The Dickinson press., 1902-12-06
TERRIFIC EXPLOSION
BOILER IN ICE MACHINE PLANT
OF SWIFT G. co. BLOWS
UP AT CHICAGO,

Thirteen Persons Dead and as Many
Others Seriously Injured Police,
Firemen and Doctors Rush to the
Scene and Every Assistance Is Given
to the injured-Cause Of the Acct
dent Not Known.
Chicago Dec. Thirteen persons
are known to have been killed and
possibly hundred injured, at least a
score seriously, in q series of terrific
explosions in the boiler room Of the
ice machine plant OF Swift c; Co., at
the stock yards during the morning.
Hardly had the roar of the eXplod
ing boilers died away when the roof
of the Biesel Can company factory
at Fortieth street and Stewart ave-
nue., few blocks distant. fell in crush
ing six worlmen and injuring some of
them seriously.
Fragments from the death-dealing
boilers were blown to distance in
every direction, injuring those at
work in adjoining buildings. Refrig-
Grating Plant No. 8, in which the eX-
plosions occurred, was completely
wrecked and it is reported that not
single one of the seventy-tve men,
women and girls at work in the place
escaped unscathed. 1le names OF the
dead iciiow:
Henry Arnold, A. M. Bushnell.
Thomas Cubat, Thomas Holmes, John
Henry James Owens, William Parks,
Abe Rachug. Charles Schulz, George
Tate, Charles Webb, Edward Wright,
- O'Connor
The front OF the building was blown
out, and crashed into repair shop
across the street, completely demol-
ishing it. Another section of wall
crushed in the roof, and part of the
side of the voucher Office building
near by, where 100 clerks were at
work, and injured several. Windows
OF buildings tor blocks around were
Chartered by the conclusion.
Those in the lclrigerating plant who
were not killed outright We're cut off
from escape by the debris, and suf-
fered torture from the rush of steam
and the fires that broke out at
dozen different points.
Cries OF horror from the imprisoned
victims were heard above the noise
OF the falling debris, the hiss of es-
Gaping steam and the Shouts of the
hundreds who rushed to the rescue.
The ruins presented
A FrightfuI Scene.
Clerks from the offices of the various
packing concerns hurried to the place
in their shirt sleeves, and workmen
came from every direction to help
the injured and aid in the recovery
OF the dead.
Twenty ambulances and patrol wa
gons were hurried to the scene of the
disaster from the South side police
stations. Doctors within radius of
several miles were summoned. Every
| hospital on the South side was asked
| for aid.
The dead were carried to a point
half block from the ruins and laid
on the wooden sidewalk until ambu-
lances or patrol wagons arrived to
| take the bodies to nearby undertaking
establishments.
Immediate relief was given the in
| jured in offices and buildings adjoin-
ing the place. AS quickly as possi-
BILE the sufferers were taken in ambu-
lances to the hospitals.
| The work Of rescue was hampered
| by the thousands who rushed to the
scene and blocked the narrow streets
of the stock yards in their efforts to
see what had happened. The national
live stock exposition, which had just
opened in the new exposition building
within the main entrance to the yards,
was deserted by the crowds of out
of-toWn visitors, who fiocked to the
scene of the accident. They joined the
troops of curious from the various
plants in the yards and from the resi-
dences and stores for blocks around,
who had been startled by the thunder
OF the explosion.
The police and firemen were forced
to form phalanx and charge the
crowds to clear a path for the ambu-
lances and fire engines. When the
crowds had been pushed back to
make room for the rescuers a Gordon
OF police was thrown out to keep the
space clear about the ruins
No satisfactory explanation of what
caused the explosion can be secured
by the police. 1t was thought for a
time that the boiler which first blew
up and started the carnage might
have been allowed to run out of wa
ter, but later it was said that it's
connection with other boilers sup.
! nlind if with cuf6c,opt wotar NJ ,1I