The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-02-04
THREE KILLED.
Continued From Page ~

the engine house, bringing up against an
embankment. Aside from scratches on
his face, evidently caused by flying coal,
he escaped injury.
Another man, whose life was In i'm
minent danger, but who got off without
further disfguration than few coal
marks on his face, resembling those left
by premature explosion of gunpowder
on the Fourth OF July, was Philip Adams
son. His duty was to take care
of the bellcord which gives the signal to
the engineer when to go ahead, or when
to stop. About five minutes before the
calamity he was called to help lay over
the fiy-wheel which was running on
CENTER" and, having done so, left the
engine house, crossed under the run, end
went to the assistance of Mr.. Downing.
Andrew Born was one of the workmen
in the ice house. He stood near the two
who were killed, when the great boiler
came in unannounced, and was the first
TO 60 to their assistance. He says tho two
men were blue when he took hold to
move them, and were undoubtedly dead.
George Emerson, one of the "bosses" at
the other houses across the pond, was
standing in front of the tool house, about
forty feet from the engine house, in COM
pany with N. A. Barker and Charles Kill
roy. There were also about fifteen other
on-lookers, but as good luck would have
it the debris flew in the other direction
and they were miraculously saved.
John Drury was at work nearly between
the ice house and the engine house fixing
the s'switches" and was almost in the
course of the flying boiler, but escaped
unharmed.
George II. West, a colored ice man, was
at work In one of the houses in the rear OF
that wrecked and almost In the line OF the
flying cylinders. He had just run out
some ice wagons and got inside the door
in time to avoid making an undesirable
acquaintance with the falling engine.
Edward Muldoon, assistant foreman,
narrowly escaped being injured, as he
stood at the top OF the run to see how
the apparatus would work, and a portion
of his coat and pants were torn away by
the flying fragments. Joseph Markey
was also on the run and was blown into
the water, but was not injured to any
great extent.
There wero nearly $50 men about the
scene at the time of the explosion, all Of
them ready to GO to work the first day.
and few days later there would have
been at least 200 men employed. They ar
rived at o'clock and steam was
already up. The first cake
of ice was started up the run when the
accident happened to the chain and the
ice wasstst about one third of the dis
tance up when the explosion occurred.
The sound OF the explosion was not
so terrific, according to bystanders
but Frank Gilmore, who lives
some distance away on Jackson
avenue, says that the force of the shock
ratified all the dishes in his house like
that Of an earthquake, and he Immediately
went out to investigate.
Escaping steam created quite as much
panic as the explosion itself and its vol
ume was such as to carry out the assertion
of the company that the boiler was well
filled with water at the time. In
fact, while many have seen fit to
blame the engineer and fireman
for the accident, Sam Bullock, one of the
concern, states positively that the boiler
was full of water, and that last week it
was cleaned and tested and run
under more pressure than was used
today, and for the last two
weeks it had been under the
constant care OF the engineer and fireman,
and was believed to be all right. The In
jured boiler looks rs II the iron, or some
OF the bolts, had become rotten. In some
places, it is stated, the crown sheet was
but Is and 1-16 of an inch. thick,
and an examination of the
fire box showed the bolts to have been
rotten. An investigation will be at once
made to ascertain where the blame lies,
and the ice company will do everything
possible for the injured and the families
of the dead.
when the accident occurred willing