Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-12-19

NeSSSl was Lying at her tuIUOn
Street Dock in the North River.
New York December 1S.-Five men
were killed and six injured this morn
ing by the explosion Of a steam pipe
on the American line steamship St.
Paul while the vessel lay at her dock
q, the foot Of Fulton street, North
river The dead are: James Fawns.
assistant engineer. Of England; John
Manning. fourth assistant engineer,
Robert Campbell. machinist, New York;
George Williams. machinist, HobOken,
\. j. Daniel McCullion, machinist's
helper, Brooklyn.
The injured are: Frank Vespors,
third assistant engineer, Roxbury.
Mass; Andrew Heard. s,orekeeper.
Scotland; William Durham, machinist.
England; A. Fogel cleaner, Scotland;
Edward Wischert. engineer.
All the injured were seriously scald-
ed and taken TO the Hudson Street Hos
pital
At the time Of the accident, shortly
after z O'Clock. there were 30 men Of
the crew in the fire room and 10 in the
f engine room.
The main steam pipe which is 3 feet
in diameter runs from the engine to the
fire room. The main stop valve was
blown out The accident is believed to
. have been due to a flaw in the pipe.
Preparations were being made for
the sailing of the vessel at II o'clock.
. but none of the passengers We're aboard
of the vessel. The explosion was of
terrific force Following the report
was the sound CT escaping steam. II
poured up to- the deck from the engine
room i'm clouds and completely envelop-
ed the vicinity
From above the noise Of escaping
I steam could De heard the cries of the
men who had been at work in the en-
CINE room injured by the explosion.
The nature of the explosion was such
-ha. II rendered access to the locality
/ extremely difficult As quickly as pcs
I sibie the steam was turned off. Almost
T simultaneously four half-dead men
. scrambled up the iron stairway leading
+ from the engine room and fell pros
/ Jrate upon the port side Of the vessel.
7 They were hurried into the cabin and
/ restOratives administered 70 them. Two
other men, terribly scalded, were found
i'm an almost unconscious condition "
/ ing near The bottom of the stairway
I and were lifted up to the dock.
AS soon as the steam had cleared
away sufficiently to render seeing the
/ surroundings possible. five men were
found lying near in various parts of
the compartment dead They had all
/ been scalded TO death. and their faces
and those parts of the body which werd
not covered by their clothing looked as
if they had been parb0iled. The bodies
were covered over where they We're
I found lying with pieces of tarpaUlin.
| and word was sent to the COrOner's Of
/ fee
The great est excitement prevailed
aboard the vessel for a time. and it was
thought that the boiler mad blown up
/ The force OF the explosion was SO great
+ that il blew out portion Of the bulk
I head and scattered every particle of
+ glass within a radius Of fifty feet. On
7 investigation it was found that the
! main steam pipe at the bend near the
bulk-head had burst The pipe IS 10
inches i'm diameter. and extends IRON
I one end of the ship TO the other
The result Of the injuries received by
Wilson. Nesper. FOlker and Heard can
not be fOreto,d by the surgeons. II is
likely. however. that some Of the men
cannot survive.
Second President James Wright
said: "I have 2s yet no details of the
accident I 40 no, know the exact ma
ture or extent of the injuries. but I do
know that the ST. Paul will not be able
TO sail for a day or two, or perhaps for
q week We have no other ship in port
to which to transfer the passengers in
case the repairs take several days ana
our next ship. the Paris, will not sail
before Christmas Day
The first fast steamship 10 sail from
New York 20 Liverpool is the Campania,
Of the Cmard line and to her the Unit
ed States mails now on the st. Paul
viii De transferred.
The hospital authorities subsequent
{ ly reported he death of Robert Wilson.
This brought the total number of deaths
TO seven.