The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-03-14
DYNAMITE COST A LIE
AXEL CEDERBERG,S TERRIBLE
DEATH ON UNIVERSITY AVE.
NUE. YESTERDAY
HIS BROTHER BADLY HURT
They Were Using the Explosive TO
Get n Tree Trunk Out
of the Frozen
Ground.

Exploding dynamite instantly Killed
AXel Cederberg and dangerously injured
his brother, Charles Cederberg, shortly
after o'clock yesterday morning, while
the men were at work on an excavation
at Pelham and University avenues. The
shock of the explosion was terrific, while
the sound was heard more than a mile
away. Axel Cederberg was killed by the
heavy concussion and his body showed
scarcely any outward signs of the terri
BILE explosion. but his brother who was
standing short distance away, WIS bad
ly mangled about the lower limbs by fly
Ing pieces of stone and earth. Charles
Cederberg will probably recover.
Axel Cederberg lived with his wife and
one child at 1854 Fourth avenue south,
Minneapolis. He was twenty-six years
Of age
Charles Cederberg lives at 105 West
Thirty-fourth street, Minneapolis. The
brothers were engaged In digging an eX-
cavation for a building to be erected for
Charles w. Chase They worked for Os-
car Newstrom, of Minneapolis, who was
| doing the eXcavating on a sub-contract
| for Conrad & Lane of the Mill City.
The explosion resulted from an effort Of
| the brothers to thaw out a stick of dy-
| mantle with which they planned to blow
| up tree stump. They were the only
ones near the scene OF the explosion, ana
| the only story of the affair was CLEANED
from Charles Cederberg, as he lay, bleed
ing and torn, after the accident. 1t seems
that the men had previously used dyna-
mite for blasting purposes, and, in some
| hOu RI
When they encountered the tree stump
yesterday they decided to use blast. The
! dynamite was frozen, and the brothers
/ started a small fire to thaw it out. Over
the fire was placed a plate Of sheet fron
| and on this was piled loose sand. Into
! the sand was thrust stick of dynamite
| to gradually become warm: While wait
| ing Charles Cederberg walked about ten
| feet from the fire, while his brother re-
| manned watching the dynamite. 0cea-
| sionally Axel Cederberg reached into the
/ hot sand to see if the dynamite was get
ting warm. AT last he Informed ms broth
/ er that al was In readiness, and took tbs
| dynamite from the sand. But the eXpto-
i 4SiVe had gotten hotter than he expected
! and the stick burned his hand In an en-
i deavor to cool 1t Cederberg tossed it from
i one hand to the other. Charles Ceder-
i berg, standing a short distance away, at
| once realized the peril imminent and
/ started to run. Scarcely had he taken
| half a dozen steps when Axel Cederpefg
! dropped the stick Of dynamite and there
/ was a terrific explosion. Bits of rock
! and particles of the sheet iron plate new
/ through the air with the speed OF bullet,
I forming q perfect hail of deatlr=dealing
/ missiles. Charles Cederberg was struck
I about the lower limbs by a mass of the
4 .hvine debris and knocked down. with
! both limbs shattered. Axel Cederbsrg Was
i found dead within short distance OF the
l fire In the ground where the stick or
| dynamite was dropped was a hole several
I feet deep. The fact that Axel Cederberg .
! body was not mangled was doubtless due
i to his having been hurled into the air out
i of reach of the broken rock, though the
! conclusion was sufficient to Kill him.
| Charles Chase, who lives a block from
/ the scene of the explosion, was the first
/ to reach the place. He found Charles Ce-
I derberg lying close to the dead man,
/ showing that though badly injured him
! self, Charles had crawled to the aid Of
| his brother. Mr.. Chase at once summon
| ed Dr. Balcome, of St. Anthony Park,
and every possible relief was administer
| ed to the injured man. He was carried
| to the physicians office. and 9fterward
| removed to st. Mary's hospital, in Min
neapolis.
i The terrific force of the explosion was
| evident in many ways. The cap worn by
! the dead man was torn in two pieces,
| while trees near by were shorn of their
bark in places, and branches were cut
off as with a sharp knife. About a large
area where the dynamite fell the loose
| stones vanished, having been shattered
| and hurled away.
Coroner Nelson visited the scene of thu
accident and had the body of Axel Co
tkoA
| Later the body was taken to Minneapo-
| lis.