The evening herald. [volume] (Shenandoah, Pa.) 1891-1966, 1899-01-06
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION.
An Occupied Double Building Demoiished,
Yet no Lives Lost.

A terrific explosion occurred at 215 o'clock
this afternoon at Brownsville. whereby "A
double block. owned by Solomon Haak, of
town, and occupied by the families Of Edward
Eberman and Harry Meyer, was totally de.
stroyed. Nothing remains Of them but
the rear walls, part of the
roof aud the rear kitchens, and their
condition is such that they must be
razed. 1t seems like a miracle that not an
occupant of the house was injured. The
members Of both families were at dinner ia
the kitchens at the rear and the greatest force
of the explosion was south and upward The
front of the buildings faced to the south.
Eight rooms, four on each side of the block,
were blown out of existence and almost all
the household furniture destroyed. Pieces
of debris imbedded themselves in the sides
and roofs of all the buildings within a radius
of fifty yards and the window panes Of
nea rly all these dwellings were wrecked.
7 he Brownsville school building stands
about fifty feet west of the block in which
the explosion occurred but, strange TO say,
that aside from the blowing out of all the
window panes on the eastern end, the struc-
turo suffered no damage. The children in
tho schools were almost panic stricken by the
tact displayed by the teachers resulted iu all
but two of the pupils leaving the building in
safety. Thomas McAndrew, 10 years old,
rushed from one of the class rooms and as he
emerged from the school building was struck
by flying plaster from the wrecked dwellings
He was rendered unconscious for few
minutes, bat has entirely recovered. Howard
Westervelt, boy years old, also escaped
from his teacher, and was struck by flying
debris, but only slightly hurt.
The loss to the Eberman and Meyer fami-
lies by the destruction of their household
effects and wearing apparel, is about $780,
each. They saved comparatively little. The
buildings destroyed were worth about 81, 900
The property was formerly owned by the
late Michael Thompson
The occupants of the houses could give no
clue to the cause of the explosion man
on the premises, however, gave the tip that
about ten days ago one of the bOarders in the
Eberman house, a miner by occupation
brought home a large box of dualin and had
it stored in the second story of the building
1t is on the Ebermau side of the block that
the ravages of the explosion was the most
severe, Eberman kept saloon in the base
ment. How the dualin was ignited (if the
report concerning it is true) is a mystery.
Both the Eberman and Meyer families are
homeless, as barely enough of either side of
the block remains standing to give even one
of the families shelter from rain. All the
household effects that both families have
picked out of the wreckage would hardly
! fill small wagon. The scene about the
property is one of absolute desolation.
| Immediately after the explosion some
| young men ran up from Brownsville to town
and sounded fire alarm. The Phoenix Fire
Company went to the scene. but its services
were not required, as no fire followed the
explosion. The Phoenix carriage was upset
on Coal street and the pole was badly twisted