The record-union., 1894-07-17
THREE SOLDIERS KILLED.
Fatal Explosion of a Caisson in
the City of Chicago.
TWO ARTILLERYMBN AND ONE
TROOPER THE VICTIMS.
Debs Still Hopeful That the strikers
VIII Win President Cleyeland's
Acts In Calling Out Troops APP
proved by National Legislators
The strike Over at st. Louis.
Special to the REcoRD-UN1oN.

Special to the REC0RD-UNIoN.
CHICAGO, July 16.-A caisson of Bat
terry F, Second Artillery. U. S. A., ex-
ploded with terrible force shortly after
% clock this afternoon at Grand and Oak
wood boulevards. Two artillerymen and
one trooper were instantly killed. Nearly
a score of other persons-troops. resi-
dents in the vicinity and passers-by-
were injured, some Of them fatally. The
list of killed and wounded is as follows:
Killed.. Donovan, private, Battery F,
Second Artillery; John Doyle, private,
Battery f, Second Artillery; Joseph Gay
lor. farrier, Troop B. Seventh Cavary.
Wounded-Sergeant Teiner, Battery f,
Second Artillery, badly shot through the
body and severely burned with powder;
Fred Stoltz, private, Second Artillery,
badly burned and wounded about the
legs, will recover; John Allen, private,
Second Artillery, shot in head and neck,
fatally injured: Maurice O'Donnell, pri-
vate, Second Artillery, shot in the
head and powder-burned: z. Encke.
driver, in rear, private, Second
Artillery, blown from his horse and
badly injured. will recover; John Urqu-
hart, private Second Artillery, ball in left
arm, not serious; Herbert Antes, bugler
Troop B, Seventh Cavalry, shot III
shoulder, leg and arm, will recover;
Sergeant Anthony Kane, Troop b, Sew
enth Cavalry, ear shot OFT; Sergeant
George Hoffman, Troop b, Seventh Cav
airy, shot in chin; Corporal Abraham
Reilly, Battery 4, Second Artillery.
thrown to the ground and badly Bruised
Sergeant King, Battery f, Second ar
tillery, thrown from horse and bruised;
unknown artilleryman thrown from
horse, picked up unconscious. injury
slight; unknown boy, thrown from
bicycle, injured about the legs; Miss
Alice y ork, 4le3 Grand boulevard, tendon
of heel severed by bullet, Mrs. Schu-
ling, $3.50 Grand boulevard, severely cut
and injured III her' home by falling
glass.
The troops left Brighton Park for a
long march around the city to exercise
their horses. They were III command of
Captain Dodd of Troop +, Third Cavalry.
and consisting of Troop b, Third Cav
airy, forty men; Troop Il, Sixth Cavaly,
Lieutenant Tate, torty men; platoon of
Battery L, Second Artillery, two guns,
Lieutenant Gayle, twenty-three men;
Troop b, Seventh Cavalry, Captain Var
nett forty men. The men marched in
this order.
Everything went smoothly and there
were no incidents until the column
marched south on Grand boulevard and
was Just crossing Oalwood boulevard.
Then terrific ex plosion occurred. The
men OH the caisson, supposed to be Dono-
van and Doyle, were literally blown to
pieces, and others were thrown many
feet by the violence of the concussion.
-Four of the horses drawing the caisson
fell in their tracks, shot through and
through and terribly mangled, willie
three others were blown fifty feet ahead
and against the trees on the boulevard,
dying instantly. The caisson was blown
to pieces. Not a piece longer than a
mans hand was found. The boulevard
look ed 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
dwellings. The concussion broke every
window in the houses for blocks away.
The walls and roofs showed the terrible
effects of the explosion. The rear part OF
the caisson lay scattered over the ground.
With the explosion came the confusion of
the troops, and for moment the men
and officers seemed powerless to move.
To this was added the fright of the occu-
pants of the surrounding houses, who
ran screaming from their dwellings only
TO U6 SlCkeUeo ny tuo SlSAt III buS StIbSI'
A still alarm OF fire had been turned in,
and with the department came the stock
yards police patrol wagon. The wagon
was sent back TO the station and with 1t
returned twenty-five men under COM
mand of Lieutenant Morrissey. He then
telephoned to Hyde Park for reinforce
ments and Captain Dollard arrived with
twenty-t five more men. Later Inspectors
Hunt and Fitzpatrick and Lieutenant
Bontield arrived.
1t was some little time before the two
dead artillerymen could be found. One
of them, mangled beyond recognition,
supposed to be Doyle, had been blown
over board sign twenty-five feet high,
and was found in the vacant lot behind
il. One leg and an arm were gone. One
other man, supposed To be Donovan, had
been thrown about 800 feet diagonally TO
the right and was found in a vacant lot
near the Lake Shore tracks. Joseph Gay
lor was found near where he was struck.
General Miles directed Captain Mich
ler ana Colonel Willotson OF the commits
sary department, and d former COM
mander of the battery, to the scene of
the accident to secure a report OF the
affair. On the return of WilIotson he
gave the following account of the acci-
dent preparatory TO making his report:
1.-The command, under escort of cav
",
The caisson consists OF a timber on which
is a chest and the carriage containing two
chests more OF ampunilon, making three
chests on the caiSson. The explosion oc-
Cured 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 sbrapnel
and forty-four cartridges. The shrapnel
6od wit Sh
tanning Eliminates and small shells, and
are fired from the cannon by q cartridge
containing as in this case, three and
three quarter pounds of powder. My
theory OF the accident is that the screw
plug at the base of one of the shapnel be-
came loose some of the powder leaked
out, and being ground and ignited by the
jolting of the Timber, lgnlted the powder
in the cartridges, discharged them and
the ignition of the cartridges in the other
chests followed.
'sIn the second chest on the caisson
were twenty-six time shells, sixteen
shrapnel and their complement OF forty
four cartridges. The force of the expio-
sion can be more readily understood by
the fact that 132 cartridges contained 495
pounds of powder. The men who were
in the detachment said they recognized
two distinct reports, seemingly almost
simultaneous. This was the timber chest,
followed almost instantly by other
chests. The rattle of the explosions that
followed the great detonation was the
bursting Of the shrapnei as they struck
together. The men on the caisson were
lifted, while the horses were killed by
the missiles from the shrapnel.
II take no stock in the theory that
dynamite had anything to do with it.
The greatest caution is always taken
about ammunition. Each chest is locked
by Yale lock especially made for the
Government. There are no keys In any
battery that will unlock any chests. and