Bridgeton pioneer., 1903-12-03
THANKSGIVING DAYS
HORRIBLE TRAGEDY.

1t was just after ten O'Clock Thurs.
day morning when most distressing
and fatal accident occurred at the
rlant OF the Arctic Ice and Milk Com
pany. on Cohansey street. AS a result
one unfortunate fellow died that night.
and two other men, horribly injured,
are in most critical condition.
1t was an awful calamity and the
accident cast gloom over many who
had anticipated most happy and en-
joyable Thanksgiving day.
The Arctic Ice and Milk COMPANY
has model plant, equipped with all
modern machinery and appliances. In
the main, two story building, on the
first floor. are the double offices,
while directly back are two Elarge
rooms where milk is bottled. and
machinery is operated for the conduct
of the business of the concern.
Nearly in the centre of the large
room leading from the offices, with
the other machinery. has been milk
separator. This is machine with an
iron cylinder, in which is paddle or
wheel that makes six thousand revo-
lutions minute when the machine is
running at capacity. 1t is customary
to start this separator and run it about
half hour before milk is placed in
it, to permit it to attain it's full speed.
Yesterday morning before ten o clock
the separator was started in operation,
and had been running about twenty
minutes, and was running nearly at
it's full speed. At the time, in the two
rooms, were working at various occupa-
tions. five men among them being Nell
son Woodruff, John Waddingtons and
Charles Morton. Woodruff was in the
room adjoining the apartment where
the separator was operating, bottling
milk. Waddington. the ice cream
maker and Morton were in the same
room with the machine.
Suddenly there was report like
the discharge of heavily loaded gun.
Instantly hundreds Of pieces of broken
iron were flying in every direction,
crashing through doors and windows,
flying far out in the air, dealing de-
struction to the property, and worse,
fatal injury to the men. Without
warning. and for some reason for
which there is no explanation, the
separator shad burst, and the heavy
iron plating, broken in hundreds of
pieces, was thrown everywhere with
terrific. death dealing force.
Woodruff. who was at the bottling
machine, was standing back to the
machine. A flying piece of iron
struck him in the left leg near the
thigh, and he was knocked down.
He dragged himself the length of the
room toward a door leading to the
exterior. where he was picked up, a
trail Of blood marking the way in
which he had moved. Blood was
sprinkled over the bottling machine
and partially filed milk bottles.
Waddington was struck in the arm
and back, and Morton was hit by the
flying pieces in the head and upon the
chest.
James Fauver, who was at work
was in the act of STOPPING to pick up
something, when the crash came. A
death dealing piece of the iron few
over his head. just missing him.
Some small pieces struck a colored
man and caused some bruises, but
nothing of serious nature.
kThe building shows how great was
the force of the flying missiles.
Heavy three inch wooden doors were
punotured as so much cloth, partitions
were torn out and plastering ripped
from the walls. Bricks were cut as
with a knife, and huge wooden tank
lined with tin was broken and dam
aged.
The engine room of the plant is
hundred or more feet from the broken
machine. A large piece of the iron
plate was hurled through the door of
the milk room, SKINNED out under
the shed. traversed through the air,
unroofing wooden shed over some
stove pipe, and buried itself in the
brick walls Of the engine building
A piece of the plate was picked up
near Fox's livery stable on North
Laurel street.. 1t had torn through
the glass window and carried all this
distance and struck a tree with force
sufficient to shake it.
Immediately following the terrible
accident Mr.. Howard Sharp. Howard
S. Terrell, and others connected with
the concern made hurry calls for ply
sicians. using telephones and messen-
gers. The three injured men were