Hutchinson gazette., 1898-12-01
STEAMER BOILER BLOWS UP
Distressing Accident on a River
Near Stockton, Cal,
SIX DEAD AND THIRTY INJURED
Grew and Passengers Terribly Burned
by the Escaping steam--InJured Per-
sonS Suffered Terribly From Their
Burma

STOCKTON, CAL, Nov, 95, Tho most
disastrous river accident'in the history
Of Stockton occurred yesterday near
Fourteen Mile Slough, when part Of
one OF the boilers OF the river steamer
i, Q. Walker, which left San Francisco
about o'clock Saturday night, was
blown out, killing six and dangerously
Houndlng eleven persons, while prob
lbly fifteen or twenty, more or less,
.ro badly hurt, The 4, @, Walker Is
wned by tho California Navigation
md Improvement company, and ran
between San Francisco and Stockton.
The dead are;
John Tulan, captain OF the I. O..
Walker
w, A, Blunt, tho agent In charge OF
ihe shipping OF sugar beets from tho
Moss tract TO the Crockett factory,
Watson Henry, OF Stockton engln-
Ter Of the Il. @, Walker.
Mrs. Watson Henry, wife OF the
thief engineer,
Jerry Daily, fireman
Ferdinand Law, passenger,
The majority OF the passengers ore
IN bed when tho explosion occurred
and were awakened by the report,
which was as loud as q cannons roar.
People rushed from their rooms in
their night clothes and found the
whole forward portion OF tho steamers
upper works blown rway, The electric
lights had been put out and tho escap-
Ing steam epveloped the front portion
Of the boat until II was impossible to
see how much OF the boat had been
carried away
The screams Of tho men who were
locked In their rooms near the pilot
house were hcartrendlng. Captain
John Tulan had been blown from his
bed against the door Of tho stateroom
and 80 seriously injured that he could
not move, The door could not be
forced open rs he was jammed up
against II, One Of the employees OF the
boat secured an nX and cut the upper
part Of the room away and finally re-.
moved him, but not until he was vlr-
tually roasted alive, When pulled out
tho flesh dropped from his bones in
large pieces, and although he was suf-
rering excruciatingly he bore 1t brave
ly and not groan escaped him as he
vas taken out Of the steam.
Watson Henry, the chief engineer,
md his wife were in their room near
the pilot house when the explosion
occurred. MIRA. Henry was blown
through the roof. The flooring was
blown upward and she was hurled
with great violence distance Of
twenty-five feet toward the bow OF the
boat. She was horribly crushed by
The fury Of the explosion, and also
badly scalded by escaping steam. Her
injuries proved fatal. She retained
consciousness until few moments
before her death, Her suffering was
so intense that she begged the ply
,iclans in attendance TO end her lie,
but all that could be done was to deaden
The pain by the use Of narcotics,
Mr.. Henry was terribly scalded. He
was thrown some distance away, but
not as far as was his wife. He died
shortly after being brought to this
city.
Mr.. Blunt was instantly killed. lie
was standing on the lower deck, as he
intended making a landing a short dis
tancc above the place where the ex'
ploslon occurred,
Jerry DAILY, the fireman, was in the
Are hold when the accident occurred
The escaping steam completely cuvcl'
oped him, scarcely portion OF his
body escaping the scorohing vapor lie
died at the receiving hospital.
Underneath the lower deck where
tho deck hands slept, groaus and
screams were terrible, for the unfor'
tunate imprisoned men were receiving
the full force Of the steam as it came
from the boilers, Eight Of them were
almost roasted alive.
About an hour after the explosion
the passenger steamer Dauntless, com
ing from San Francisco, hove in sight.
She rendered immediate assistance,
and all the wounded and uninjured
were taken aboard
Election Bettors Indicted.