The Wilmington daily Republican., 1901-11-27
TWENTY-SIX KILLED
Terrible Explosion In a De-
troit Factory.
SCORES ARE INJURED and MISSING.
The Crash Came without Warning,
D~nolishing Buildings and Bury
Ing W0rkmen In RMinS-CRuse
Of CataStrOpbe Unknown.

Of CatastrOpbe Unknown.
DETROIT, Mich. Nov. 27.-Twerty-
six men are dead. five OF them uniden-
titled and 40 terribly burned and black
ened that Identification Is almost im-
possible. und twenty four other men
are lying in the various hospitals Of
the city. suffering from terrible outs
and burns and other injuries. all re-
suits Of tht'.-xplosion of one of the
boilers in the Penberlhy Injector com
pany's larg" plant al the corner Of Alb.
bott street and Brooklyn avenue.
All night a great force of men was
searching the ruins by electric light
aud the work will not be stopped un
I'll every foot of the debris has been
examined.
The Prnbrrthy Injector rompanys
plant occupied half square at the
corner OF Abbott street aild Brooklyn
avenue. II was composed of two brick
buildings, separated by sixteen foot
alley. The rear building. in which the
boiler was located and which was com.
pletely destroyed. Mas three stories in
height. - feet in depth and 100 feet
wide. The boiler room was located at
the northwest corner Of the building
on the first floor Ii was in this build.
Ing thai most of the manufacturing
was done.
The first floor was utilized as the Ell
2inc and boiler room and Il room for
testing the output Of the plant. The
finishing and brass manufacturing de-
partment Was located on the second
floor. and the third floor was devoted
TO the foundry 1t is impossible to tell
exactly how many men were at work
in the various departments of the rear
building when the explosion occurred,
hut the officers insist that the number
was not over eighty-iive.
There were four boilers in the plant,
two horizontal ones. which furnished
steam for the engines, and two vertical
boilrrs, which were used solely to test
injcctors II was the horizontal boiler
tlu, was in use AMI which exploded
and caused the awful loss Of life.
The awful crash came without the
slightest warning. Those in the front
building said ii seemed like the concus-
sion of an immense c;lnnul. The floors
and roof of the rear building huScd
upward and then crashed down with
their heavy loads of machinery aud
foundry apparatus, Walls, roof and all
dropped into Il Shapefrss mass of de.
bris. Windows in houses for II block
arornd We're broken by the cunruSsion.
and flying bricks filled he nciglhoring
yards.
A dense cloud of dust arose, and IA
It settled and waS succeeded by denSrr
clouds of smoke and steam agoniZcd
cries began to come from the heap of
tangled wood. metal and bricks. Those
who were only partly buried franirnl-
ly dug themselves ont and then as enrr-
getically turned to digging for their
comrades who We're buried deeper.
Planes broke out almost Immediately.
and the horror of fire was added to the
suffering Of the imprisoned ones
Engineer Riley was among the first
to he dug out from The wreck. His ps
cape was little short Of miraculous.
When the boiler let so, he was knock:
ed to the floor. and one of the smaller
testing boilers was blown over his
PROSTATE form in such way that one
end rested on some debris high above
him. thereby forming Il shield that
kept the falling timbers. bricks and
machinery from crushing him.
The escaping steam, however. burn
ed him frightfully. After his arrival
at Grace hospital Riley's first words
were: How did it happen: The en-
gine and boilers were all right"
The property loss. according to Sec
rctary George w. childs, is about
$1So,OOO.
Subscriptions for the relief Of the
sufferers have been started. Nothing
is known as yet abuu, the cause of the
explosion The boilers had been re-
Gently inspected. and the engineer was
known MS one of the most careful and
capable men In the city. The firm has
already taken temporary quarters and
will resume business as soon as pos
sibln.