People's Pilot, Volume 3, Number 33, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 February 1894 — BODIES BLOWN TO ATOMS. [ARTICLE]

BODIES BLOWN TO ATOMS.

Frightful Disaster Near Owensboro, Ky.— Five Men Killed. Owensboro, Ky., Feb. I. One of the most horrible disasters in the history of southern Kentucky occurred near Crow Hickman, a station on the Owensboro & Nashville railway, 9 miles south of here. A boiler in the sawmill of John Mercer exploded, killing five men and fatally injuring another. The explosion was caused by the running of cold water into the hot boiler. The engineer foresaw the explosion and urged the bystanders to run, but they regarded his warning as a joke. The bodies of two of the men were found in a tree 75 yards from the scene of the accident, torn to atoms. All the victims were horribly mangiedJohn Mercer’s body was an unrecognizable mass. The concussion was plainly felt in this city.