The Saint Paul globe., 1903-01-23

which fired the impalpable, powdery flouf
dust and caused a terrific explosion, or
rather a series Of terrific explosions, kill
ing outright eighteen men and doing dam
age to the extent Of nearly e $50, 900
sterling.
1t is supposed, too, although the fact
was never actually proven, that to sim
liar inexplicable accident was due the
tremendous explosion which, on July g.
1872, wrecked the Tradeston flour mills
az GLASGOW and resulted in the loss Of
no fewer than fifteen valuable lives.
Safety valves, after working smoothly
and conscientiously for years, are apt sud-
denly to cease to act, apparently for no
reason whatever but that of pure ''cussed-
ness. Sometimes they are found out in
time, sometimes not; in which latter case,
OF course, the resultant effects are very
serious.
At Redcar, in July 1875, twelve. boilers
blew up simultaneously, owing to one Of
these little fits of eccentricity on the part
of a safety valve, killing twelve persons
outright and 1nJurIng many others. In
January, 1899, at Messrs. Hewett & Co.'S
works at Barking, similar accident-but
one boiler only-occuTed through SIM
liar cause, and ten persons were killed.
On March 25, 1890, just as the paSsen-
gers of the Inman liner City Of Paris were
congratulatng themselves on the speedy
termination OF a pleasant and uneyentful
voyage between New York and Liverpool,
there came from the engine room a single
sharp crack, like the swapping Of a walk
ing stick, only louder"
No one took much notice of it; indeed
the sound was only audible to those in it's
immediate vicinity But a few seconds
later, from the bowels of the mammoth
vessel there rose such a succession of
crashes, accompanied by the grinding and
rending Of steel against steel, AM fol-
lowed by--mOst ominouS sound of al-the
hiss of escaping steam, that her $50 pas
sengers and $40 crew poured on deck as
one man.
It turned out that the breaking of a
single piece Of the powerful yet delicate
mechanism in the engine room had at first
disarranged the workings, and ultimately
wrecked all the remainder; 50 that, with
in five minutes or SO of the alarm being
given, the liner was left lying helpless
in the trough of the sea, without either
machinery or sailing apparatus, mere
log at the mercy of wind and waves
What might have happened under these
circumstances the pen shrinks FROM pic
which had been sent to seek assistance
returned with it three days later, and OH
March 20 the disabled vessel was towel
into Queenstown without the loss Of a
single life
It was the afternoon of July Is, 1893,
WheU the connecting rod Of the engine
which was drawing the :15 Great West
ern from Windsor to Paddington sudden
ly snapped while running at full speed.
and the fractured end, Whirling round
with terrific velocity broke through the
firebox.
1he immediate result of the accident
was that the driver and stoker Walter
veloped in clouds of white hot cinders;
yet they stuck to their posts realizing,
as they remarked afterward, something
Of the frightful consequences that would
inevitably. ensue did they obey their first
natural impulse and abandon the train to
it's fate.
Nor did they jump even when the mad
ly-whirling bar Of Jagged steel crashe%
through the boiler itself and by releas-
ing upon them clouds Of superheated
steam, added immeasurably to their al
ready well-nigh intolerable sufferings.
Only when the locomotive was at
ACTON station aid thev at e}gth } tbTDw
themselves from the footplate onto the
track, charred. scalGed blinded and MAIN
ed, but proudly whispering, even as mer-
ciful death gripped them. Of duty done
and lives saved.-Pearson's Weekly.