The Oskaloosa herald., 1901-11-28
The Bodies of Twenty-Six Men
Taken from the Ruins---Five
Are Unidentified.
Twenty Four Badly Injured Men Are
Lying in the Hospitals-o Others
Are Missing.
Gig Force of ReAcuers Hard at Work
Property Loss VIII Reach
$ISO,OOO.

Detroit, Mich, Nov. 27.-Twenty-six
men are dead, five of them unidenti-
fed, and so terribly burned and black
ened that Identification is almost i'm
possible, and "a other men are lying
in the various hospitals of the city
suffering from terrible cuts and burns
and other injuries, all results of the
explosion of one of the boilers in the
Penberthy Injector company's large
plant, at the corner of Abbott street
and Brooklyn avenue, at $3.50 O'Clock
Tuesday. Following are the dead:
The Victims.
r. Bryant A e. HOFFMAN, Joseph Cof-
fey, A. L. Miller, Eugene Bertram, Edward
Burtsch, Charles Marvin, Stephen Crisp,
Patrick Malloy, J. Frye and ten unidenu-
fed bodies.
THE INJURED-Samue Riley, engineer,
condition critical, bad burns; unknown boy
about 10, dying; A. T. Gilday, suffering
from burns; John HOftiein, badly burned;
John KlinewiCz, very badly burned, will
probably die; Herman Goldner, burned
about the back; Peter Doll, badly burned;
Tony Walker, foreman of the molding de-
partment, nose broken and badly burned;
John Vogt, bruised and suffering from
shock; James Nall, back injured; Sol
Graupe, slight burns; Bert Dickson, minor
injuries; John Dingal, injured about head,
John Schiable, badly burned; Julius Liebe-
ten, arm broken and slight burns; Ed
ward Liebeten, boy, burned; George KEEL
sey, head badly cut; Stephen Nachtigel,
slight; Ignatius Brock, slight; Gus Galley,
head and arm injured; William Knapp,
head cut and suffering from shock; Bert
Martin, leg broken; T. D. Crowley slight;
Louis Miller, slight; Mike Deranger, burned
about head; William Ager, several bad
burns and seriously bruised; William
Begeman, arm cut.
A Number Missing.
In addition to these, dozen or
more of the employees who suffered
comparatively slight injuries, aside
from the shock, were taken directly
to their homes. Twenty-Five men and
boys have not as yet. been located,
either at their homes or at the hos
pitfalls. The ten unidentified bodies
account for ten of these, and the Of
ticers of the company say they feel
positive that the major portion of
the remaining IS are at their homes.
The Wrecked Plant.
The Penberthy Injector company's
plant occupied half a square at the
corner of Abbott street and Brook
Ign avenue. 1t was composed of two
brick buildings, separated by a To-
foot alley. The rear building, in
which the boiler was located and
which was completely destroyed, was
three stories in height, 81 feet in
depth and 100 feet wide. The boiler
room was located in the northwest
corner of the hui%ing on the first
floor. 1t is impossible to tell exactly
how many men were at work in the
various departments of this rear
building when the explosion occurred,
but the officers insist that the number
was not over IS. There were four
boilers in the plant, two horizontal
ones which furnished steam for the
engines, ard two vertical boilers
which were used solely to test in
jectOrs. It was the horizontal boiler
that was in use Tuesday morning
which let 90 and caused the awful
loss of life.
Came without Warming.
The awful crash came without the
SLIGHTEST warning. Those in the front
building said it seemed like the con-
| Cussion Of an immense cannon. The
floors and roof of the rear building
bulged upward and then crashed
down with their heavy loads of ma
chinery and foundry apparatus.
Walls, roof and all dropped into a
shapeless mass of debris. Windows
| in houses for block around were
| broken by the conclusion and flying
bricks filled the heighboring yards.
a dense cloud of dust arose, and as
| 1t settled il was succeeded by denser
clouds of smoke and steam, and ag-
onized cries began to come from the
heap of tangled wood, metal and
bricks. Those who were only partly
buried frantically dug themselves
out and then as energetically turned
to digging for their comrades who
were buried deeper.
Fire Adds Its Horrors.
Flames broke out almost immedi,
ately and the horror of fire was
added to the sufferings of the i'm
prisoned ones. A fire alarm was
turned in and quickly responded to
Calls were sent out for all the am
balances in the city and they we're
hurried to the scene. Pending theii
arrival neighboring houses were
turned into temporary hospitals anG
those physicians who were in the vi
cinity eased the suffering ones a;
much as they were able. The frs
ambulances on the scene were totally
inadequate to carry those who haC
Already been eNtrlcated and express
wagons and similar vehicles were
pressed into service. AS soon as the
gravity of the accident was realized
calls for additional fremen were sent
in and the apparatus came flying tC
the scene from all parts of the city
While part of the firemen directed
their efforts at the fire which was
burning 6ereely in the center OF the