The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-31
BLOWN LIFELESS BY A BOILER.
THREE MEN KILLED, FOUR MANI
ED AND TWENTY INJURED.

-Four of the Injured Men Apt to Die.
4 Rolling MIL at HOHidaysburg
the Scene of the ExpIosiOn-NO
Warming Given Of the Coming of
the Awful Messenger of Death,
The building wrecked.
Hollidaysburg, Pa, Jan. So.-The most
disastrous affair that has happened in
this section for years occurred here this
morning, when a boiler exploded in the
large rolling mills of the Honidaysburg
Iron and Nail Company. Three persons
We're killed. four MANNED and twenty
others are more or less injured. The
dead are:
George Lane 55 years of age. married,
a bricklayer. found crushed to death un-
der the debris.
Merrill Treese, aged Is. top of skull
torn of and died in about half an hour.
Cornelius Evans. aged 16. skull crushed
in and ribs broken; died shortly after he
was found.
The most seriously injured are:
Samuel Kephart, sc years of age, mar
ried; skull fractured and injured inter-
nally; will die.
Frank Cramer, Sc years of age, married,
superintendent of the mill; skull frac-
tured and four ribs broken; may moi re-
cover.
Samuel Marks. so years of age, skull
fractured jaw bone broken and badly
burned in critical condition.
Robert Marks, aged ., puddler, cut
about the head and wrists, and leg bro
ken.
Finley Ferguson, aged 49, married, pud-
dler skull fractured and internally in
jured not expected TO recover.
Robert Murray aged 40, unmarried, pud-
dler; skull fractured, and in critical
The Others were not critically hurt.
When the accident occurred at 7:15
O'Clock this morning, about a hundred
were al work at the mills. A thirty-foot
cylinder boiler exploded without any
warning, spreading death and ruin in its
course. The report of the explosion was
heard all over the town. and several
blocks away people were awakened and
dishes ratified on the breakfast tables.
AS soon as the noise of the explosion
was heard, the men made wild dash for
safety, and the majority escaped with
but slight injuries In snort time a
large crowd OF people were collected.
The cause of the explosion is mystery
Engineer LLOYD Cramer was standing by
his engine at the time of the accident
He says the boiler had 100 pounds of
steam on. He was not hurt. The boilers
had been repaired and tested about sixty
days ago. 1t is thought there was no
water in the boiler. The boilers were
placed over pudding furnaces and heated
from their fires.
The boiler that exploded blew open and
went through the roof, tearing out the
entire end of the mill, and was then hurl-
ed about 200 feet. 1t crushed through the
mill roof, throwing the beams and iron
| in all directions completely Wrecking
| that part of the plant. AS the steam es-
capped with the explosion, the furnaces
We're demolished and the stacks We're
thrown down. A number of puddlers were
| buried in the ruins. The end of the boiler
was found 500 Yards from the MILL
AS soon as the steam and smoke cleared
away the search for the victims beneath
the ruins was begun. Lane, the brick
| layer, was the first man found He was
| lying under the bricks and near the un-
| been working at furnace near the boiler
at the time of the accident.
| Cornelius Evans was found lying near
| the shears with nearly the whole top of
| his head torn off. 1t is supposed he had
| gone to the shears just as the explosion
| occurred for material for stocking the
| furnace, and was struck by flying piece
| of iron roofing
Merrill Treese was found near the fur
| mace with his skull fractured and burned
| in q horrible manner.
Samuel Kephart, Samuel Marks, Robert
| Marks, Finley Ferguson and John Woom-
coverd with debris. where they had been
| struck down The other injured ones
were able to get out of the mill unaided.
Just before the explosion a tramp was
| seen cooking piece of meat in front of
| one of the furnaces and 1t is supposed that
| he was killed and buried under the ruins,
! as he has not been seen since the acci-
| dent.
The loss is about 5000, partly covered
by insurance sSupt. Cramer was stand
| ing by the rolls when the accident oc-
Cured and he was struck by flying pieces
| of iron and brick.