The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1895-01-17
MONTAN I. ii .RRlEO } I,

| "A MONTA A HORROR h I ] II
sEvEhTy-F.vE PEOPLE KILLED nv An
EXPLOSION At BUTTE. 81
.,ire Department wiped Out. Not = Single
Man a. BEAST Escaping Death ~ Serious g y q
| Iniurses---Danaaset 70 Property ThrouSh-
out tho CITY IL simply Enormous. III s6 IS
Il BUTTE, Mon, Jan. II. - fire O. q
cured cured in the Butte Hardware com o.
p,,sany's warehouse, in which giant pow
der was stored. The fire department
were AZ work on the fire when the ex-
plosiion took place, killing scores Of
people. While efforts were being made made
"a remove the dead and wounded Sec
ond explosion occurred. The entire f1re
department was wiped out, including
the chief and all the horses. Three
policemen were among the killed y who q,
number at least 75. Plate glass was
broken all over the city and the damage
to property is enormous. AL the ana
balances were rushing to and from the 1
scene Of the explosion. The relatives 20 q
the killed are frantic and the city IS IN
oonsternation. The powder in the ware
house was in violation Of law. It was
the greatest explosion in the history Of
the West. q. s. ~.
- The Call Of Death.
at 9:S5 o'clock the fire department
responded TO Q call from Box ", the
cali Of death to nearly the entire de-
partmert. The fire was either IN the
Kenyon Council or the Butte Hardware
company's warehouse and both con
tanned powder. There was r1lln 10 Z
that there was powder in the building,
but this was denied and after . mo
ment's hesitation they began fighting
the fire. At 1908 the men had barely
started to work, when there was an q! e *
plosion which shook Butte to it's very
foundation. The powder in the ware
house blew up, .
Spreading Death and Ruin
- oil xyhn xuara near. All but three OF
the firemen were killed. There were
heroes among the spectators, however,
and as soon as the stun Of the shock
passed away, while some ran il terror,
others Immediately began pulling the
mutilated bodies of the firemen and the
injured from the proximity Of the
flames From all over the city people
began moving towards the fire and the
crowd had greatly increased within 4: five
minutes. just about that length OF q
time after the first explosion, second s
explosion almost equal il volume to the
frst heightened the terror all over the
city and
81 spread Death and Desolation Il 33Hl
at the disastrous scene. In this explo-
Non scores at citizens were killed and
injured. Parts Of bodies were hurled
scores Of feet away. y man near the
Northern Pacific water tank was almost
truck By the leg and thigh Of . human
being, driven by the force Of dynamite
from the fearful scene. There were
still heroes left to help pun the shrek
ing wounded and the groaning dying to
distance, but the people up town hesi-
tated. There had been two explosions
and there might be more. There were
reports Of carloads Of powder in the
vicinity besides that stored in the ware
houses. Five minutes later
III. A Third Explosion Did Come,
but it was mild one, and it is believed
that very few, if any, were injured in
it. It had all occurred in Is minutes,
the most horrible quarter Of an hour in
Butte's history. The horrible awful
ness Of the scene after the explosions
was beyond description. Words could
give no idea Of it. It presented more
the appearance Of q field OF battle than
aything else. The dead were strewn
everywhere and the cries and groans Of
the injured and dying presented . scene
altogether unearth1y. Blood and brains
Wero spatbered about. Here were legs
and arms. scattAred aruund here and
there weD pieces Of flesh and entFails.
3E ST. Was Sickening. "A
Between the Northern Pacific and Great
Northern depots, q space Of 300 feet. the
ground was literally covered with parts
Of human beings and with the dead and
injured The scene was one Of utter
and absolute destruction. The houses
in the vicinity were as thoroughly
wrecked as if q cyclone had passed
through them. One Of the rescuing
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