The Big Sandy news. [volume] (Louisa, Ky.) 1885-1929, 1904-12-16
EXPLOSION.
NitrO-Glycerine Killed Three Men
and Did Other Damage.

fact that fearful explosion OF nj
had occurred in the Ohio
river at a point almost opposite
Clyffeside Park, when several hun
dred quarts Of this powerful explo-
sive was. in some unaccountable man
ner, set off.
How the 1900 quarts ignited will
never be known. for the three men
who were then in charge Of the car
go, James Brown, of Cleveland, o.;
Frank McGugin and John Coghlin. OF
Parkersburg, w. Va, were blown to
atoms. The life of the fourth man
in the crew, Henry Brown, Of Cleve-
land, O., was saved by his landing at
Catlettsburg at IL a. m. to get a
check cashed and secure provisions. |
He was to come down on a street |
car and meet the dangerous flotilla |
at Ashland.
The boats passed Catlettsburg at
IL a. M, and, when the explosion oc-
CURED, Brown at once was well
aware of what had happened. His
grief was pitiable in the extreme,
and he was in a dazed condition for
many hours afterward.
The nitro-glycerin was loaded on
barge, which was managed by four
of the most expert explosive hand
lers in the country. The men rode in
two skiffs. The shipment was from
North Pole, w. Va, the only place
along the river where this most pow
erful and dangerous of explosives is
manufactured, and consigned to
Frenger & Langley, the well-known
oil contractors of Maysville.
Probably the nearest persons to the
accident, besides the men who lost
their lives, were passengers on a Cam
den Interstate system street car,
which was passing half mile away,
when the explosion occurred. The
trolley pole was knocked from the
wire by the force of the explosion
and the glass in the windows smash
ed to bits. Passengers on the car
give a most vivid description of the
awful affair. They saw an immense
volume of water with logs and other
debris shot up into the air over 200
feet high, the fragments shooting like
arrows in every direction. Timber
RATS along the river bank were torn
to pieces, and logs scattered in every
direction. One log, 10 feet long and
20 inches in diameter, was hurled
through space to the top of the high
cliff below Clyffeside Park-near
three-fourths of mile distant from
the river. and 200 feet above the
street car line and roadway. The log
was hurled with sufficient force to
tear down, even at that distance,
a number Of small trees, and tore up
the earth and splintered the log. 1t
came down through the top of
large black oak tree, tearing large
limbs therefrom; and the log then
went end over end several times,
and finally was driven into the
ground.
The men, with their cargo, left
North Pole at an early hour Thurs
day morning, and travelled only in
daylight, flying the red danger flag.
They had tied up above Huntington
over Friday night
1t is thought the men had made
landing near the point Of the disast-
er. Several men at Vansant, kitch-
en- & Company's saw mill, at Keys
Creek, were engaged in stacking lum
Der out in the mill yards. One Of
the men, who was on a high stack,
says that, Just few minutes before
the explosion occurred, he noticed
two men go down over the river
bank at that point The force of
the explosion knocked these lum-
bermen from the stack, and render
ed some of them unconscious for
short time.
Small boys found small pieces of
human flesh scattered about the
river bank, and one good-sized por-
ton Of a human leg was found.
This was all that could be discovered
Of the men. Not a piece Of window
glass was left in the houses within
nearly mile of the explosion, and
many windows were wrecked in Cat
lettsburg and at all points between
there and Ashland; while numerous
glass were broken in houses in East
Ashland and at a few points down.
in the city. Windows and chimneys
were wrecked at Sheridan, o., and
In nearly all houses from Under
ground Crossing to Normal. The
cottage across the tracks from
Clyffeside Park, and the house Just
above Underground Crossing. did not
have a window glass left in them
in fact even the sash were wreck
ed, and in some cases, even the win
dow and door frames were twisted
out Of shape. None o. these houses
were nearer than three-quarters of a
mile to the scene of the disaster.
In speaking of the terrible dis
aster. Saturday evenings Hunting
ton Advertiser said:
THE force of the explosion was
felt throughout this city. Buildings
trembled, windows were shattered,
and the very earth seemed to shake.
At first thought many were Of the
opinion that the shock was an earth
quake. The big plate glass window
in the Dlehl building, on the corner
of Third avenue and Twentieth St,
was shattered into bits. and every
where in this city the explosion made
itself felt"