The Telegraph-courier. [volume] (Kenosha, Wis.) 1888-1946, 1907-08-22
OLD POWDER WORKERS CAUGHT IN BLAST
Norman Phillips Of NemOurs Va, Instantly Killed and Body
Burned to Crsp-Waer Harris Superintendent Of the
Mill and W. J. NoWIands Terribly Burned Harris
Still Alive but NoWIands Died at 1915 p. m
(From Wednesdays Dally.)

For the second time within year
death exacted a heavy toll at the
Laflin-Rand plant il the town of
Pleasant Prairie this morning just
after o. clock when an explosion in
the corning mill of the plant resulted
in two men being killed sand one
other man being so badly .burned
that it is not thought that he can
survive. The mill was completely
wrecked, entailing property loss to
the company of from $4,000 to $15,-
600, with no insurance.
The Dead
NORMAN PHILLIPS, aged 80 years, of
Nemours, VIVA, powder maker, en-
ployed at the local plant 3for four
months. Survived by widow and
one son, both living at Nemours.
w. ]. NowLANDs, aged IS years, pow
der maker, single and lived at
Philadelphia, Pa; terribly burned
about the hands, face and body.
Died this afternoon.
The Injured
Walter Harris, aged 80 years, super
intendent of the corning mill and
an employee of the company for more
than a year; terribly burned about
the face, hands and body; thought
to be fatally injured.
AS is usual in cases ofslexplosions
at the Powder plants, the cause of the
ext osion is a complete mystery. The
nj were hurled to theirgawfu1 fate
wi ,hout any warning less than two
minutes after the plant had opened
for the days work. Harris, who was
in charge of the mill, was standing in
the southeast corner of the mill when
the explosion took place, while Phil
lips and Nowlands were standing near
the center of the building. Two other
men, both foreigners, were employed
in the mill, but fate favoredsthem, as
they had been a little late in getting
to work, and both of them were walk
ing toward the mill over the trestle
when the explosion took place. They
escaped injury, and in fact they did
not feel the force of the explosion,
The explosion caused little excite
ment. There was no rumbling noise,
no flying of debris or broken machin-
cry. The powder exploded, and the
mill, which was built of light ma
teria1, shook for moment under the
awful force and then crumbled. The
flames which followed the explosion
completely destroyed the mill. The
people in the village of Pleasant
Prairie half a mile from the mill did
not hear the explosion, and the only
thing they saw was a cloud of white
smoke going up. A minute later the
news was sent about that the men had
been caught in the explosion, but
when the people from the village hur-
ried to the plant they found that the
gates had been shut. The explosion
had occurred so quickly that, notwith-
standing its fatal results, few of the
men who had been working in the
plant knew of it until the whistle blew
and called them to the work of remov-
ing the dead and dying from the de-
bris of the mill.
The fire was still raging in the corn
ing mill when the men who had long
been accustomed to danger rushed in
to the ruins of the mill and pulled the
badly charred and bleeding bodies of
Harris and Now1ands from the ruins.
Harris had been blown out of the
south side of the plant while Now
lands had been blown against the
railway enbankment to the north of
the burning mill. The men CROPPED in
the smoke and flames for some trace
of Phillips but found nothing and the
nauseating smell of burning flesh
told them too we'll the story of his
awful fate. AS soon as possible the
two men who had escaped instant
death in the explosion were removed
to the home of DR.. Lowe where they
were cared for in an i'm provised hos
pital and then the men began the
search for the remains of Phillips. It
was not until after the flames had
been extinguished that the remains
were found. They were found in the
bottor Of the mill. The flesh had