Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1895-11-08
DETROIT'S DISASTER.
DRY BOILER SEEMS TO HAVE BEEN
THE CAUSE.
Tbirty-One the Total Number of
Bodies RecOvered-Ffve Of These
Burned Beyond the Possibility of
Recognition.


until G o'clock only two more bodies
were dug out of the debris. They were
those OF Adoph Scrieber. foreman OF
Killers bindery. and John Gordon. stereo-
typer of the Detroit Journal.
A large force OF men was put to
work about o'clock. At o'clock the
searching party uncovered the nineteenth
body. II was that Of Jennie Neubauer,
one Of Killers employees. Five minutes
later the body OF Bertha Weidbusch was
dug out, and at ten minutes past
O'Clock still another girls body was re-
covered. 1t was badly burned. and not
at once recognized.
BY ii o'clock twenty-five bodies In
all had been taken from under the mass
of debris. and three more had been added
TO the list of identified dead. They
were: John +. Breitenbecher. an en-
ployee OF Killers book-bindery; Rose
Morgan. and Kittie Leonard. Miss Nor
Can was employed by Hitler. and Miss
Leonard was an employee OF John Davis
q Co. Two bodies unidentified at this
hour are those OF girls.
DRY BOILER.
A dry boiler-not drop Of water. That
tells the whole story OF yesterdays ter
rible catastrophe, caused by an explosion
of the westerly boiler, and, maybe, both
boilers.
This fact was definitely settled this
morning, when AL Whitmore, one OF the
best boiler-experts I'm the city. crawled
under the wet and twisted timbers. and
dug out the debris to the place where
the battery OF boilers was located.
The easterly boiler was entirely gone,
and its head was found near an alley
in the rear Of the building. 1t had
parted Just behind the dome. and every
tube was broken off clean. The westerly
boiler was not In place. and 1t Is be-
lieved that It also exploded.
Boiler-Inspector McGregor inclines to
the theory that both boilers went
out. and is emphatic In his state
ment that there was not drop OF
water In the east boiler when that one
went out. ut was as dry as powder
MILL" he said: land when we sound the
whole business, the conditions will prove
this. | think that both boilers were split
across at the seams. If they had opened
lengthwise there would have been side
force that would have taken the walls In
both directions"
ENGINEER BLAMED.
Engineer n. II. Thompson. who was In
charge of the boilers, says there was
plenty Of water In the boilers. but MS
statement is not believed. He VIII I'M
doubtedly be held by the coroners jury
At noon the work OF searching Tor the
b. dies of the yet missing was practically
abandoned, pending the Strengthening OF
the walls of the Journal building. The
men continued to work. but were making
no effort TO get at the place where II Is
believed most of the missing bodies Will
be found.
Sixty or seventy occupants OF the jour
nal building proper. at the time OF yes
terday's explosion. had an almost mirac-
ulous escape. The building was thorough
" inspected by the Board of Building
Inspectors to-day. and as a result 1t VIII
be instantly condemned. The building
was found 10 be in a terribly shattered
condition. The inspectors say that there
ia not a solid Joint in II. The west wall Ia
buckIed six inches: the east wall Is badly
cracked at the third floor. and elbowed
several inches out OF plumb: the north
wall is in an IN" shape, and the entire
structure Is moved on its foundations.
The inspectors said that in their opinion
the west wall was swayed out fully two
feet by the force of the explosion. The
INSPECTORS think II il simply wonderful
that the building did not utterly collapse.
The Board of Inspectors have taken no
formal action as to condemning the build
ing, but they will do so.
FREE PRESS BUILDING FEARED.
The surrounding buildings. which also
suffered greatly from the shock. will be
thoroughly examined. Some Of the en-
Dloyees of the Free Press job printing
house which occupied a building almost
49, IA vs1A ne M
took place. refused to go to work this
morning claiming that the building had
been shattered so as TO render II unsafe.
At o'clock the total number of
bodies recovered was thrty-one. The last
five We're nothing but blackened trunks.
and no identification was possible. except
by fragments Of clothing and trinkets.
RESPONSIBILITY.
The discovery in regard to the boilers
throws the responsibility on the engineer
and the owners Of the building. The for
mer had been repeatedly warned that he
was too careless by neighboring engi-
neers. while the owners of the property
had been given at least One formal notice
that he was negligent The owners OF the
property are the heirs OF the late Con-
gresham Newberry, who was the busi-
ness partner of Senator Mcmillan.
1 he tnSlIlttr tp-udy AiS ct otdt'
ment of his view of the disaster. He
Il the inventor OF a burner for feeding
oil to furnaces. and these burners were
used under the boilers. Thompson has had
charge OF the boilers since 1889, and SUPER
yised their removal from another building
a few years ago. He was away from the
engine-room at the time. but only
few minutes before he had looked at his
gauges and found them satisfactory. He
was letting steam out OF one boiler, with
CO pounds pressure. into another. In which
u pounds of steam was on, and every
thing seemed to be working properly. His
theory is that water from one boiler
siphoned into the other through the feed
nine. because Of the unequal pressure.
After the coroner's inquest the matter
Of responsibility will probably taken up
by the grand jury now In session.
RELIEF FUND.
As all the families of the victims are
in humble circumstances General Alger
has headed a movement to raise a fund
for their relief, some Of the victims hav-
ing been the sole support OF aged parents.
The fund promises to be a large one.
Three of the persons injured yesterday
are in dangerous condition-Annie
O'Donoghue, Arthur d. Lynch (stereo-
typer), and Albert Weber pressman).
The portion Of the Journal building
which survived the explosion was later
in the day condemned by the building-In-
spectors. There is not a close joint in
the whole five-story structure.
One Of the undertakers who gained no
toriety yesterday by fighting for corpse,
again came before the public to-day. He
was at the Emergency Hospital when Liz
zie Tipley breathed her last. and as
sumed charge. The idea OF his having
charge was too revolving for the friends
OF the young lady. and they protested.
but the undertaken refused to give up
the remains. The family protested to
Coroner Butler. and he at once made the
undertaken turn the body over to the fam
lily undertaken.
TANNERIEs SHUT DOWN.