The Birmingham age-herald., 1902-11-27
EDWARDS BODY IS
 BURNED ID A CRISP
Cause of Accident Is Not Known-one of the Injured Men May Die. Several Have Narrow
 Escapes.

poured through break in the
 furnace of tho Williamson Iron company yesterday morning at $40 o'clock and resulted in the death of General Manager Thomas J. Ed wards, whose body was burned to a crisp, and the injury of three men. The wounded men are: James P. Nc Anna1ly, a stovekeeper, seriously burned; Allen Moore, negro foun- drymen, struck in the side by heavy timber and badly injured; and Charlie Simpson, the 16-year-old son of J. 5. Simpson, secretary and treasurer of the Williamson Iron company, burned about the head and neck.
 The accident happened in the furnace at the corner of Powell avenue ana Fourteenth street, and the cause is not known. The first intimation that there was anything wrong with the furnace was when the mass of red hot cinders' slag and other materials poured through the break in the side of the furnace about ten feet from the ground and just above the large pipe which contains the air for the furnace.
 Run Just Made.
 A run had just been made and but for this fact there would have been about 80 tons of white hot iron to break through and 1t would have been impossible for those who were standing near to have eseaped. The metal has cooled and hard ened and is from six inches to four feet , deep on the floor of the foundry. Where Manager Edwards was buried the mass was about two feet deep and his body was completely covered, his legs being burned off between the knees and the thigh.
 The loss to the furnace will amount to about $500 or 5000 but the loss on ac- count of having to close down will be much more than that, and will probably run the cost to the company to about sSOOO, the estimate made yesterday after noon by Secretary and Treasurer Simp- son. The furnace will be closed down for ten days, by which time 1t is thought l the repairs will be made. The fire and 1 the slag remaining in the furnace is be- ing drawn out and as soon as 1t has sufficiently cooled the work of repairing
 
 the break will commence.
 Cause Unknown.
 The cause of the accident IS not known but it is supposed that some of the scaffolding on the inside gave away, dropping the slag down and 1t breaking through at this point, which was the weakest The hole in the side of the furnace is about IS inches or two feet in diameter.
 The red hot mass set fire to a number of the timbers which support the roof of the building and that of the store house which is just a few feet away. The fire |. department was called out and succeeded in a few minutes in extinguishing the flames, which did little damage.
 According to the statements of eye-wit- nesses there were six or seven people on the side of the furnace where the break occurred and as far as Is known at pres ent all of them escaped alive except MT. Edwards It is believed by several who were there that one negro, and possibly two, are buried beneath the pile of slag, but this will probably never be known un- less they are missed and reported, as | which would make 1t almost impossible to even find the bones. Around the furnace were General Manager Edwards. James McAnnaIly. Charlie Simpson, Allen Moore a negro, two other negroes and two white men, who were strangers to all present l Neither of the white men have been seen since the accident. but as they were ten l feet from the furnace 1t is believed they 1 escoped. When the break occurred Mir. Edwards looked up and then started to- wards the place. seeming not to realize exactly what had happened When he saw the metal coming out he turned to run and would have escaped had his foot | not caught on an iron bar lying on the ground. He fell and before he could move the metal had him in Its grasp and he was killed before he could say anything except "Oh ohi' It was impossible for | anyone to reach him, for the metal was | red hot and too soft to be walked on. The Injured.
 | Some of the metal splashed on Charlie Simpson, and his burns are painful and