The Dalles daily chronicle. [volume] (The Dalles, Or.) 1890-1948, 1895-01-17
Nearly a Hundred Victims
of the Butte Disaster.
DEAD WERE sTREwN EVERYWHERE
FIremen Respond to Their Last Call
shapeless Trunks Culver and Die
in the Arms of the Living.

IhOAbsJ JAN 1G'-G4AO OAOAO
out in the Butte Hardware Company's
warehouse in the southern part of the city
at 9 80 o'clock last night. Ten minutes
later terrific explosion of powder oc-
Cured, which broke nearly all the plate
glass windows in the city mile away,
and shook the buildings to their foun-
dations. Firemen who were fighting
the flames at the time were nearly all
blown to pieces. Two more explosions
followed at intervals of five minutes,
each killing and wounding numbers of
men. The excitement was intense.
The fire attracted large crowd. Hun
dreds standing near the scene when the
first explosion occurred were cut down
by the terrible force of the explosion.
The debris from the cars standing near
the warehouse and adjoining buildings
were scattered high in the air for a half
mile away, many flaming articles strik-
ing people in the crowd and around the
city.
At 9:55 o'clock the fire department
responded to call from box 72-the call
of death to nearly the entire depart
there was powder in the building, but
this was denied and after moments
hesitation they began fighting the fire.
At 10 p. M, when the men had barely
started to work, an explosion shook
Butte to its very foundations. The
powder in the warehouse blew up,
spreading death and ruin to all near.
hr1f fl,roa xnyara I~iIla0 Ho
rock among the spectators, as soon as
the stnn of the shock had passed away
while some ran in terror-immediatel
began pulling the mutilated bodies of
the firemen and injured from proxim-
ity with the flames. From all over the
city people began moving toward the
fire, and the crowd had greatly increased
within five minutes.
The second explosion, almost equal in
volume to the first, heightened the gen.
eral terror, and spread death and de-
struction at the disastrous scene. In
this explosion scores of citizens were
killed and injured. Parts of bodies
were hurled hundreds of feet away.
One man near the Northern Pacific
thigh of human being, driven by the
force of the dynamite from the fearful
scene. Still, heroes were left to pull
the shrieking wounded and groan1ng to
distance, but the people of the town
hesitated. There had been more ru-
mors of carloads of powder in the vi
cinity besides that stored in the ware
house. Five minutes later third ex.
plosion did come, but it was mild
injuring but few.
AIl>occurred in fifteen minutes. The
awfulness of the scene after the explo.
sions is beyond description. 1t pre-
sented the appearance of field of bat
tie. The cries and groans of the injured
and dying made the scene altogether
unearthly. Blood and brains were spat
tered around, with here and there pieces
of flesh. Between the Northern Pacif,
and Great Northern depots, space o
800 feet, the ground was literally covered
with parts of human bodies and will
the dead and injured. It was a scene o
utter and absolute destruction.
Houses in the vicinity were thorough
ly wrecked as if by cyclone. One res
euing corps gathered twenty-seven dea
bodies in one pile. The rescuers pulle
e6me bodies out still quivering. Rem
nants of human beings were still groan