| field PLANET" mills, located in the south
western part of the city, Were in flames.
| Before the firemen arrived upon the scene
The fire had gained such headway that for
some time nothing could possibly be done
| 20 check it, and it seemed as if the entire
south part of town would be consumed.
I'd by spark from passing locomotive
falling in one of the dust rooms.
Jared the Country for Miles.
Immediately repaired to the scene. They
had hardly succeeded in getting their APP
paratus in working order when an explo-
sion, terrific in its violence. caused by the
iames burning the mill dust, shook the
.arth for miles around, the shock being
slt even as far as Decatur, a distance of
fifty miles. The explosion broke large
plate-glass windows in a majority of the
stores in the city, Frustrated almos; every
one on the street, shook houses loose from
heir foundations, and Jared the
.hinery in the Litchfieid Car and Ma
,hinery company 10 such an extent that
work has been suspended until necessary
repairs can be made.
Horrible Death of John Carve.
The head mil!wright. John Carve, of Wa
,erloo. in making an effort TO secure his
FOOLS from the burning building, was
stunnediby the explosion, and endeavoring
20 escape was pinned against the smoke
stack and burned to death. When found
,bout three hours afterward his legs were
burned off at the hip, the right arm and
eft hand We're entirely consumed and his
body was burned to a perfect crisp. As
get it is not known whether any one else
Oerished. The mill was blown TO splinters
Licked Up Big Elevator.
The large elevator standing Immediately
across the Wabash track west of the mill,
and containing 5000 bushels of wheat,
vas quickly in flames and together with
Is valuable contents burned to the ground.
Ten or twelve cars of wheat standing on
he house track were reduced to ashes A
arge pile of debris, about ten or fifteen
;eet high, fell on the main track of the
Wabash railroad, and a consequence
sraffic on that road is badly impaired. The
Western Union telegraph wires are also
Town, which makes matters great deal
worse. The firemen battled the flames for
;hree hours before they got them under
control
Discredits the Flour Dust Theory.
The theory that the explosion was
caused by -four dust finds no favor among
local millers. The awful tremor of the
Earth indicates that high explosive was
ased. Il know nothing about the partic
ulars, said Alex H. Smith. but l am GER
lain that flour dust was not the cause.
Since the invention of the dust machine by
George T. Smith no such explosions are
possible, and as all mills are provided with
them and there is no dust in the air the
explosion in all likelihood was a dynamite
IT a boiler explosion; it was certainly not
iue to dust;