The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1894-07-17
A CAISSON EXPLODES.
Terrible Accident to Government
Troops at Chicago,
FOUR KILLED, A SCORE INJURED.

Several Of the Latter Horribly MangIed
and Likely to DIe-Great Damage Done
TO Surrounding Property by the Flying
\ Shells and Fragments.
CHICAGO, July IA caisson Of Battery
f, Second artillery U. S. A., exploded
with terrific force yesterday afternoon at
| Grand and Oakwood boulevards. Three
/ artillerymen and one trooper were in
stantly killed. Nearly a score of other per-
sons-troops, residents in the vicinity and
passers- -by-were injured, some of them
fatally The list of the killed and wounded
is as follows;
Killed.. Donovan, private, Battery
| F, Second artillery; Edward Doyle, pri-
vate, Battery +, Second artillery; Joseph
| Gaylor, farrier, Troop b, Seventh cavalry;
| Fred Stolz, private Second artillery.
| Wounded-Sergeant Linear, Battery f,
Second artillery, badly shot through the
| body and severely burned with powder
about face and head; recovery doubtful.
| John Allen, a private in the Second
artillery, shot In head and neck, fatally
J Injured. Maurice ODonnell, Second ar
! tillery, shot in the head and powder
| burned; may recover. c. Encke, driver in
rear, private Second artillery, blown
| from his horse and badly injured; will re-
cover. John Urquhart, private, Second
artillery, ball of left foot crushed 10y
| bullet; not serious. Herbert Autes, bug
! ler Troop b, Seventh cavalry, shot in
shoulder and arm; will recover. Sergeant
| Anthony Kane, Troop b, Seventh cav
| airy, ear shot off. Sergeant George Hoff-
| man, Troop b, Seventh cavalry, shot in
, chin, Corporal Abraham Riley, Battery
| f, Second artillery, thrown to the ground
and badly bruised. Sergeant King, Bat
| terry f, Second artillery, thrown from
horse and bruised. Unknown artillery
man, thrown from horse and picked up
unconscious; injuries slight. Unknown
boy, thrown from bicycle injured about
the legs. Miss Alice York tendon of heel
! severed by bullet. Mrs. b. c. Huhling,
severely cut and injured in her home by
| falling glass.
The troops left Brighton park for long
march to exercise the horses They were
in command of Captain Dodd, of Troop
f, Third cavalry, and consisted of Troop
f, Third cavalry, forty men; Troop f,
Sixth cavalry Lieutenant Tate, forty men;
platoon of Battery f, Second artillery,
two guns, Lieutenant Gayle, twenty-three
men; Troop b, Seventh cavalry, Captain
Varnum, forty men. The men marched
in this order Everything went smoothly
and there were no incidents until the
column marching south on Grand boule-
| ward was Just crossing Oakwood boule-
| ward. Then terrific explosion occurred.
| The men on the caisson, supposed to be
Donovan and Doyle, were literally blown
| to pieces and others were thrown many
feet by the violence of the conclusion.
| Four of the horses drawing the caisson
fell in their tracks, shot through and hor-
ribly maugled, while three others were
blown fifty feet ahead against the trees
on the boulevard. The caisson was blown
to atoms, not piece of it larger than a
mans hand being found. The boulevard
looked like battlefield.
There was a quick series of explosions
after the first report and shrapnel shot
rained like hail among the trees on the
boulevard and pierced the surrounding
buildings The conclusion broke every
window in the houses for blocks away
The walls and roofs of the dwellings
showed the terrific effect of the missiles
| Unexploded shells of the rear part of the
caisson lay strewn over the ground. With
the explosion came great confusion of the
| troops and for moment the men and Off
GERS seemed powerless to move.
1t was some little time before the two
artillerymen could be found. One of them,
| mangled beyond recognition, but sup
posed to be Doyle, had been blown over a
board sign twenty-five feet high and was
found in vacant lot behind it, One leg
and an arm were gone. The other man,
supposed to be Donovan, had been
thrown about 800 feet and was found in a
| vacant lot near the Lake Shore tracks
| Joseph GaylOr was found near where he
was struck.
Great damage was wrought by the eX-
plosion to neighboring property. Win
dows in most of the surrounding houses
were blown out, and the damage to resi-
dence and park property in the neighb0r-
hood of the accident is estimated at about
$4,000 The house of +. G. Huhling was
damaged to the extent of about 81 900. j.
r. Custer lives directly opposite where
the accident occurred and sustained IA
loss of about 81 800 A large piece of one
of the wheels of the gun carriage was car
ried through his sitting room window and
carried away large lamp which stood at
the window.
The caisson consisted of a timber, on
which is "A chest, and the carriage, con-
tanning two chests more of ammunition,
making three chests on the caisson. The
explosion occurred in the chest of the
timber, and the force of the explosion
was TO the rear. tearing away the caisson
and igniting the powder in the other two
chests. The first caisson carried forty-two
shrapnel and forty-four cartridges The
shrapnel are loaded percussion shells, con-
tanning Eliminates and small balls, and
are fired from the cannon by a cartridge
containing, as in this case three and three.
quarter pounds of powder.
The theory of the accident is that the
screw plug at the base of one of the shrap-
mel became loosened, some Of the powder
leaked out any being ground and pounded
by the jolting of the timber ignited, the
powder in the cartridges exploded and
the ignition of the cartridges in the other
two chests followed. The force of the ex-
plosion can be more readily understood
! q. l. I.--..l Ii