The evening world., 1922-08-02
TUGBOAT EDWARD BLOWS Up.
HER CREWOF 5GOES WTHHER;
NOT A TRACE OF HER ON WATER
Tragedy Takes Place Foot of Gold Street,
Brooklyn, at 10 O. Clock This Morning Craft
Belonged to East River Towing Company
Several Hurt by Flying Debris.

The boiler of the harbor tug Ed
ward blew up as she was entering
a slip at the foot of Gold Street.
Brooklyn, between the Manhattan
and Brooklyn Bridges at 10 o'clock
this morning. The five members of
the crew were Instantly killed and a
number OF persons on shore were
injured.
1t was n dramatic harbor tragedy.
A puff of smoke shot out OF the open
are room door of the tug. there was
q roar that was heard Tor a milo
along the waterfront and inland. and
when those in sight OF the spot wherc
the Edward had been slowly putting
toward the shore looked for It there
was not a sign on the water to indi-
cate that II had ever existed. Pieces
of the boiler and section of the
pilot house we're found later from a
block to a block and half away
from the scene OF the explosion.
The Edward, n 57-foot tug. the
Company, No. II Battery Place, was
ordered from her berth at the foot of
Noble Street, Greenpoint. TO the Jay
Street terminal, williamsburg, to
pick up the coal barge Dutch Boy
and tow 1t to Port Richmond, New
Jersey. A new fireman Joined the
Edward this morning and. In the alb
sence of any other explanation of the
explosion II is presumed that he was.
because OF his unfamiliarity with the
boiler, in some way responsible for
II.
The Jay Street Terminal lies at the
foot of Gold Street. 1t was crowded
with barges and lighters as the Ed
ward snooped her way in. The barge
Dutch Boy was well in toward the
bulkhead line and lying alongside the
barge Interstate. Capt. Patrick
o. Brien
o'BRI EMS THRILLING STORY or
BLOW UP.
OF all thew illnesses Capt. O'Brien
was the closest to the tug and fur
nishes the most graphic account OF
the explosion. He was the last person
to exchange words with Capt. McCaf.
frey of the Edward.
81 was on the deck of the barge"
said Capt. Murphy, land the Captain
OF the tug yelled TO me and asked me
to take line and help him snub his
boat around mine so he could pick up
the other bafge. l walked out to the
end of my barge and stood waiting for
the line. The deckhand of the Ed
ward was at the bow with the line
coiled up ready for the throw.
~ saw n puff OF blue smoke from
the side OF the tug. | had a hunch
something was going to happen and 1
yelled duck to the deckhand and fell
fiat on my face on the deck of my
barge
~ was almost blown off the deck by
the force of the explosion. A piece of
the boiler whizzed past my head.
When | liked up there wasn't a sign
of tho Edward on the water but a
coating OF grease. Somebody told me
afterwar dthat he was looking at the
tug when sch blew up and that the
upper works scattered in all directions
and thehull crumpled up in themiodle
and went down without leaving more
than a ripple.
my wife and three young boys
were eating breakfast in the kitchen
of the cabin at the other end away
from the explosion. l ran back there
| and found that they had been blown
out Of the kitchen into the bedroonA
but none of them was hurt"
So great was the confusion and SO
large the crowd attracted by the exs
plosion that II was half an hour be-
fore policemen and members of the
crews Of the barges and lighters could
begin a search for the bodies. Part
Of the body OF one Of the victims sup
posed TO have been the deckhand was
found on a pier 100 feet away.
The mangled body of Capt. Nc.
Caffrey was found in the water al the
foot Of Hudson Street a block away,
section OF the pilot house was 1und
nearby. At noon the trunk az nd
body was found In the wate des
the Gold Stree. pier . sAssk AgEy