The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1895-11-09
BOILER BURST
Detroit Evening Journal Building
Wrecked Wednesday
Morning.
Over Forty People Killed and a
Large Number Serious
ly Injured.
The Explosion is Said to be Due to
Carelessness Of the
Engineer.
The Building Immediately Took Fire
"A Terrible Scene to
Witness.

DETROIT. Nov. 6.-Shortly before 0
o'clock this forenoon the boilers In the
basement OF the Detroit Journal building
at A. Larned street exploded. The whole
building Immediately above for width
Of forty feet collapsed at once into heap
OF bricks and timbers.
The portion OF the building directly
above the boilers, on the first floor, was
occupied by The Journals mailing de-
partment. About FIVE men and boys
were there at work. On the second
story was Killers book bindery, In which
a couple of men, and dozen girls were
employed. In the third story was the
Habbln electrotype foundry, in which
there were some half dozen men. In the
top story was The Journals stereotyping
department, where four or five mea were
busy
As near as can be learned from twenty
to thirty people were at work in this part
of the building. and exclusive Of those
who were injured while passing ou the
street, all these people, men, boys and
girls, were precipitated into the horrible
chaos Of ruins and escaping steam.
The explosion completely wrecked the
east half OF The Journal building, located
at As and AZ Larned street west, near
Shelby. 1t was structure FIVE stcrics in
hight. strong and we'll built, and was in
size 46XS7 feet. In a single moment after
the wonderful force of the explosion had
spent itself, the building was only a
tangled and intricate mass Of twisted
iron. heaps Of stone and piles OF broken
bricks. The wreck could hardly have
been more complete. The only vestige
left Of walls sixty feet high was a strip
of the front, as wide as the first window,
and corresponding strip in the rear.
Terrible as was the destruction of prop
erty, the worst feature of the catastrophe
was the awful loss of human life. The
clouds of dust that arose from the ruins
had scarcely cleared away, when two or
three men staggered out Of the debris aud
attempted to get away. They we're so
stunned and dazed that they did not know
what had happened and their njuries were
so great that con sciousness only lasted un-
til they were taken into the neighboring
buildings by the crowd OF rescuers that
was soon on hand. 1t is difficult to es-
innate with any degree Of accuracy the
exact number OF people in the fated build
ing. There could not have been less than
thirty and there may have been fifty. The
number Of employees In some Of the institu
tions located In the structure varied from
day to day and the accident took place so
early that many Of these usually in the
offices during the daytime we're not yet
at their work. There was not the min
utest opportunity for escape and all we're
hurled or heaved into the air with the
ruins only TO fall back into their terrible
tomb.
The five stories OF the building, which
was the property Of the Newberrv estate,
were all we'll occupied. In the basement
OF No. A was located an s0-horse-power
engine, dynamos, two oil tanks and the
ill-fated boilers.
The explosion came with leud report,
which was heard for blocks In every d.
rection, and the force was equally great.
1t shook all the buildings in the neigh
borhood and some of them seemed to rock
on their foundations as II about to fall.
William Livingstone, manager Of The
Journal, said: "The boilers, although
used as part Of The Journal plant, are
not part of it. In The Journals lease
Of its building from the Newberry estate
power was to be furnished and the power
was taken frsm the Newberry boilers
The boilers we're locked over casually b,
an outside engineer only Saturday. The,
were about fourteen feet long, fift,
inches In diameter and OF tubular pat
tern"
DETROIT. Nov. THE work Of rescu
ing the bodies Of the victims Of Wednes
days explosion went steadily along al
dav and tonight. Over thirty dead bodle
have now been recovered and identified
but the number changes frequently Of
account OF new and ehastly discoverie
brought to light IN the ruins. The mum
ber OF killed will Approximate forty.