Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1905-03-21
FURTHER DETAILS(F
SHOE FACTORY WRECK
4 NUMBER OF DEAD ESTIMATED At
FIFTY AND INJURED ABOUT
SAME NUMBER,
THE RUINS so COMPLETE IL Is
DIFFICULT TO SORT OVER
DEGREES ron VICTIMS
Brockton, Mass, March 21.----Mayor
Keith Said late in the afternoon that
he would not be surprised If the num-
Der killed reached 100. *

Brockton, Mass, March 21.-A boiler
In the big shoe factory of R. B. Grover
& Co. at Campello, the southern Sec
ton of this city, exploded during the
day, bringing ruin to the factory and
other nearby property and death to
many operatives. The city fire mar
shall, four hours after the explosion
occurred, estimated the list Of dead at
fifty and it was believed by the police
and those at work at the ruins that
as many more had sustained injuries.
In all eight buildings were burned, in
Guiding the factory, business block
and an old hotel building occupied by
stores and tenementse and the flnan-
cial loss Is estimated at 100000.
n The greatest diAculty was expert
enced in ascertaining accurately the
number of dead and injured owing to
the fact that the Y Of the factory, in
which some: 200 hands were at work,
was almost completely wrecked and
many Of the men and women had no
chance to escape, being carried down
in the collapse of the structure, which
Immediately caught fire. Up to 3:15
o'clock forty-two bodies had been
removed, all of them burned no badly
as to make identification diflcuit. If
not Impossible. III some cases moth
ing but the framework Of bones was
found in the debris. 4: III, s4s .ss5,s4s$$&
Flames: Break Out III. Ruins.
The boiler which exploded was To-
Gated on the second floor of an 81, y
which extended from the main build
ing. In the three stories of the 81"
were workrooms. Persons living near
heard a dull roar and saw cloud Of
smoke rising and the 'L" Of the fac
tory falling to the ground. Flames
burst from the ruins. spreading quick
" to the main structure, which In a
few minutes was roaring furnace.
Most of the employees In the main part
Of the plant succeeded In escaping,
although in the TERRIBLE panic which
followed the explosion quite number
were injured. n IS.
Two houses were wrecked as the
result of the explosion and their ruin
furnishes one Of the peculiar incidents
of the explosion. The boiler was
thrown in a northerly direction by
the concussion. It passed completely
through the upper part Of the house
occupied by David Rockwell, the en-
gineer. practically wrecking the dwell
{ ing. and uninterrupted in its flight
passed on to another dwelling 100 feet
further away, upon which it fell, prac-
tically dem0lishing the structure. This
; house was owned by Mrs. Fife Hood.
The boiler now lies in the midst of the
fallen house.
The Grover factory was situated at
Main and Calmar streets, about a mile
south Of the city proper. The district
is within the city limits of Brockton.
a series of alarms summoned all the
fire apparatus In the city to the scene
and aid also was sent from nearby
places. The firemen experienced the
greatest difficulty in battling with the
4 flames, as the Grover factory was Of
an extremely infiammable nature and
nearly all the floors were saturated
with oil.
Heat From Blaze Intense.
The heat Of the fire was so intense
that the work of the firemen and po-
lice was carried out under great diff
culties. Their attention was chiefly
given to the Grover building, espe-
cially that part Of 1t which was near
est the boilerhouse, and in the early
stages of the fire q number Of en-
ployes we're extricated from the ruins.
The flames, however, soon stopped the
Y rescue work. Tons Of water were
4 poured onto the q L. Z but the fire from
the main structure seemed too hot for
effective work and the entire plant,
with those who failed to escape, had
to be abandoned. When the flames
reached the Dahlborg block even the
dremen were obliged to retreat tenn
porarily and 1t was feared that large
3 section of the district would be OBJ
liberated. The occupants OF all these
buildings had little time to save their
effects. Some barely escaped them
selves. Reinforced by the arrival OF
other apparatus. however. the depart
ment made fresh attack and, after
Z hard struggle, succeeded In stopping
the spread OF the flafnes, although the.
Dahlborg block and several small
buildings had been ruined. q