The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-12-20
Bell Telephone C0nduits Blew
Up This Morning.
Fred Funchess, ,Lineman, Burned
About Face and Hands.
WINDOWS AREBROKEN
Property at Seventh and Jack
SON Streets Damaged.
Leaky Gas Mains Undermine
City Of Topeka.

"A Adlufdl gas explosion broke WIN
dows. shook buildings and caused much
excitement at Seventh and Jackson
streets this morning. Fred H. Funchess,
lineman employed by the Bell Tele-
phone company, was burned around the
face and hands but not seriously.
The explosion was caused by the en-
ployes of the Bell company who threw
a. lighted newspaper into the manhole
Of the conduit between Eighth avenue
and Seventh street on Jackson. It is
customary to throw fire into these
manholes before an entrance Is made
by the men but there is seldom enough
gas to make an explosion Of any force.
This morning the fire exploded tho
gas for a block and backed out of the
manhole into the face of Fred Funchess
who was standing near the hole ready
to enter. The other end Of the manhole
at Seventh and Jackson streets was
blown up 25 feet into the air and the
windows in the vicinity were broken.
The exploson made more noise than
the cistern catastrophe last Tuesday
morning when six men were seriously
burned. It happened just half block
from this place which goes to prove
that leaking gas mains in the vicinity
of the center OF the business district in
Topeka are common.
On the southeast corner of Seventh
and Jackson streets there are a num-
Der of small one story brick buildings.
Every plate glass and small window
was broken at these places A. J. King,
dealer in pianos and William F. Conk-
lin, confectioner, suffered the heaviest
loss Their front plate glass windows
were shattered. In the King store a
large number of framed pictures in the
windows were broken. In the Conklin
L nd oil
smashed.
Across the street in the Shawnee Fire
building-a large three story brick
some Of the front windows in the Of
age was done here. The Adams Broth
ers printing plant suffered a broken
| window or two and in the Elks, club
house On the other corner no damage
was done.
All the buildings in the vicinity were
filed with people at the time of the ac-
cident. The offices of the Shawnee
Fire were filed the stores nearby were
crowded and the employees of the Ad-
| ans Brothers printing plant were at
work The National hotel. only a few
yards up Seventh street, was also well
! filed. Having in mind the explosion
last week which resulted SO fatally
every window in every building was
thrown up and a big crowd gathered.
The noise was heard as far as Tenth
avenue on the south and Fifth street on
the north. Kansas avenue was crowded
with holiday shoppers who were on the
streets earlier than usual and in few
minutes it was impossible to get within
one hundred feet of the scene of the
! accident on account of the crowds that
| had gathered. Police officers and fire.
men soon arrived and kept the crowds
| back while the manhole was covered up
again and all danger declared past.
Fourth Explosion in Two Weeks.
This is the fourth gas explosion in
| the last two weeks in this city-au
caused from leaking gas mains. Every
explosion has resulted in the injury Of
one or more persons. Empty cisterns,
| telephone conduits and all vaccuums of
| any size under the ground in the heart
| of the city are filed with natural gas
| which has leaked from old and wornout
mains.
/ Not long ago the State Journal sta
| ted that the whole business district Of
| Topeka was undermined with gas and
that it was rapidly filling everything
| open for collection This has proven
| true in many Instances and there are
hundreds of chances for more proofs.
There is one thing that is feared at
this time by the city officials Unless
| the air and water is circulated freely
| through the city sewers there Is danger
| of explosion from this source and event.
| ually loss of life and property. The
| sewers are fairly safe at this time on
account of the free circulation of air
| through the mains. The old sewers
| which are choked up most of the time
| are dangerous and would create dis
| astrous explosion. This is one Of the
new arguments in favor of the propo-
sition to build new storm and domestic
sewers in the business section of the
city.
w. p Hemphill. vice president and
general manager of the Independent
| Telephone company of this city, stated
right after the fire at the Capper build
ing Sunday that he would make In
| Simultaneous pre- cautions to guard
against accidents of this kind in con-
| nection with his system He has men
out over the city today and plaster
paris has been cemented in all the
conduit entrances to the buildings. The
/ manholes will also be placed in safe
condition
although we do not suppose that any
damage suits would be brought against
ms for leaking gas mains, still we feel
that it is our duty to keep the gas from
entering any of the buildings of our
/ customers said Manager Hemphill
this morning Every precaution will
be taken against explosion OF any
| kind"
The fire at the Capper building Sum-
dav was caused directly by the leaking
of gas into the building through the
conduits of the Bell Telephone company.
It was while repairing the damage to
their wires and cables that the acci-
dent happened this morning. 1t is al
ways customary for the employees to
. throw a lighted piece of paper into the
rola before they enter it. This burns
ont the foul and dangerous gases.
Il IT is the opinion of the engineers, city
. city that Topeka is undermined with
gas that is continually leaking from
!, Inc mains Mayor William Green has
! ordered the gas company to make re-