Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1909-02-12
DOINCS MONDAY
UiSdSterOlS Explosion of Gas

- al explosion of gas in the home
of William Schimmel, 422 North
Church street, at an early hour this
morning, the residence was badly
wrecked and Mr.. Schimmel and wife
sustained serious injuries. The for
mer had his face badly burned and
Mrs. Schimmel had an arm broken. A
faulty gas pipe in the basement of
the house was the cause of the acct
dent
Shortly after o'clock this morning
smell of gas and started to investi-
gate. His wife accompanied him.
They went into the basement which
is below the dining room and Mr..
Schimmel attempted to find the leak
with lighted match. A wall separ-
ates the basement proper from the
other portion of the house and
through this wall the gas pipe passes
under the floor of the main part of
the building, but which is only eXca-
waited a few feet. When he came to
the hole in the wall where the pipe
went through, the explosion occurred.
The force of the impact knocked them
arm broken. Had the aperture been
larger in all probability both of them
would have been killed.
The fore of the explosion bent out
the basement walls and cracked them
in several places. The living rooms
on the first floor were totally wrecked.
The floors were torn and twisted and
piled up in confusion, and peculiar
phase of the explosion is that the
floor in a corner whore the piano
escaped and in another portion Of the
room the floor on which stood a book
case was intact, but the rest Of it was
torn up by the force of the explosion.
Fire followed the explosion and an
alarm was sent in. The department
put out the flames which were eating
away at the ceilings of the rooms on
the first floor. Doors and windows
were blown out into the street and
the house had the appearance of be-
ing struck by a cyclone.
Luckily when the family arose Mrs.
Schimmel accompanied her husband
to the basement. Had she remain ed
in the living rooms she would most
probably have been killed when the
floors were hurled into the air.
The shock of the explosion was felt
long distance. In the immediate
neighborhood it shook the buildings to
their foundations and it was plainly
felt half a mile away. At one home
in Washington street at least half a
mile away, one of the occupants who
was awake at the time thought it was
an earthquake as the whole building
shook.
The Probable Cause.
The probable cause Of the explosion
the elbow was found broken off this
morning. Within the confined space
where the explosion occurred a large
amount of gas could Accommodate
without being detected for some time
and when it was detected the volume
of gas was so great that it tore every
thing in it's way. The gas piping was
of galvanized iron, which is not used
these days in piping houses, but how
| the break occurred will probably
never be known. Gas company Off
Gals say they are in no way respon-
sible for the faulty condition of the
pipe as they did not pipe the house.
| 1t is one of these accidents which
seem unavoidable at times, but
searching for leak with an exposed
light is a dangerous thing to do.
House Total Wreck.
The house is total wreck and will
have to be rebuilt. The walls are
damaged and the windows and doors
were blown to atoms. Pieces of glass
were found across the street, blown
there by the terrific force. The
building was insured. Mr.. SchimmePs
injuries while serious and painful, are
not of a dangerous nature and he was
able to be about the premises today.
Hundreds of people viewed the scene
of the explosion today.