The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1903-05-12

"a Cape Fear river. at a point
near Carolina Beach, was the scene Of
4 fearful accident yesterday afternoon,
that resulted n n %frightful death for a
We'll known young man of this city and
ur-fnaginaDie bodily agony for three
OF ers- The frightfuI occurrence hap
peIed aboard the government tug
Cy"tkiS and was Cue 10 the blowing out
of the rear plate of the lower part of
the furnace which permitted the steam
1nd boiling water to escape in all it's
Gigantic might. and wreak death
and destruction
The "cad is Mr.. J. a. Dicksey. aged
- year. engineer on Tho tug.
and the inIure1 are A. Lovinier cook
badly scalded " face. arms. chest and
legs, JHnn Warren. fireman. badly
seeded on face arms n chest: and
Frank Jackson. coIOred. also a fireman.
probably fatally scaided. the burns
covering his face and entire BODY
t'- sore time past the Cynthia has
been hauling COWS fOr the government
drc.s-r AJAX. which has been working
on iLIput snOal*. Wednesday the tug
VS. IN p'rt here. but returned to its
80 bAt AGA 1IuESulJ morning.
fcStClday afternoon, about 1:4O
ocLOcN. tie ting started to get a loaded
ScCW IRON the dredge and Just at that
time the awful accident occurred. The
plate ~ Ike furr ace noted above blew
our ant n steam and water imme-
dlateIy rushed ont of the mouth of the
furnace with irresistible fury. This, of
cours-. happend N the fire room. which
IS beloW the engine apartment. both
being att
There VAS 20 one in the fire room at
the time, bu in the engine room there
we're thc engineer. Mr.. Dicksey. and the
co'oret fireman, Jackson. Upon these
TWO oil" ire W~atlr of the explosion fall.
II tHe time The former was reclining
u Il L and thc latter was attending
- sore mart Of tie machinery.
The explosion literally splintered to
pieces the floor of The engine room. and
NJ steam ct uck both OF the occupants
with Gll its frightfuI force. Mr.. Dick
~ was blown eff the couch and fell
through The broken flooring into the
SearinS, Kissing steam and boiling wa
ter befoT, and tn. negro was blown off
his feet, but fortunately managed to
save himself from falling into h
Hg0n,ZInS pit of living death below.
When the explosion occurred another
fireman, MI john Baker. was
sitting On the bout raj! just outside h
fire room. and NJ. \. LovinIer. the cook
~ 4lN bSr 80 1881 - ~ NAI lAoA4IC
room door The stearI hit them both
and kuDCi-e thCm overheard. Both
being good swimmers they managed to
keep above water until rescued by Il
yavyI sent ont f,1m the Ajax, though
the eNaIttOn OF swimming caused the
men untold suffering. IS their condition
wa" pitiaTle % behold They We're ter
hibIy soaked and the kin was peeled
OF from their faces. arms and chests in
large sheets. Mr. Lovinier. when
rescued. va CliuCIug tua hatch. which
had bcpI blc"-n off the cynthia by the
explosion.
All this time the scene aboard the
Cynthia was horrible in its frightful-
Ness
Ire negro 5acl son was scaIded un-
recognizable and was intensely suffer-
iuA VII |" Mr. DiCkSey's agony was
awful L" behold. 1t took some time for
Can't Price and the three members of
thu Cr-W not injured to rescue him from
the fire room, where the steam and
bCilin'; water still ragged. and all the
While his suffering was heartrending
Tie AsIx tine he accident happened
sounded the signal of distress and sent Il
yawI. commanded by Capt. D. s. Ben
der JT.. to TIE, rescue of the men blown
overheard The Tug Alexander Jones.
m1Strr-l by Cart. T. J. Pepper. was
just about the rSh factories when the
explosion took place. and Immediately
upon ErTring thC distress signal put on
full spec / and went to the Cynthia. n
four injured men We're placed aboard
the Jou-S aud brought with all speed
to he city. Nearly all the way Mr..
D;ckS1y was conscious and begged
pi-nOU " for water. which was the
only thing ti:at IN any way relieved his
SUFFERING. He was burned from head to
fe@t ar.i his :1ce was rs black as coal.
Just before the Jones reached berth at
tn" gov ~Shipyard. at the foot
of Queen street. Mr.. DiCksey lost con-
sci0usucss an liN ed but a few minutes
after beng taken ashore.
The CIner three men also suffered ter
ribly- especially Jackson. from whom
the SKIN had been peeled until he was
wh.tH He and Mr.. Baker were placed
in the ambulance ana sent to the Ma
rim Hospital.
Mr.. L0vinier. though badly scalded.
was not as seriously injured as the
other two and was sent to his home,
No GOA South Front street. where DR.,
Wright Hall attended him.
\ Messenger representative saw him
shortly after his wounds We're dressed
AMI ont his eyes and mouth were des-
cerEab'e for the great amount OF
banIacc reuI:reI to cover and protect
the pa nful burns. He said that he
was jusC passing the engine door and
had SrO&en to Mr.. Baker. who was
sitting on the rail opposite the door
when tie explosion occurred. The
steam struck thcn 1ult IN the face anC
hurled ihcm O~v.rbOard.
The crew of the Cynthia consisted OF
eight. but the other four escaped in
Jury by being forward of the boat
ThCse who caHed are Capt. Jesse D
Price. VINO was in the pilot house. and
Mate John w. Foreman and Deck
H1nds Allied Mjlhnor and Chas. Full
wood. All of Wilmington. except
the Iast named, who is from Southport
As soon rs the Jones arrIve with
the injured men Mr.. r. c. Merritt
OF he United States Engineer Corps
had ev~e"yihing possible done for tbs
unfortunate. He also at once dispatch.