Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1905-09-08
TIE MACRAf TRAGEDY
Believed That the Explo-
sion was a Spontaneous
One

A&sedr S0vlce0 from California
change oonsiderably the details Of the
terrible disaster oy which Mr.. 4. ".
MaoRae and her little son. formerly
IF this city. lost their lives In the
Amalie mining district In California.
It seems that the explosion was q
spontaneous one, and that Mrs. Mac
Rae did not have tho box Of explosiv ves
In her hands. The following IL from
the Bakeraeld Echo Of August 9oth:
The inquest on the bodies Of Mrs.
A. W. MacRAe and her son George,
who were killed by an accidental ex.
plosion Of dynamite on Thursday af-
ternoon. was held yesterday noon ar
Cliente.
The facts regarding the accident
were brought out at the inquest. The
party had taken day off from their
usual work on the principal mine, and
were going to an old mine that had
not been worked for some time The
dynamite was for use in making some
prospect blasts In the old mine. Be.
sides the dynamite the party had drills
and other touls necessary for the
work.
They had gone as far as possible
with the wagon and Mr.. MacRae was
preparing to carry the drills and
other tools the remainder of the way
on one Of the herses. The box of
dynamite. according toll Mr.. MacRae's
best recollection, had been taken from
the wagon and was lying on the
ground. Mrs, MacRae was intending
to get the lunch ready, while Mr..
MacRae was taxing the tools to the
mine, and had begun her prepara-
tione.
Mr.. MacRae had just kissed the
little boy and climbed on the horse
when the explosion occurred. He said
that he thought at first tnat 1t was an
earthq uake. he found himself forty
feet from the horse which he had been
riding and the animal was standing
in dazed way looking around. Mr..
MacRae was 10 stunned that he
walked over to the horse before he
realized what had happened. Then he
looked around and saw first his little
con and then Oscar Duclos lying on
the ground.
The little boy was dead when his
father cot to him, and the wounds in
his body showed that death must have
been instantaneous.
AZ for the body of Mrs. MacRae
there was practically nothing left of it
except the legs from the knees down
and part Of the skull and the scalp
which were hanging in the top of q
bush, The trunk and arms were torn
to shreds and scattered 10 thst It was
impossib BILE to assemble them.
While no one was looking ar Mrs.
MacRae at the moment of the explo-
sion Mr.. MacRae is quite certain that
che did not have the bcx of dynamite
in her hands. It had been placed on
the ground and there was no occasion
for her moving it. Mr.. MaoRae be-
iieves that owing to the heat to which
the explosive had been subjected it
had reached the point where the e.
ploeion was spontaneous.
A telegram was received last night
from brother of Mrs. MacRae In the
east. who is coming to Bakersfield to
take cnarge Of the bodies. The first
telegram sent the brother was that
Mr.. MacRae was killed also, and the
brother sent instructions to prepare
their bodies for shipment east.
Oscar Ducloe' wounds are about as
described In yesterdays "Echo. :"
They are serious, but he will recover
and will probably not be crippled or
permanently injured in any way. The
little boy from Los Angeles Is only
slightly hurt as already stated.