Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1902-12-05
ERRIFICEXPLOSI
BOILER IN ICE MACHINE PLANT
OF SWIFT 4 CO. BLOWS I
az. T. 1"z~s - -1sz 49,.
UP. At CHICAGO. f..

UP. At CHICAGO.
Thirteen Persons Dead and a. Many
Others Seriously injured -Poiice,
Firemen and Doctors Rush to the
Scene and Every Assistance lc Given
to the Injured-cause Of the Acct.
dent Not Known. -
Chicago, Dec. Thirteen persons
are known to have been killed and
possibly a hundred injured, at least a
score seriously, in q series of terrific
explosions in the boiler room of the
ice machine plant of Swift & Co., at
the stock yards during the morning.
Hardly had the roar of the explod-
ing boilers died away when the roof
of the Diesel Can company factory
at Fortieth street and Stewart ave
nue., a few blocks distant, fell in crush
ing six workmen and injuring some of
them seriously.
Fragments from the death-dealing
boilers were blown to a distance in
every direction, injuring those at
work in adjoining buildings. Refrig-
Grating Plant No. g., in which the ex-
plosions occurred, was completely
wrecked, and it is reported that not a
single one of the seventy.fve men,
women and girls at work in the place
escaped unscathed. The names of the
dead follow:
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 a repair shop
across the street, completely demoi-
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 for blocks around were
Chartered by the conclusion.
Those in the refrigerating plant who
not killed outright were cut off
from escape by. the debris, and SUI
fered torture from the rush of steam
and the fires that broke out at a
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 Frightful Scene.
Clerks from the offices of the various
packing 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
CONS were hurried to the scene Of the
disaster from the South side police
stations. Doctors within a radius Of
several miles were summoned. Every
hospital on the South side was asked
for aid.
The dead were carried to a point
half a block from the ruins and laid
on the wooden sidewalk until ambu-
lances or patrol wagons arrived tc
take the bodies to nearby undcrtakir:
establishments.
Immediate relief was given the in
jured in offices and buildings adjoin-
ing the place. AS quickly as posi-
BILE the sufferers were taken in anlbu-
lances to the hospitals.
The work Of rescue was hampeYeG
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 f1ocked to the
scene of the accident. They joined the
troops of curious from the various
| dences and stores for blocks around
OF the explosion.
The police and fremen were forced
to form a phalanx and charge the
crowds to clear a path for the ambu
lances and fire engines. When Tie
crowds had been pushed back t<
make room for the rescuers' a Gordon
of police was thrown out to keep the
space clear about the ruins.
No satisfactory explanation of wha'
caused the explosion can be secured
by the police. 1t was thought for {
time that the boiler which first blew
up and started the carnage nigh
have been allowed to run out of wa
ter, but later it was said that it:
connection with other boilers sup
piled it with sufficient water at al
times.
LOSS HALF A MILLION.