Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1901-11-28
GREAT LOSS OF LIFE
DETROIT BUILDING is WRECKED
BY BOILER EXPLOSION.

Besides List of MortaIities Many
Others Are Badly Hurt and Still
More Are Missing-Large Force Of
Rescuers at Work Searching Ruins
Detroit, Nov. 27.-Twenty-seven are
dead, five of them unidentified, and
SO badly burned that Identification is
almost impossible, and "a other
men are lying in the various hospitals
of the city suffering from cuts and
burns and other injuries, all resulting
from the explosion of one Of the boil
ers in the Penberthy Injector comp
pany's large plant at Abbott street
and Brooklyn avenue at $3.50 yester-
day forenoon.
Following are the dead: A. e.
Hoffman, Louis Henning, Patrick
Malloy, A. E. Miller, Eugene Bertram,
R. Mulkey, Joseph Coffey, Charles
Melvin. Joseph Koseck. Stephen
Chrisp, George Schenor, Charles Lidy,
Jacob Keobel, William Mann, CHS
TOPPER Mailman, Robert Greer. Ed
ward Burch. John Schaille, Richard
Ryan, Douglas Dickinson, Peter Dole.
five unidentified bodies.
Seriously injured: Unknown boy,
about Is years old, dying; John Hof-
flein, badly burned; John Klinswiez,
will probably die; Peter Doll, badly
burned; Tony Walker. foreman of the
molding department. nose broken and
burned; Samuel Riley. engineer, bad
burns, condition critical.
Many Are Missing.
Eighteen men and boys have not
as yet been located either at their
homes or at the hospitals. The five
unidentified bodies account for five of
these.
A great force of men are searching
the ruins and work will not be stopped
until every foot Of debris has been
examined.
The Penberthy Injector company's
plant occupied half square of
ground. It was composed of two brick
buildings separated by a 16-foot al
ley. The rear building, in which the
boiler was located and which was de-
stroyed, was three stories In height.
It 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
company officials insist that the num-
Der was not over IS. There were four
boilers in the plant. two horizontal
ones, which furnished steam for the
engines, and two vertical boilers.
which were used solely to test In
jectors. It was the horizontal boiler
that was in use yesterday morning
that caused the awful loss of life.
Fire Adds Its Horrors.
The awful crash came without the
slightest warning. Those in the front
building said 1t 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 machinery
and foundry apparatus. Walls roof
and all dropped into shapeless mass.
Windows in houses for block around
were broken by the concussion and
flying bricks filed the neighboring
yards. A dense cloud Of dust arose
and as it settled and was succeeded
by denser clouds of smoke and steam.
agonized cries began to come from the
heap of tangled wood, metal and
brick. Those only partially buried
frantically dug themselves out and
then as energetically turned to dig
pin Or fNv. fhnir 4
led deeper. Flames broke out almost
Immediately and the horror of fire was
added to the sufferings of the impris-
oned ones.
Almost Immediately after the fire
alarm was turned in calls were sent
out for all the ambulances in the CITY
and they hurried to the scene. Pend
ing 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 totally
inadequate to carry those who had al.
ready been extricated and express
wagons and similar vehicles were
pressed into service.
Work Of Saving Lives.
AS soon as the gravity of the acct.
dent was realized calls for additional
aremen were sent in and apparatus
came flying to the scene from all parts
OF the city. While part of the firemen
directed their efforts toward the fire,
which was burning iercely in the
center of the ruins, the greater num-
Der of them seized axes and crowbars
and began prying out the victims who
could be seen or whose faint cries
were audible.
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 appreciable
effect on the flames. The sufferings
of those buried beneath were muteIy
testified to by the charred and black
ened bodies.
Gradually the rescuers worked their
way downward through the pile. BY