The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1900-02-13
BUT NO ONE WAS KILLED
THE CAUSE OF THE EXPLOSION
A MYSTERY,
SOME FIRST THOUGHT IT AN EARTHQUAKE
The Escape of the Men With Their Lives a
Mracle,5 he Power House a Wreck.
Loss About SIS, 600 With
$4,000 Insurance

Durham, \. O., Feb. 12.-tSpecla!.l =
Durhau's electric light power mouse is
nov only mass OF brick. mortar. broken
tiD' bers, and twisted and oroken ms
chinery. Everything is complete
wreck. debris is scattered all over .har
vicinity.
Between ) and 6 O'Clock Sund ~ after
noon our people heard dull detonat0n
and felt a shaking of houses in the city.
Many who did not hear the explosion,
thought that it was an earthquake. In
short time word flew over the city that
the electric light house had blown up.
Hundreds OF people men, women ana
children tiocked to the scene, in fac.
thousands have viewed the mass OF
wFeckage since that time.
Just what caused the huge boiler 10
explode Is not known. Various theories
as TO the probable cause have been ali
vanced but nothing can be told TO
certainty. The boiler was inspected
week or 50 ago and pronounced to be all
right. 1t has been advanced by some
that likely the explosion was caused 10y
Capitalization of the boiler.
Five men were injured in the wreck.
They We're: ii. 7. Brown. superinten-
dent; Clyde Dickson. engineer; Jas. l..
I-mey, lineman: William Burnett. fire
man: Alex Lyon. an outsider who hap
pened to pass by ut the time of the eX-
ploSion. The three first named are white,
and the other two cOlored. Dickson.
Lumley and Burnett were blown some
distance Brown was pinned beneath
some OF the wreckage, but succeeded IL
eXtTicating himself. A person who saw
the house when it went up in the air
says that Burnett was carried as high
as "a fairly tall telegraph pole. Mr.
Brown, the superintendent. seems the
least hurt of any of the i've men. lie
has Il wound on the head and on one
Of his limbs, but was able to he out
today. Mr. Lumley was badly burned on
face and hands. and appears to have
received Il blow of some kind in the back
He has a fine constitution and is getting
along nicely but as yet il cannot DE
told whether he will recover or noI
Mr. Dicksou's injuries were several
gashes on the head and one on the right
side Of the chin, limbs cut and bruised
His condition is not considered danger
Gus. Burnett and Lyon, the two colored
men, were injured about the head ami
body. Lyon is pretty badly injured. ami
his death has been reported several
times. At this writing he is getting along
very well, and his chances for recovery
arc considered good. How any escaped
without being instantly killed is almost
Il miracle.
The flying debris broke numerous
windows III the vicinity The rear Of
the court house, some distance away
u Il
being number of huge window ranes
broken The rear OF the Central Hotel
was also considerably damaged. \ piece
Of piping crashed into the room OF Mayor
NJ. +. McCown demolishing and smash
ing things considerably. The Seaboard
Air Line Railroad track was completely
blocked by brick and other debris, which
had to be cleared away before trains
could pass that point \ huge section If
the exploded boiler was thrown clear
across all the railroad tracks and into
the middle of Pettigrew street very nearly
fifty wards away \ tool house and cat
tie pen belonging to the Southern Rail-
way were wrecked by the flying debris.
A COW in u rear lot of the Central Hotel
was struck and hurt so badly that she
afterward died One man who had left
the building only a minute or so before
the explosions took place, sought refuge
under nearby freight car.
The loss will amount to some $1,000
or $4,000 There was $4,000 insur-
aDce on the boiler.
Durham will lie without lights. ii is
expected, for sometime to come. 1t +
expected that arrangements will be made
to rebuild as soon as possible. General
j. $. Carr, who owns most Of the stock.
in the Durham Electric Lighting Com
pany. is absent from the city. and Nc
cannot speak by authority Until new
power house is erected. our people will