Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1900-11-29
FATAL EXPLOSION.
Steaming Tank at Pioneer Pulp
Company's Mill in This City
Blown Up.
ACCIDENT OCCURS TUESDAY NOON.
Charley Pagel Killed and Others
Severely Injured.
ACCIDENT OCCURS TUESDAY NOON.
CAUSE OF ACCIDENT UNKNOWN.

Tuesday noon as the people of this
city were preparing to 90 to their
MONDAY meals the sound of a terrific
explosion attracted their attention
to the northern part of
the city, where clouds of steam. sm, Ike
and dust were seen to rise over the
mill of the Pioneer Pulp Co. MANY
hurried to the scene Of the accident,
knowing that fatal results must be
connected with the catastrophe as a
number of men are regularly employed
there and could not have yet left the
mill for their dinner.
The explosion had occurred in the
main cooking tank Of the mill, large
steel tank, 9 feet in diameter and
used for boiling pine chunks, cut about
is inches in length, to be ground up
afterwards into pulp, from which is
manufactured wood board. 1t was the
largest tank in the mill and because
Of it's great size was regarded by the
managers of the mill as incapable of
standing the steam pressure that the
Of her tanks could sustain with safety.
For this reason special care was taken
to keep the steam pressure in this
tank at about 30 pounds. The safety
valve was set at that mark, aud the
men who were experimenting the
tanks were Instructed to let off the
steam by valve in the rear of the
tank designed for this purpose, when
the safety valve indicated more than
40 pounds. The tank is made of 8-inch
boiler iron, and the end that was
| blown out was put in new about five
| years ago. The safety valve after the
explosion was found to be badly cor
roded and SO gummed up that it could
not be operated. How long it had
been in this condition is not known
but the management do not think it
was very long, consequently how much
| pressure of steam was on the tank at
the time Of the explosion was not
known. All that is known is that
there was more upon it than it could
stand.
The appearance of the mill and
grounds Immediately after the
accident plainly told the tale of the
| frightful explosion thai had occurred
The northeast corner of The mill had
been blown out and the boiler room.
just north of it. was almost a com
pete wreck. The tall sni>i.e e stack
lay IN pieces by the side of the
boiler room and on the ice of the mill
pond. The sides and front of the
steamlng tank that had exploded was
blown forward into the mill about 20
feet, while The other end of the tank
lay in the edge of the mill pOud
| where it had broken through the ice,
and in the boiler house and all about
the yard lay the chunks of peeled
wood that had been Steaming in this
nj
half way between the pulp mill and
the Grand Rapids Foundry lay the
dead and terribly mangled body of
Charley Pagel, the ice whereOn he
lay being red with his blood.
Some Of the chunks of wood from the
Isteaming tank were picked up in the
street at least two blocks away from
the mill.
Charley Pagel was engaged in
wheeling fuel with wheel barrow,
and at the moment of the explosion
he was directly in front of the end OF
the tank blown into the mill pond.
probably some 30 feet distant. He
was thrown at least 80 feet further
and killed instantly. He was an un-
married man SO years old and made
his home with his brother Fred. He
was highly regarded by his employers
and all the working men about the
mill. The funeral will occur today
from the German Moravian church.
Adolph Middlesteadt, who next to
Charley Pagel was the worst injured
man at the MILL is boy - years of
age, living with his parents on the
west side. At the time of the ex-
plosion he was working on one of the
wet machines, stripping the rolls as il
is called, and was directly in front of
the exploding tank. He was struck
by fragment of iron on he left side
OF the head, cutting a bad cash over
the eye and fracturing the skull. He
was picked up in an unconscious con-
dltIon and for time il was thought
he could not live. Dr. J. j. Looze was
called and found the skull fractured
on the left side near the top of the
head and depressed about an inch. the
llgaments about the left eye badly cut
but the sight will not necessarily be
destroyed. He was also badly scalded
on the left side Of the face, arm, hand
and side, and this Civ him the most
pain at the present time. With the
assistance of DrS. POmainville and
Boorman an operation was performed
on the broken skull, rest Oring it to its
original position. With ordinary good
luck now he should recover.
Just before the accident Fred
Pagel had left the tank that exploded
and went to the engine room
Henry Podawilrz, the fireman, was
standing with his back to the wall
of the building in the boiler room.
Both men were considerably hurt by
the falling debris, Fred receiving an
injury to his back and Henry being
cut on the head and bruised about
the body. Their escape with their
lives is almost miraculous.
The loss to the building and
machinery will amount to about ten
or twelve hundred dollars, and it will
be some time before operations can be
resumed again. The men at the mill
began operations Wednesday morning
clearing away the wreckage. 1t was
one Of the worst accidents that ever
occurred in the city. The following is
the finding of the cOroner'S jury that
was Investigating the case Tuesday
afternoon and Wednesday morning:
An inqui5iticn taken at Grand
Rapids. in the county of Wood on the
18th day of November, 1900, before T.
j. Cooper one Of the justices of the
peace Of the said county, upon the
view of the body of Charles Pagel,
there dead, by the jurors whose names
are hereuuto subscribed, who being
duly sworn to inquire on behalf OF