The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1895-01-22
DISASTROUS EXPLOSION.
SEvENTY-FIVR PEOPLE KILLED
AND $1,000 900 DAMAGE DONE.


Three Successive Explosions of Giant
Powder Plays Havoc in the Mining
Town of Butte, Mont.
BUTTE, MONT, Jan. 16.-When the
smoke caused by successive explosions
of giant powder at a hardware ware
house last night had cleared away, the
sight which presented itself to the sur
vivors was sickening in the extreme.
The ground fer a block around the
scene of the accident was strewn with
the ~quivering flesh of dismembered
men and horses pinned down by frag-
ments of fire engines and burning
brands from demolished warehouses.
The warehouse was literally blown to-
pieces, and a hole seventy-five feet
deep excavated IN the ground by the
force Of the explosion. 1t is feared
that some of the bodies were thrown
in this chasm by the force of the ex
plosion, and that they have been Gre
mated. Owing to the nature of the
fire and it's dangerous locality, the en-
tire fire forces was called out to pre-
vent the spread of the flames to the ad
joining buildings. Three policemen
had been detailed to keep the crowd
back, and they were also killed. Many
of the spectators were instantly killed,
and several hurled back some distance
from the scene of the fire, and rendered
unconscious by the force of the shock.
Numerous persons living in distant
parts of the city have lost their power
Of hearing and speech from the force
of the shock.
The list of the dead will probably
reach seventy five, and the damage
done to property will be more than 81
600. 00O- In all three carloads Of pow
der exploded,
At 2 o'clock this morning forty-three
dead bodies had been found and re
moved to the morgue. Many Of them
were 20 shockingly burned and mutt
lated as to be totally unacceptable.
A small boy, name not known, about
ten years of age, was found dead in the
street, a block and a half from the
scene of the explosion. One woman
was killed in her house, a half block
away, by an anvil thrown through the
roof. Human heads, legs and arms
were scattered for several blocks from
the scene of the greatest of the three
explosions. It is believed a complete
list of the dead cannot be secured for
several days
The first explosion was caused by
nitroglycerine stored in the private
warehouse of the Kenyon Cornell Com
mercial Company, which was burned.
The second n came from a carload
of powder on the railroad track, and
the third from the warehouse of the
Butte Hardware Company, which ad-
joined that of the Kenyon Cornell
Company.
At 10 o'clock this afternoon the
known number of dead was forty
seven. This list will undoubtedly be
increased when the debris of the explo-
sion is removed, as it is almost certain
that bodies are hidden in the ruins of
the debris. Of the dead thus far re-
covered, twenty six have been identi-
fed, either wholly or partially. In
some cases the Identification has been
by articles Of clothing or jeWelry, the
bodies being defaced and blackened so
as to render personal Identification i'm
possible. It is not impossible that in
some cases mistakes have been made,
but in general there is little doubt as to
the identity of the bodies. Some of
the bodies or portions of bodies will
never be identified, because of the
frightful mangling they have under
gone. Headless trunks, without a YES
tige of clothing adhering to them; dis
membered limbs and pieces of flesh,
are, in some cases, all that is left.
The dead r now distributed among
the various undertaking establish
ments, but some time to day or to-
morrow all will be collected in one
place, so that Identification may be
facilitated. No arrangements have
been made for the funeral, but it will
be a public affair, and union services
will be held by the clergymen of all
denominations. The families of the
fremen and policemen, who died in the
performance of their duty, will be
taken care of by the city. Public sub
scriptions will be started for the relief
of others
There is the greatest possible indig-
nation over the storage of nitro glycer-
inc, giant powder and rack q rock in
the heart Of the city, which is respon-
sible for last nights horror. An inves-
tigation will be. instituted to discover
who is responsible, and If it is found
that any public officials are to blame
for the violation of the city ordinances
they will find this climate too warm
for them. On the other hand, If the
mercantile firms who owned the ex.
plosIVes r found to have violated the
law deliberately they will suffer fnan-
c1ally and otherwise. The people are
thoroughly aroused over the catastrO-
phe, and will make some one answer
for it.
From all that a be learned, the
total amount of explosives that went
up In the three explosions was nearly
thirty tOns-enough to wine out the
State of Rhode Island. There were
twenty tons of giant powder alone that
went up in one blast.
DEFEAT OF THE CURRENCYB1LL