Watertown leader. [volume] (Watertown, Jefferson County, Wis.) 1909-1911, 1909-10-29
GREAT POWER PLANT IS WRECKED
WHEN FOUR BOILERS ARE
BLOWN TO PIECES.
ONE VICTIM is NEAR DEATH.
Firemen Work Among Ruins Seeking
Bodies-Draw Fires from Boilers
Which Escaped Injury.
PLANT TO BE RUN BY ELECTRICITY

MILWAUKEE Wis, Oct %, 1901
sI9!oq uol-99Iql LnoJ 10 uo!soIdxo oqL
in the plant Of the Pabst Brewing com
pany's plant at Tenth and Chestnut
streets shortly after 4 o'clock this morn
ing resulted in the death Of Frederick
Stirn, a fireman who lived At 800 Thirty
ninth street, the dangerous injury Of
Gottlieb Yehnert, another fireman, and
loss Of more than 100000 which is
ouly partially covered by insurance.
Building Is Wrecked
The explosion, which was of terrific
power completely wrecked the boiler
rooms Of the plant, hurled one OF the
big iron boilers fully sixty feet across
Tenth street and onto the roof of an
other building and showed the elevator
building, which adjoins the wrecked
boiler room four feet to the south almost
causing that structure to toppIe over. 1t
is believed that the explosion was caused
by low water in the boilers.
Two Men in Building
Only two persons were in the building
at the time Of the accident Of these.
Ychnert is at the Emergency hospital,
While thirty firemen are tunneling into
the wreckage for the body of Stirn. But
small hope is held out for the recovery
of the body until late this afternoon as
the mass of splintered wood and iron
is piled highest over the spot where the
body IS supposed to be hidden.
Windows Are Shattered.
SO terrific was the explosion that not
n window in the whole district was left
unbroken and three firemen under the
care of Herman Grande who slept in an
adjoining building were thrown from
their cots to the floor. These three fire
men were the first persons to arrive on
the scene after the accident They found
fenhert lying helplessly against the side
OF the building on the opposite side of
the street and dangerously hurt He
had been bodily blown from the doorway
of the wrecked building and only by a
miracle his life was not snuffed out by
the falling iron and timbers.
Boilers Are Ruined
The exploded boilers were split from
end to end along the main seam. They
were bent and twisted into an almost I'M
recognizable mass. Three of the boilers
are still buried under the wreckage
None of them will be put into commits
sion again The boilers were of 100
pound pressure and 400-horsepower.
That tho south wall of the wrecked
building was left standing after the
explosion IS regarded as remarkable, in
asmuch as the boilers were nearer that
side of the building.
Seventy Men at Work
Immediately after the accident Chief
Clancy rushed thirty frenen to the
scene and Il short time later the Pabst
company reinforced the city force by
another detachment OF forty men. The
seventy men have been at work on the
wrecked building since one hour after
the accident, under the direction of Chief
Clancy and Col. Gustav Pabst. Col.
Pabst reached the ruined plant soon
after the accident and gave out the
statement that the damage would amount
TO more than 100000, and the loss is
only partially covered by insurance
According to Fire Chief Clancy, there
were eight boilers in the building at the
time of the explosion. All OF them were
new, having been installed about year
ago. They were last inspected on De-
tober 8. when they were pronounced safe.
An insurance Of 100000 was carried on
the boilers in the Hartford Steam Boil
er Insurance company.
Low Water May Be Cause.
Although he refused to make any def
mite declaration covering the point, Chief
Engineer GlaSSman of the PabSt plant
said that he was of the opinion that the
explosion must have been caused by low
wata~ III the boilers. If this is true it
means carelessness on the part of both
the victims.
1enherts escape from death is thought
to be due TO the fact that he was just
outside the wrecked building when the
explosion occurred. However, the man
has not been able to give out a state
ment.
Big Building Crumbles
The building that was demolished was
located at about the middle of the block
on Tenth street between Chestnut and
Winnebago streets. 1t was situated be-
tween the elevator of the PabSt COM
pany on the south side and the old boiler
house now used as a storage house, on
the north.
From the appearance of the ruins the
structure simply crumbled in by the
explosion and was hurled, mass of
bricks. timber and iron, out into Tenth
street. Flying bricks from the explo-
sion were thrown through windows of
adjoining buildings tearing off the plas-
ter therein.
Statement by Col Pabst.
In a statement given out today shortly
before noon, Col. Pabst said: Il think
that the damage will go as high as $780,
600. though | can make no positive state
ment. 1t will take us week to find
out accurately what the loss is. We hope
TO be able to put the plant in operation
Tuesday, though l doubt it. This de-
ponds entirely upon whether or not we
are able to have electricity in the plant
by that time.
The loss is only partially covered by
insurance. l don't remember just how
much of it."
THE CARS PURPOSE