Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1895-10-17

Yesterday afternoon about half-past
two o'clock there was quite a serious
explosion of natural gas in the base
ment of the Court House.
As a result Philip Neuhardt, of No.
1910 McColloch street, was quite seri-
ously cut and burned, and l. H. Freese,
engineer, was knocked down and had
a narrow escape from similar injuries.
The boiler furnace was badly damaged,
and will have to undergo extensive re-
pairs. The cause appears to have been
the faulty design of the furnace and
stack leading from it.
The scene of the explosion was the
new furnace room constructed under the
rear yard OF the Court House, between
the building line and the alley, put in
after the construction OF the new jail
The furnaces are heated by natural gas
for steam-making, and the chimney is
a column of ordinary cast iron water
pipe, sixteen or twenty inches in diam
eter. From this column of pipe the or
binary sheet iron smoke up-takes run
to the furnaces. These up-takes are
curved. and appear small, while the
furnaces, which are fitted with patent
burners. have little or no ventilation in
the lower part, where the aSh-pits of
coal burning furnaces are located. AS
a result gas accumulated in the lower
part of the furnace, apparently from
lack of ventilation and imperfect COM
bustion, and this part of the furnace
was full Of gas yesterday when the ac-
cident occurred. 1t is the custom at the
Court House TO burn the waste paper
in the boiler furnaces, and JanitOr Neu
hardt was engaged in throwing a lot
Of paper in there yesterday when the
accident occurred. Either from the
paper igniting, or from the draft caused
by the opening of the lower doors fore
ing the confined gas upward until 1t
caught from the blaze at the burner,
an explosion followed which shook the
entire public building and was plainly
heard two squares away. Neuhardt
was Just in front of the furnace, in a
STOPPING position, in the act of closing
the small lower doors. The upper
doors leading to the furnace proper
were blown open with great force, the
sharp edge of the left hand door strik-
ing him about the centre of the fore
head and cutting a two-inch cash to
the bone. while the fash of gas singed
his hair, mustache and eyebrows and
burned his face and hands severely.
He was thrown back with great force
against the brick wall ON the south
side of the boiler room and generally
bruised up. Mr.. Freese was just to the
right of the furnace with 2 short lad
der. and was knocked into the coal-pile,
in the southeast corner of the room,
but fortunately escaped injury. The
breeding was torn loose from the top
of the furnace. the heavy iron plates Of
the furnace dislocated from their posi-
ton. and the brick work badly dam
aged both in the furnace where the ex-
plosion occurred and the adjoining one
to the east.
The shock of the explosion stirred
ND the officials in both the Court House
and the City Hall at a great rate, and
the basement was soon crowded Mr..
Neuhardt was taken to the janitor's
room. on the west side of the corridC~,
where a physician sewed up the cut in
his head and dressed his burns, after
which he was taken home. He will be
laid I'D for a week or so.