The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-06-05
5000 CATTLE cREMATED
The Streets Are Rivers OF
Burning Liquor.
Those who Lose Life Are Buried Ne
meath Ruins which Result from
a series of Terrific
Explosions.

Peoria, ILL.,, June 4-Ien men Wele
killed, a score injured, 10000 barrels
of whiskey destroyed. and $500 cattle
burned to death as the result of an ex-
plosion at the plant of the Corning
Distillery Company this evening. The
immense warehouse in which the ex-
plosion occurred was destroyed and
three other buildings were Quilted by
flames. The property loss Is more
than $1,000, 900. 1t is thought that the
death list will be increased The
Corning Distillery plant is. said to De
the second largest in the world.
The ten men were buried beneath the
ruins by. the explosion and burned TO
death. Six others were seriously in
tured. The loss to the distillery Will
Approximate $1,000, geo. The fire spread
a, the stock yards, where a dozen large
cattle barns, filled with cattle. were
burned. The loss to the stock yards Is
$25o,0oo.
The dead: Fred Knoll Louis Ben
rend, John Hobecker, Joe Zimmerman,
Louis Sax. William Finley, Jr.. E. w.
Brown, M. Crowl, John Leppin, VIII
liam Field.
The injured: Adam Werner, Edward
Werner. Elmer Hogan. J. B. Marshall,
James M Miller, Allie Feinberg.
Explosions In Warehouse.
The explosion occurred In an eleven
story warehouse, the third catastrophe
in less than a year to overtake the as
ttllery. Two other explosions followed
in rapid succession, but their cause mas
not been determined.
Fire followed the explosion. Tne
plant soon was surrounded by thous-
ands of persons, who were unable to
get close to the structure on account
of the heat The warehouse. contain
ing in the neighborhood of 10000 bar
rels of whiskey, was seethlng caui-
dron The warehouse in crumbling, set
fire to the smaller structures, while
whiskey from the burning barrels
flooded the street and ran in streams
toward the river. In a short time
there was foot of whiskey in the
cattle pens east OF the warehouse. This
whiskey river burned furiously and the
bellowing of the $500 steers, chained
fast was pitiabIe. Their distress last
ed only a few moments, however, for
they were soon roasted or suffocated
by the deadly fumes.
Two large fermenting houses were
soon food for the flames, being almost
destroyed. The fremen made a gal
liant fight against great odds.
A high wind was blowing and fan
ming the flames in the direction of the
Monarch distillery. For time 1t was
feared that the fire would sweep along
the entire river bank, but by o'clock
the FIRE was, under control
Elmer Hogan was at work in the
warehouse when the collapse came. He
was washed out through a break In the
building by the big stream of whis-
KEY. He was carried seventy-fve feet
towards the river before being lodged
against a fence, from which he escaped
before the tire overlook him. He cam
not recover.
Saw Companion Killed.
Fred Knoll and william Finley had
1ust left the building when the explo-
sion and collapse came. Finley turned
Just in time to see the wall fall on his
Companion.
It is believed that all the Govern
ment men have escaped. The ware
house, where the first explosion occur
red, was an eleven-story frame struc-
ture, covered with corrugated iron. II
was 100 by 200 feet and contained 30
900 barrels of spirits. Another ware
house containing the cistern room. was
a three-story brick building 90 by 200
feet 1t contained in the neighborhood
of $4,000 gallons of spirits. In the two
fermenting rooms which were 100 BY
$50 feet, were eighteen tubs with a ca
pacity of 1000 bushels of mash each
They were filled and contained about
5000 gallons of spirits each. All thi:
went up in flames and added to the
general loss.
The houses of Dan Giese and Johr
Mcdonald were burned and the fami
lies had narrow escapes.