The weekly true Democrat. (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1905-1912, 1905-03-24
Scores of Lives are Bot
ted Out In Shoe Fac
tory at BrOckton.
MOST FRIGHTFUL HORROI
Boiler Gives Way Wfcakins Destruc
ton to BaiIdIug and Causing Rag
ing Fire Whereiu Many Work
efs Were crematsd Af-
ter Being Caught.

day morning. in which at least three
score Of her citizens lost their lives
their bodies being mangled and ere
mated, by the explosion Of boiler IL
q large shoe manufacturing establish
ment in the Campello district conduct
ed by the r. b. Grover Company.
The explosion was Immediately fol
lowed by q fash OF flame which con
sumed the factory, long four-story
structure, and incineratcd an unknown
number Of men and women who were
unable to extricate themselves from
mass OF tangled wreckage formed
by the terrific upheaval In the boiler
room.
1t may never be known just how
many persons persisted In the wreck
age No one knows exactly how many
persons were in the factory. The.
number has been estimated at 400. but
Treasurer Charles o. Emerson Of the
Grover company said he doubted
whether there were so many at work
Two hundred and fifty survivors have
been accounted for and at midnight'
Monday night the remains OF ffty|
bodies had been recovered from th9|
ruins, the search being continued All
night Fragments OF human frames
which possibly might belong to bod
les other than those enumerated have
also been found. Few OF the remains
have been identified. The head ia
nearly every case is missing and ex.
cept in rare instances 1t was impos.
sible even to distinguish the sex.
The work Of identifying those killed
progressed slowly. owing to generally.
unacceptable remains OF the vic
Tins.
Explosion Followed by Flrv,
The explosion which was followed
by such a sacrifice of life and en-.
tailed appalling instances Of human
suffering occurred shortly after the
operatives had settled down 10 work
for the dOy. Suddenly the air VT
brated with the roar of an explosion.
At the same moment the larger wood.
en- frame OF the factory, fouT-story
] uuANdIGh Ann AAl0h AhN ANNA
portion of It collapsed. In fraction
OF a second this section Of the great
building had been Transformed into
a mass of iron and wood wreckagd,
In the midst of which human beings
were pinioned. In another moment
FIRE had broken out in the debrtsian
death by fire and suffoeation became
the fate Of scores Of the operatives.
When the boiler exploded 1t passed
upward almost perpeRdiculArly. tear
ing passage as It went, killing many
on the way. After rising high Ia the
air, II descsnded half the dllience,
and then swerving northeriy. tore its
way like some huge projectile through
asawpiiing house 80 fest sway and
pierced another dwelling further along.
dsmOlishlng the latte structure. Here
its course was stopped.
| Scenes o. horror follOwedN the
wrsnchlRt Rpnft q the factory build
ing. In the rear the three upper
doors. weighted as they were with
heavy machinery, collapsed with q
crash that was heard for blocks. Men
and women operatives working in de.
partments OF this section. wpo were
busy at their mbohines. had lime but
to turn in an attempt % Gee after
the arst DUH roar. when the Scoring
sank beneath them. and they were car
RED to the ground floor. crushsd and
and bruised amid the mass Of debris
Many fen into a veritable fiery fur
mace. In the sections OF the factory
which remained standing the opera
tives were panic-stricken a. theI
sought TO escape.
Many hed down the staiTwa3s and
reached the street; others ran 10 thu
windows. the IRE escapes In mani
cases have been torn away BY the
explosion. In desperation many jump
ed from the second and thlrd-storl
windows To the ground and were dan
gerously injured. The crush en- The
stairways resulted In numerous mines
injuries,
Instant death was the fate Of !
majority who went down win thu
floors that collapsed. A largo mum
J E,bar ,of men And women Who wet'
, | ~,orlring naar the aetiDpOrtS Wol hIIE|