The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1900-12-07
A DEADLY EXPLOSION
Five Killed and Thirteen In
jured In Chicago.
RAILWAY POWER HOUSE DEMOLISHED
A Passing Train Struck by Flying
Fragments of the Boiler and Sew
eral Passengers Hurt-Cause
of Accident Mystery.

| OF u
CHICAGO, Dec 4.-Four men and
one boy were instantly killed and ID per-
sons injured by the explosion of a boiler
in the power house of the Chicago and
! Northwestern road last evening. Several
of the injured are hurt SO badly that they
may die.
The power house was a two story
| structure which stood west of the pas
senger station and north of the tracks
| leading into it. On the first floor was the
boiler room, containing a battery of four
boilers, and the dynamo room, which
held nine dynamos. Twelve men were
employed around the building, and in adj
dtiOn to such of these as were present
at the time a number Of strangers were
standing around watching the dynamos.
Four of those killed were people not en-
ployed by the road, and all four bodies
were taken to the mOrgue unidentified.
1t is not known what caused the explo-
sion, as everything in the boiler room
seemed in excellent condition, according
to the uninjured men who worked in the
place. At few minutes past o'clock
one of the boilers in the center of the
row of four burst with a defamation that
was plainly heard at points a mile dis
tant The end of the boiler nearest the
tracks was the weak part of the struc-
ture, and it flew toward the depot tracks
and landed fully 10 feet away from its
starting point. The boiler itself, which
weighed ten tons, lies 60 feet from the
boiler house.
Just as the explosion occurred the Ash
land limited train was pulling out of the
station. The greater part of the train
had passed, and, though the cars were
all heavily battered with falling brick
and debris, none of them was badly dam
aged, and the passengers within them es-
capped unhurt.
The last two cars, a Pullman sleeper
and a drawing room car, were not so for
tunate, and the boiler head and the boiler
itself caught them. The boiler struck the
car in the rear, while the boiler head
plowed through the one Immediately in
front Fortunately both flew high and
struck the cars above the windows, car
rying away portions of the roof and YES
tibule. But few of the passengers hap
pened at the time to be in the ends of
the two cars hit by the flying metal, and
such of them as were hurt were struck
by flying splinters or suffered from being
thrown violently to the floor.
On the train were Mr.. and Mrs. Au-
gust Beck of Milwaukee and Mrs. and
Mr.. William Becker of ShebOygan, Wis.
Both couples were returning from their
bridal tour, and all four were injured.
Mrs Beck was dashed against a seat in
the car and sustained internal injuries
which may prove fatal. Neither of the
cars was thrown from the track, and the
engine drew them quite distance before
coming to a stop. Traffic, however, was
interrupted for several hours.
The destruction of the electric lighting
plant plunged the depot into darkness,
and the pile of debris which was thrown
across the tracks temporarily blocked the
suburban traffic of the road.
Every attention was shown to the
wounded by the officials of the North
western road. All were conveyed as
quickly as possible to hospitals, where
their wounds were dressed.
The property loss to the road will not
be far from 100000 The boiler house
was practically reduced to a ruin, two
sides being blown completely out, and the
costly electric plant was nearly torn to
pieces.
The regular traffic of the road was de-
layed about four hours, it requiring that
length of time to clear the tracks. The
cause of the explosion is a mystery, the
boilers having been inspected by the in
surance companies Sept. l and Nov. l
and being reported in perfect order.