St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-04-02
STEAM BURSTS BONDS
HAVOC AND LOSS OF LIFE FOL-
LOW EXPLOSION.
SIX KILLED-FOUR INJURED
Rescuers Recover the Dead and
Dying From the Debris of the
Wrecked Mine.

WOBURG, Mass. April 1.-Just be
fore o'clock this morning one of the
boilers in the Conn tannery, in this
place, exploded with terrific force,
killing five men and injuring five 9TH
ers. The dead are:
AUSTIN CLEMENS, foreman.
PATRICK LALLY, fireman.
FRANK M'MAHON. -,t
PATRICK M'GONAL, oiler.
PATRICK RILEY, died at the hos
pital at l p. m.
SAM TRACY.
The injured are: Michael Mcclure,
internal injuries; Patrick Keefe bad
scalp wound; John Tracy, scalp torn
off, Herbert Sanders, colored, badly
burned about head and several ribs
broken; John Kenny, William Rim
dress, John Jennings.
There had been trouble with the
boiler for some time, and early this
morning John Parker, foreman of the
plant, was called to the boiler room
to see if it could not be fixed. 1t was
found that the water supply could
not be satisfactorily adjusted, but this
was remedied. By the time the tam
merry opened for the day it was thought
the boiler was all right. Five minutes
before Mike Parker entered the boiler
room and ordered that the whistle
be blown to start the works. The
rope attached to the whistle was
pulled and instantly there was a fear
full explosion. The big iron smoke
stack on the boiler house was blown
high into the air and fell across the
roof of the boiler house, and the tall
brick chimney fell into a thousand
pieces, crushing the engine room be-
meath it. When the smoke and dust
cleared away a scene of wreck and
ruin was revealed. Men hurried from
all parts of the town, and the work
of rescuing those buried under the
ruins was begun at once. The piteous
cries of those
PINNED UNDER THE DEBRIS
urged the men on to stronger efforts.
and in a short time the bodies of three
men had been removed and six of the
injured were taken out. 1t was then
found that one Of the four boilers had
been blown to pieces, completely
Wrecking the boiler house and demol-
1shing several sheds near by. The
head of the boiler fell 800 yards from.
the tannery, and the boiler tubes were,
scattered in every direction.
The falling chimney and smokestacl5
principally wrecked the tannery build:
ing itself, and the structure will have.
to be rebuilt. 1t is not known how
many men were in the tannery when
the explosion occurred, but when the;
roll of employees was called shortly
before o'clock, seven men were miss
ing. 1t is not known whether or. nor
they had begun work when the acct
dent happened. The fire department
was called out promptly and the work
OF removing the wreckage and taking
out the dead and injured was carried
on under the direction of the fire chief
The tannery is three-story brick
building and is fully insured. The
boilers, which were $50 horsepower.
were inspected only yesterday and de-
clared to be all right. 1t is believed
the explosion was caused by the ex-
haustion of water in the boiler. The
seven men who were missing have
been located. They were not in the
building. Patrick Riley, who was
taken from the ruins alive, died at the
hospital this afternoon.
SEVENTH VICTIM.
SAGINAW, Mich, April John
Hartel, the night Waterman who was
injured in the explosion, died at II
o'clock tonight. He leaves a widow
and three children.