Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1894-07-17

of a military man is that the friction |
OF the shells In the caisson by a hard
jolt exploded shell"
Gould it have been possible for any
one to have placed dynamite in the
caisson?'' was asked.
at could have been possible but
hardly probable. The vigilance OF the
troops in the camp would render II
impossible for any evil-minded person
to have concealed anything in the
caisson, especially here In Chicago.
where more than the usual diligence
has been observed by the troops"
The cassson was blown TO atoms. not
piece OF II larger than a mans hand
being found. The boulevard looked
like a battle field There was a quick
series of explosions after the first re-
port and sharunel shot rainod like
hail among the trees on the boulevard
and pitted the surrounding dwellings.
The conclusion broke every window IN
the houses for blocks away. The walls
and roofs OF the dwellings showed the
effect of the missiles. unexploded shells
OF the rear part OF the caisson lay
strewn over the ground. With the ex-
ploson came great confusion OF the
troops and for moment the men and
officers seemed powerless to move. To
this was added the fright of the oc-
cupants OF the surrounding houses
who ran screaming from their dwell
! ings only to be sickened by the sight
in the street. a still alarm OF fire had
been turned In and with the depart
ment came the stock yards police pa
troll wagon. The wagon was sent back
to the station and It returned with
| twenty-five men under command OF
| Lieutenant Morrissey. He then tele-
/ nj IN nfslf fAf Inf for
ments and soon Captain Billiard ar
rived with twenty-five more men. Later
Inspector Hunt and Fitzpatrick and
Lieutenant Bontield arrived II was
some little time before the two dead
artilierymen could be found. one of
them was mangled beyond recogni-
ton but supposed to be Doyle. had been
blown over board sign twenty-five
feet high and was found In vacant
lot behind 1t. One leg and arm were
gone, The other man supposed to be
Donovan. had been thrown 300 feet
h egonally to the right and was found
% a lot. Gaylor was found near where
he was struck.
Great damage was wrought by the
explosion to neighboring property. Win
dows in most of the surrounding
houses were blown out and the dam
age to residences and park property
in the neighborhood of the accident is
/
Chueling was damaged to the extent
of about $1,000. most of the windows
being demolished. One OF the SHELF
struck the roof OF the house and tore
away part Of the roof. Another shell
struck between one of the nay win
dows and the wall of Mi. Huesting's
house and stuck In this position. J.
r. Cister of 292S Grand Boulevard lives
directly opposite where the .ccident
occurred and sustained loss of about
$500. A large piece OF one OF the
wheels Of the gun carriage was car
ried through his sitting room window
AID carried away large lamp which
stood In the window. The house OF
Samuel Bloster, attorney for the Grand
Trunk road, suffered a loss Of about
$1,000. having every window in the
house shot away and the blinds OF
the front windows torn to pieces. At
the home of Maurice G.. Dodge, 1925
Grand Boulevard. the loss was about
s70O, mostly In plate glass windows
and wood work around the rooms. The
house OF Il. II. Howe at 1881 Grand
Boulevard was one of the buildings
mostly damaged. His loss is estimated
at $1,000 The house of A. Devlin at
1898 Grand Boulevard was damaged
about $500. One of the iron shells
struck the balcony rails and lodged
there. All the windows were blown
out and the glass scattered around
the rooms, together with pieces OF the
gun carriage and surrounding streets.
Gen. Miles directed Capt. Michler ord
Col. Willetson OF the commlssary de-
partment and a former commander OF
the battery to go to the scene and
secure a report Of the affair On the
return Of Col. Willetson he gave the
following verbal account OF .he a"ci-
dent preparatory to writing his raport;
'The commander under the escort
OF the cavalry was tnklng Its daily
march exercise. The caisson consists
of a timber on which is a chest and the
carriage containing 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 ignting the pow
dered in the other two chests. The
first caisson carried ~ shrapnells and
four cartridges. The sharapnells are
loaded percussion shells. containing
Eliminates and small balls and are
fired from the cannon by a cartridge
containing as In this case, 3 "a pounds
of powder. My theory OF the accident
is that the screw plug at the base OF
one OF the shrapnells became loosened,
some OF the powder leaked out and
being ground and powdered by the
jolting of the timber. ignited, fhe pow
der In the cartridges exploded and the
Ignition OF the cartridges in the other
two chests followed, In the second
chest on the caisson were 20 time shells.
sixteen shrapnells end their complement
OF ~ cartridges. The force OF the ex-
plosion can be more readily understood
when II is remembered that the 1872
cartridges contained 495 pounds OF
powder. The men who were In the
detachment said that they recognized
two distinct reports seemingly almost
simultaneous This was the timber
chest followed almost in the instant
by the other two chests. The rattle
OF explosions that followed the great
defamation was the bursting OF shrap-
nells ms they struck the ground. The
men on the caisson were lifted by the
explosion while the horses were killed
by the missiles from the shrapneils All
OF the AZ shrapnells In the timber chest
exploded while four OF the sixteen in
the second chest were found unex-
ploded. None OF the shells exploded
They do not contain any illuminate and
are fired by time fuse.
II take no stock in the theory that
dynamite had anything to do with IL.
The greatest caution Is always taken
about the ammunition. Each cheat is
locked by Yale lock especially made
for the government There are no keys
IN any battery that Will unlock any but
the chest to which II belongs. and do