Idaho County free press. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho Territory) 1886-current, 1895-01-25
BUTTE is STRICKEN
Giant Powder Explosions Strew
the City With Dead,
THE POPULATION Is STUNNED
Fire In Warehouse Ignited Dynamite
aud au Awful Wreck Was
the Result.
Especial Telegram.)

Especial Telegram)
Butte, Mont. Jan. ia fire occurred
in the Butte Hardware Company's
warehouse. in which giant powder was
stored tonight. The fire department
were at work on the fire when an ex-
plosion took place. killing a large num-
ber While efforts We're being made to
remove the dead and wounded, second
explosion occurred. The entire fire de-
partment was wiped out, including the
chief and all the horses. Three police
men were among the killed, who num-
Der at least 70.
Plate glass was broken all over the
city and the damage to property is
enormous. All the ambulances are
rushing to and fro from the scene of the
explosion. Relatives of the killed are
frantic and the city is in consternation
The powder in the warehouse was in
violation OF the law. 1t was the great
est explosion in the history of the west.
At :55 p. m. the fire department re-
Of death to nearly the entire depart
ment. The fire was either in the Ken
yon-Cornell or the Butte Hardware
Company warehouse and both con
tanned powder. There was rumor
that there was powder in the building
but this was denied, and after a mo-
ments hesitation they began fighting
the fire. At 10 o'clock when the men
had barely started to work. there was
an explosion which shook Butte to its
foundations. The powder in the ware
house blew up, spreading death and
ruin to all who were near. All but three
Of the firemen We're killed. 1t is believed
that in the first explosion only the fire
men We're killed. There We're heroes
among the spectators, however, and
as soon as the stun of the shock passed
away. while some ran in terror, others
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 toward
The fire and the crowd had greatly in
creased within five minutes.
SECOND EXPLOSION.
The first explosion "a second explosion
almost equal in volume to the first
heightened the terror all over the city,
and spread death and desolation at the
disastrous scene. In this explosion
scores Of citizens were killed and in
jured. Parts of bodies We're hurled
scores of feet away. One man near the
Northern Pacific water tank was al
most struck by the leg and thigh of a
human being driven by the force of
dynamite from the fearful scene. There
were still heroes left to help pull the
shrieking wounded and the grooming
dying to a distance, but the people up
town hesitated There had been two
explosions and there might be more.
There were rumors of carloads of pow
der being in the vicinity, besides that
stored in the warehouses. Five min
utes later a third explosion did come,
but it was a mild one, and it is believed
that very few, If any, Were injured in
this.
FRIGHTFUL SCENES.
This had all occurred in Is minutes,
the most horrible quarter of an hour
in Butte's history. The awfulness of
the scene after the explosions was be-
yond description. Words could give no
idea of it. 1t presented more the APP
pearance of a field of battle than any
thing else. The dead are strewn every
where and the cries and groans of the
injured and dying presented a scene al
together unearthly. Blood and brains
were scattered all about. Here were
legs and arms scattered around and
there were pieces of flesh and entrails.
1t was sickening.
Between the Northern Pacific and
Great Northern depots, a space of 300
feet, the ground was literally covered
with parts of human bodies and with
dead and injured. The scene was one
of utter and absolute destruction. The
houses in the vicinity were as thorough
y wrecked as If cyclone had passed
through them. One of the rescuing
corps gathered 81 dead bodies in one
pile, eight in another. and two and
three in other piles. The rescuers pulled
some of the bodies out still quivering,
the remnants of human beings still
groaning while legs and arms had been
torn off, and shapeless trunks quivered
and died in the arms of the living.
The work of rescue was prosecuted
in earnest. Every vehicle in the city
was brought into service to carry away
the scores of dead and the hundreds of
injured. The hospitals were filled, the
spare rooms in the hotels were taken
and private houses We're thrown open
where necessary.
The dead body Of a small boy, name
unknown was picked up on East Gold
street by James Thompson after the
second explosion had occurred. There
were no marks on his body and he evil
IDENTIFY was killed by the conclusion
The body was sent to one of the under
taking rooms.
All night the crowds of anxious people
were searching the ruins fo- the dead
and found a number of limbs and other
portions of human bodies. In win
dow of a Northern Pacific passenger
coach an arm was dangling, having
been torn from its socket. Pieces of
skulls and brains We're lying about ey-
erywhere and were gathered together
in a basket. James Cassidy was
standing with three others watching
the fire when the first explosion oc-
CURED. His three companions We're
killed, but he escaped without injury, al
though the conclusion tore his cloth
ing to shreds.
FIREMEN OBLITERATED.
The hose wagon crew consisted of
Chief Cameron, Assistant Chief Sloan,
Sam Ash. Ed Sloane. Dave Moses, Dave
Magee and Jack Flannery. Magee was
81 5r;x n ai,,a With he.