Montour American. (Danville, Pa.) 1866-1920, 1908-02-06
CORONER,s INQUEST.

Ine hre Dolls were runP 8Ei both
fire companies Of the town hurried to
the scene of the accident. The SER
vices of oil were needed. as fourteen
men in all were among the ruins and
had to be cared for. Undertaken E.
K. Bright of Northumberland and Un-
dertakers Ives and Hartman of Sun
bury took charge of the dead, remov-
ing the remains to the town hall,
where the public was excluded and
the bereaved families were enabled to
claim their dead.
Coroner Dreher appeared on tine
ground Monday afternoon. He en-
paneled a jury, which visited the scene
of the explosion and viewed the bodies
of the dead, after which it adjourned
to reconvene at 2 o'clock Tuesday
No known cause can be assigned for
the explosion. Nowhere among TIE
crowds yesterday could be heard ouy
theory as to the can e. II was much
discussed, but the consensus Of op'u-
ion seemed to be that, as is oftcu 'ta
ca q boiler explosions. the oaG.e
vi ~.nain a mystery.
Va Alien u Co nave been olal.t-
ing Jhe Northumberland plant since
1866 and the present is the first serious
accident that has occurred under their
management.
During an interview Monday after
noon the American representative WIS
informed by the Messrs. Van Allen
that the boiler which exploded had
only recently been inspected and re-
paired. The works Monday morni
were to be started up after shut
down of three months. During the
period of depression the proprietors
decided that they would overhaul all
the boilers in the plant. Accordingly
they employed D. III. Shay,of Milton,
an acknowledged expert, to overhaul
the boilers. This work was in prog
ress when the explosion occurred.
The ill-fated boiler last October pass.
ed through the inspector hands. who
replaced all the parts that might be
worn and fixed the boiler up in what
he considered first-cla condition, aft
er which he proceeded to repaire the
remaining boilers of the plant
The boiler which exploded passed
out of Mr.. Shay's hands on October
2Sth. Subsequently to this it was us
ed one week, after which it was emp
tied of water and was not refilled un.
til Sunday evening, preparatory for
starting up Monday morning.
BOILER CONNECTION.
The boiler which exploded is con-
nected with the whole system of
twelve boilers, each of which is equip
ped with its own safety valve set at
so pounds. This circumstance is tax
en- as conclusive evidence that the ex-
plosion was not due to any defect in
the working of the safety valve. Any
overprea-uro on the ill-fated boiler
duo TO such a cause would have been
Instantly relieved by the other boilers
with which 10 was connected. When
the explosion occurred the boilers
were carrying only 70 pounds of
steam.
Moudal Van Allen and Co sent
for d. II. Shay, the boiler expert, in
order to determine his view as TO the
possible cause of the explosion. Mr.
Shay could only explain that he had
carefully inspected the boiler, making
repairs as described above. AS to the
cause of the explosion he was wholly
in the dark and could advance no
theory.
No one regrets the terrible affair or
feels the weight of the loss of life and
suffering more keenly than tue men,
bers of the firm of Van Alel & 90.
Yet as may be gathered from the facts
above stated it is obvious enough
that they wero powerlers to prevent
the catastrophe