The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1897-08-11
4 TERRIFIC EXPLOSION.
sUsNING or LARG= GRAIN ELEvA-
TCR IN CH C4GO

OR IN CH CAGO
Great aavs c Essus'.s @,,as Persons Kill
"a sad Over n >cocs. f.Yre or Lsss Severe
IyIIj1ret- Frighttal soIce OF ,ne EN-
p,osion-Fary ois she Fismes.
Four lives were lost il al explosion
which took place Thursday evening
during FIRE IN the Nor;h western grain
elevator 81 Cock and West Water
streets, Chicago. Three OF the dead
are ire1ea, the body OF another fire
nan Is taCugh. to be bnisd in tue
ruins OF the elevator. From the
force With which the explosion swept
the spot on With they were standing
it is certain that ;hey must have been
iastently killed Either the bursting
OF q boiler OF the explosion OF mill
dust caused the havoc. The three
iremen who were killed by the falling
walls OF the elevator were Jacob J.
SchUr John s. CGogan and Jacob S.
SCramer.
The injured are: Charles H. Con-
way. fireman, burned about face and
hands and tody crushed, may die;
Chisf Dennis S.eerev, right foot
crushed, left arm wre:'.'Iea aud pain
July burned; Fire Msr,Eal G4!c; ion,
burned soc2: tac2 L!eIt Nj b. 10Th
legs crusted: Li-ut. w. II Ear lett,
leg crushed; ASSISTANT. E2gInGsl Ben
iaI:in BlaLcaaru, badly bruised Jonn
T. Smith, Injured by debris; William
Mcclure, Is years old, both feet
crus:sd; Ihomas Eagle, pipeuan,
cut about hands and internally in
iured; Isnatius Bond. cut By falling
glass; Captain John J. Evans, struck
bv debris and rendred unconscious,
serious; William Hanley, pipeman,
cut in head William Thompson, hit
by falling glass; G. F. Walter, kaock-
ed down By explosion and injured
about he spine; John Hertz, struck
by falling beam and skull fractured: :
James Mcclure, leg fractured; Joseph
Lacey, badly burned about face, case
serious; Frank G. Haily, face burned
beyond recognition, may lose sight;
Lieut.. G. Miller, compound fracture
OF leg badly burned, condition crit.
cal; Capt. William Cooney, badly
burned about face, may lose sight OF
Goth eyes, condition serious; John
Evans, fracture OF right arm, badly
burned about the face. In all 81 FIRE
men were injured.
Besides these, dozens Of fremen and
passers-oy were more or less cut and
bruised by glass and flying debris.
The origin OF the blaze is believed 10
have been in the vicinity Of the boiler
house. Accumulated dust, as dry and
inhammable as gunpowder, that had
been piling up for years, formed a
ready means for the fire. It spread
with great rapidly, ard then came a
terrible explosion, completing the
work OF scattering the fire throughout
the entire structure.
Just as the tiremen were getting
into position for advantageous work,
ard nearly Y all the members of engine
company 3 were mounting ladders and
bringing leads OF hoes to play On the
interior from the upper windows,
there came roar that could be heard
Eor half mile. The root was raised
nigh into tie air, aud the walls came
down with crash. The force Of the
explosion was so great that the eastern
wall was hurled into tie river, the
west wall was tumbled down upon
he heads OF the unfortunate men be-
low and the root was torn into frag-
ments and distributed for blocks
around.
Every window in the vicinity Of the
elevator was shattered By the concUs-
SIGN. Deans of persons were struck
by flying debris and several small
fires started from falling timbsrs that
were still in flames. At Jefferson
street and Carroll avenue, many
blocks distant, great burning masses
OF wreckage fell upon four wagons
loaded with hay and set them on fire.
The elevator was of composite con-
struction, the lower portion being Of
brick and the upper part OF frame COW
cred with corrugated iron. The ex-
plosion caused a perfect bombardment
Of flying tricks and sheets OF iron at
almost white heat, leaving little ofthe
building save a frame work Of wood
and iron surrounding great pile Of
olazing wheat.
Tie explosion stunned. for a mo-
meat. the police ard the fremen, but
they quickly rallied to help those who
had teen hurt. Dozens OF men lay
injured n the withering heat, some
not seriously harmed and others in
the throes OF death. It was dangerous
so. K lc get them out, but It was gal
lantly and quickly done, and all OF
tie slightly injured were removed.
Tne dead were, for the time, left
where they lay. No man could reach
their bodies aud live.
The fire was most difficult to con-
troll, as the elevator was surrounded
by a nun her Of small buildings which
were contioually catching fire.
Tne t2ta! loss is estimated al s., 000,-
0C0 which IS iQ!ly covered by inSuc-
arct.