The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-05-06
CINCINNATrs EXPLOSION.
A Plumber Tells the Probable Cause
of the Disaster.

Cincinnati, May Sat $50 O'Clock this
morning the firemen's salvage corps and
wreckers were still at work clearing away
the debris of last nights explosion, when
a large building collapsed, killing many
people. Both saloons were known as first
class resorts and were patronized by poll
uclans, clerks and professional and bus
mess men. The following is a revised list
OF the known dead: Adolph &. Drachs
Mamie Kennedy, ROllin A. Davis, Felicia
Drach and L. Wells. There is an un-
known woman at the morgue.
John J. Pricket, the plumber, who put
the gasoline tank and engine in Drach's
cellar, said: THE tank was of galvanized
iron, seven feet long, four feet wide and
eight inches high. 1t was in the front
Of the cellar, under the sidewalk. Run
ming from the tank was a pipe, through
which the gasoline ran to the storage
tank The gasoline was 81 degrees. The
gas, after being generated in a receiving
cup, was conducted to the engine through
pipe. The gasoline was used TO gener-
ate gas. When the engine was recently
put in place 1 tested it and it ran all right.
The plant was for the electric motor,
which supplied the place with electric
cred complete Sunday night, and some
unskilled man probably attempted to start
1t Monday night. l think the explosion
was caused by opening the valve, which
supplies the chamber, where the gas is
generated, and allowing too much gas
Oline to run into il. When the light was
applied 10 the gasoline for the purpose
Of generating the gas, there was too
much gasoline released, and, instead Of it
generating gas and forcing ar through
the pipes leading from the engine 70 the
big tank, the burning gasoline followed
the course of these pipes and reached the
big tank, where the gasoline was stored,
and the explosion followed
The building inspector, after making an
examination of the walls of the building,
north and south of the wreck, ordered all
the rescuers away from the SPOT. no
more work can be done until the wall TO
the north is torn down. The east wall IS
also in a dangerous condition. The wall
to the south is undermined and this Will
have to be braced up. The south wall of the
Koch building Will have to be torn down.
A gang of workmen was put on at once.
The body Of Mamie Kennedy has been
found. This makes six indentified dead,
and nine persons are still missing.
The scene of the explosion is exactly op-
posite the Gibson house and the Johnson
house, and but four doors from the inter-
the postofhce is located. No part of the
city, during night or day is more crowded
than this and one can easily understand
the terrible panic that seized the thous-
ands in the vicinity when the resOunding
crash was heard. The building was five
stories high, four of which We're used as
flats and housed number of families. In
the lower part OF the building were the
saloons Of AdOph Drach and Lewis Fey.
These establishments were among the fin
est Of the kind in the city and IN those TWO
places there were at the time OF the dis
aster at least a score of people.
One startling incident was the wreck
ing of a street car that was passing at
the time In the car were fifteen or twen-
ty passengers, and when the crash came
the vehicle was almost lifted from the
track. The glass in the windows was
shattered to bits and the rush of passen-
gers to escape was something terrible.
Five or six of them were badly hurt, but
how severely has not yet been made
known.
r. A. Davis, general manager of the Co
lumbia Carriage Company of Hamilton,
o., a young man recently married, was
passing the place when the explosion oc-
CURED. He was blown into the street and
fell under a Newport electric car, where
he was crushed to death. The motor
man was blown from the car and fatally
hurt.
The damage to property is estimated at
$4,000, while that to life will not be fully
known until the ruins have been cleared