Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-03-20
news of relatives. Reports which sounded


The occupants of all these buildings had
little time to save their effects. Some bare
ly escaped themselves. Reinforced by the
arrival of other apparatus. however. the
department made a fresh attack, and at
ter a hard struggle succeeded in stopping
the spread of the flames, although the
Dahlborg block and one or two smaller
buildings had been ruined.
The Dahlborg block was occupied by the
owner as a hardware store. The upper
stories were given over to offices and to a
large hall. The block, with its contents
was valued at about $4,000 The loss on
the other buildings, including dwelling
houseA is estimated at about 5000 to
$1,000
The financial loss to r. B. Grover & Co.,
estimated at about $15O,0O0, is nearly offset
by insurance.
Many Left for Homes.
After the explosion many employees went
to their homes as soon as they left the
building. This added to the difficulty for
the police and factory foremen in compil-
ing reliable list of missing. The Brock
ton hospital was notified at once of the
disaster and hurried preparations were
made to receive the injured. All the am
balances, police wagons, and many street
available physicians and surgeons in the
city were sent up in hacks and by trolley.
First Work Of Rescue.
The first o fthe injured to be sent to the
hospital were two men suffering from
burns and fractured bones. They are
Andrew Lundell leg fractured, burned
about face and hands; Elmer H Dodge,
compound fracture leg, severely burned
about face and hands.
BROCKTON, Mass March 2O-The heat
of the fire was so intense that the work of
the fremen was carried on under great
difficulty. Attention was chiefly given to
the Grover building, especially that part of
1t which was nearest the botler-hOuSe and
in the early stages of the fire a number Of
employees were extricated from the ruins.
The flames, however, soon stopped the res
cue work AS soon as the ruins had cooled
sufficiently to permit the firemen, police
and factory employees searching the rebrice,
the wreckage was cleared away and the
charred bodies were removed. By II 80 a. M.
thirteen unidentified bodies had been re-
moved Some of the bodies had been
crushed OF apparently badly injured in the
collapse of the floors of the boilerroons.
Nearly all of the victims had been liter
ally precipitated into fiery furnace and
had seemingly met death instantly. The
friends and relatives Of persons reported
many of them in tears, attempted
to identify the charred remains, but 1t
was seldom that the slightest mark could
be found by which an Identification could
be made.
Nearly all of the remains were taken to
Buildings Burned.
The buildings burned, besides the Grover
factory and the Dahlborg block, include the
dwelling houses of John A. Peterson and Os-
car Peterson, the Old Tavern, a three-story
wooden structure, with stores in the base
ment and tenements above; the dwelling of
August Berger, q blacksmith, on Denton
street, in the rear of the factory, and DWELL
ings occupied by Sylvester Wright and by
John Taft, on Denton street
Two other houses were wrecked as the re-
nishes one of the peculiar incidents of the
explosion.
The boiler was thrown in a northerly d.
rection by the concussion. 1t passed COM
pletely through the upper part Of the house
occupied by David Rockwell, the engineer,
wrecking the dwelling, and, un-
in it's flight, passed on to an
other dwelling 100 feet further away, upon
which it fell, practically demolishing the
structure. This house was owned by Mrs.
Efie Hood The boiler now lies in the midst
of the fallen house. In the Rockwell house
Mr.. BockwelPs mother was sitting by
window as the boiler passed, but she es-
capped injury.
David Rockwell, the engineer, who had
been placed under arrest pending an inves-
tigation later, died at the police station
from injuries sustained in connection with
the explosion.
Dead and Missing.
partial list of the missing and injured
is as follows:.
Known dead: David Rockwell, engineer
John Smith, Stephen Snow, Albion Dahl
borg, Mrs. Elijah Kelley, Linus Swanson
Missing: Frank Bell. Barnabus Lewis.
Nellie Leary, Maurice Fitzpatrick, Mira
Berger, Mrs Perry
Injured: Andrew Lundell, leg fractured
burned about face and hands; Elmer H.
Dodge, compound fracture leg, severely
burned about hands and face leg ampu-
tated at hospital; Hiram Pierce, Ira Buck,
George w. Lawrence, scalp wounds; Alder
man George E. Mork. severe injuries; Will
lam McGuahee, Randolph, scalp wounds;
Joseph Mclaughlin, fracture of clavicle;
r. Reynolds, William Emerson, John Tur
ner, Charles OBrien, serious burns on the
neck; Thomas McSherry, hands, head and
body burned; William Lightfoot, East
Bridgewater, contusions and burns; Ella
Whitcomb, ribs fractured and body cut;
Charles Rawlings East Bridgewater, con-
tusions and burns; Nicholas Coralern,
burns and bruises.
Few Nearby When Explosion Occurred.
There were but few people on the street
in the vicinity of the factory when the ex-
plosion occurred. Among them was Rev.
James A. Rourke, curate of St. Margarets
Roman Catholic Church who, realizing
that a terrible accident had happened, hur-
saw the havoc caused by the explosion and
the smoke beginning to appear from the
fire.
In parts adjacent to the collapsed L
windows were thrown up and many en-
ployes climbed out on fire escapes or hung
half way out of the opening. Father
Rourke procured a ladder, which he placed
at window toward which the flames al
ready were rushing. Eight girls were taken
out by the priests On the ninth effotr the
flames burst through the window and
Father Rourke was driven back, in spite of
his efforts to reach a young woman who
fell into the fire.
Heroic Rescue Work.
Another who assisted in the work of res
cue was o. NJ. Goldman, a special officer.
who raised a ladder to the third story and
liberated several girls, but the flames
reached that point while there were still
three young women waiting, all Of whom
were thrown back to perish.
One of the girls tells of the heroism of a
fellow operative, John Smith. Smith and
the young women were pinned under a
piece of wrecka ge which lay in such a po-
sition that only one of the two could be
extricated. Smith was able to use one
arm and by his assistance the wreckage
was moved sufficiently to permit the girl
TO be released. Smith was unable to get
out of the trap and perished.