The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-12-02
EXPLOSION MRECKS
 SHELTON FACTORY
Boiler in Radcliffe Bros Mills Blows Up, Fireman Killed and Damage Es. limated al Sz5l,0 c Done.

Shelton, Dec 2.-An explosion which shook shelton and the surround ng country to the foundations occurred shortly after o'clock last night when boiler in the plant of the Radc.iEe Brothers wooien mills blew up. killing an assistant fireman, Joseph Deputula, and doing damage estimated at be- tween s2oo.0o0 and s250.0O0. The real son for the explosion is unknown and will probably remain a mystery. as Deputula was the only man in the room at the time
 The boiler was located with two others in a brick building two stories high, which Is also used by the dye ing and bleaching departments. This building was blown to pieces and a tall brick chimney next to the boiler house was knocked down, bricks from the latter being blown for a half mile. The dyeing and bleaching machinery was twisted and broken and the two boilers standing next to the one that blew up were covered with debris, un- der which was found the body of Dep tula. badly Tnanagied.. and almost un- recognizable. g
 Fire started soon after the expio- sion but was put out before 1t gained much headway.
 A second building of the Radcliffe Brothers. a four-tory brick structure. standing neat to the boiler house. got the full force of the explosion which blew out all the windows. The ma chinery used in the manufacture of underwear and hosiery was bent and twisted and strewn over the floors rendering its further use impossible. A fve-story brick building. belonging to the same company, and standing south tof the boiler house. suffered in like manner. The water pipes Tn these buildings were sprung. and the fire sprinkler system was put In ac- tion. The buildings were soaked with water before 1t could be turned of.
 The stock of raw material and fin- ished products in the shipping room was soaked and the loss to finished product is roughly estimated at s10o.- 900.
 Brick buildings occupied by the Hun tington Piano Company, and the Whit lock Printing Press Manufacturing Company were badly damaged by the the piano company. who was sitting at his desk near one of the windows. was badly cut about the head and face by the flying glass.
 each. were blown from the boiler room over the roofs of surrounding huoses. one landing in the street and the other on the roof of the home of Mrs Larkin. smashing the roof and flying into the yard. distance of 200 feet from the scene of the explosion. The streets were filled with brick and wool from the mills and broken glass from the windows Of houses and stores.
 At the time of the explosion there were but three men in the buildings William Tyre. the night watchman. a man by the name of Dennis. and the assistant fireman. In telling of his experiences Tyre said that he came into the factory a few minutes before the explosion took place. going. as was his custom. into the boiler room, and looking at the steam and water gauges The steam gauge registered eighty pounds and the water-gauges showed the boilers to be two-thirds full. On leaving the boiler room he closed the door leading into the ad- joining factory and had gone but a few feet when the explosion occurred throwing him onto a pile of wooden waste. where he was found later. un- injured.
 The boiler which exploded was in stalled about a year ago and was in- spected last spring. The mill ern- ploys about 300 hands, mostly girls who will be idle until the factory is rehuflt