Democratic Sentinel, Volume 8, Number 18, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 May 1884 — BURSTING BOILERS. [ARTICLE]

BURSTING BOILERS.

Six Persons Killed by a Steam Explosion at Dubuque, lowa. rDubnque (Iowa) Telegram.] Three boilers connected with the sash and door factory of Carr. Ryder k Wheeler exploded with frightful effect The explosion was heard all over the city, and it shook bnildings to their foundations. The boiler-house was completely destroyed and the boilers thrown about in different directions. The one that did not burst was thrown intact a distance of thirty feet against the mill. A solid division wall separated the boiler-house from the mill, else the destruction and loss of life would have been terrible. The mill employs 200 men. The comer of a dwelling near the boiler house was tom completely out and several women injured. The engineer and two firemen were in the boiler honse at the time and were buried beneath the debris. Two children playing near it were also buried. The killed are: MUo M. Mellen, the engineer, aged 30 years. He leaves a wife. Fritz Villdanger, the fireman. He was a single man. Two children of Charlie May, aged respectively 6and 3 years. Michael McLaughlin, the second fireman, was horribly burned and mangled, and cannot live but a few hours. Mrs. Margaret Walter was struck by the flying bricks and badly cut. Her daughter-in-law, Mrs. Albert Walter, and her three children were also injured. Mr. Rudolph Nealte and Mrs. Yaeglen, living on an opposite comer of the street, were also slightly injured. Nealte was knocked down in his yard. Mrs. Vaegler was upon her porch when a piece of one of the boilers came down through the roof, striking her on the head, knocking her senseless. The main mill building had all its windows shattered. The boiler-room was a stone structure apart from the main factory and was shattered to atoms. Pieces of iron, stones, and brick flew in all directions. The children killed were playing in a yard near the boiler-room. The woman injured occupied a house near the disaster. The house was blown away. Several theories are advanced as to the cause of the disaster, the most plausible being a lack of water. The engineer, it is said, was running with but little water, as he wished to ‘‘blow off” the boilers to clean them out. The boilers were inspected three weeks ago, and pronounced safe. The damage to the property is less than $5,000.