Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1901-12-05
,CnARRtD AND BLACKENtD BODIES
MOST OF THE DEAD so TERRIBLY
BURNED AS TO BE UNRECOG.
NIZARLE.
FIRE ADDS TO HORROR OF SCENE
LARGE BUILDING BLOWN INTO A
SHAMELESS MASS OF
DEBRIS.

Detroit, Nov. 2S.-Twenty- seven men
dead, five of them unidentified and so
terribly burned and blackened that
ide MITIGATION IS almost impossible, and
twenty-four other men lying in the
d, arious hospitals of the city suffering
from terrible cuts and burns and other
irjrries, results Of the terrific explosion
of one of the boilers in Penberthy In
jector company's large plant in this
city. In addition to these a dozen or
more of the employees, who suffered
comparatively slight injuries, aside
from the shock, were taken directly TO
their homes, Sixteen men and
boys have not as yet been located eth
The five unidentified bodies account for
five of these, and the officers Of the
company say they feel positive that
the major portion of the remaining
fifteen are now at their homes. A
great force Of men spent the night
searching the ruins by. electric light.
ans the work will not be stopped until
every foot Of the debris has been ex-
arnined.
With an Awful Crash.
The Penberthy Injector company's
plant occupied half a square at the
corner of Abbott street and Brooklyn
avenue. It was composed of two brick
buildings separated by a sixteen-foot
alley. The rear building, in which the
boiler was located, and which was COM
pletely destroyed, was three stories in
height, tifty-four feet in depth and 100
feet wide. The terrible crash came
without the slightest warning. Those
in the front building said it seemed
like the conclusion of an immense can
non. The oors and roof of the rear
building bulged upward and then
crashed down with their heavy loads of
machinery and foundry apparatus.
Walls, roof and all dropped into
-shapeless mass of debris. Windows in
houses for block around were broken
by the conclusion, and flying bricks
filled the neighboring yards. A dense
cloud Of dust arose, and as 1t settled
and was succeeded by denser clouds Of
smoke and steam, agonized cries began
to come from the heap of tangled wood,
metal and bricks. These who were
only partly buried frantically dug
themselves out, and then as energet-
ically turned to digging for their COM
rades who were buried deeper.
Horrors of Fire Added.
Flames broke out almost immedi
ately and the horror of fire was added
to the sufferings of the imprisoned
ones. A fire alarm was turned in and
quickly responded to. Calls were sent
cut for all the amtulances in the city
and they were hurried to the scene.
Pending their arrival neighboring
houses were turned into temporary
hospitals, and those physicians who
were in the vicinity eased the suffering
ones as much as they were able. The
first ambulances on the scene were to-
tally inadequate to carry those who
had already been eXtricated and OK
press wagons and similar vehicles were
pressed into service. In a compare
lively short time all the laborers who
could work to adv antage were fever
ishly throwing ana pulling the debris
out into Brooklyn avenue, where it was
loaded into wagons and carried off.
The floors and roof had fallen at an
angle and formed a sort of huge cover,
under which the fire burned fiercely.
Not until the firemen had chopped
through this did their streams begin
to have an appreciate effect on the
flames. The sufferings of those who
We're buried beneath were later nutely
testified to by their charred and black
ned bodies. Engineer Riley was among
the first to be dug out from the wreck.
his escape was
Little Short of Miraculous.
When the boiler let go he was knocked
to the floor and one Of the smaller
testing boilers was blown over his
prcstrate form in such a way that one
end rested on some debris high enough
above him to form a shield that kept
the falling timbers, bricks and ma
chinery from crushing him. The escap-
ing steam, however, burned him fright
fully. After his arrival at Grace
hospital Rileys first words were:
How did it happen? The engine and
boilers were all right" Gradually the
rescuers worked their way downward
through the pile. BY this time there
were no cries or groans to aid them.
for the flames had destroyed those I'M
fcrtunates who We're not killed by the
explosion or the fall. But the work Of
rescue continued with undated haste.
In several cases the charred corpsas
were SO hot when recovered that they
could scarcely be handled by the under
takers and assistants. Subscriptions
for the relief of the sufferers have been
sterted.
Nothing is known yet about the cause
of the explosion. The boilers had re-
Gently been inspected and the engineer
was known us one of the most careful
men in the city.
"IIELL-BOUND IlPOCRITIG."