People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 July 1894 — DEATH IN ITS WAKE. [ARTICLE]

DEATH IN ITS WAKE.

Four Artillerymen Slain by the Exploaion of a Caisson. Chicago, July 18.—One platoon of battery F, Second United States artillery, was wiped out of existence Monday afternoon by the explosion of an ammunition caisson near the corner of Oakwood and Grand boulevards. Every man in the platoon was either killed outright or fearfully bruised and burned. Following is a list of the killed and injured: Killed— Farrier Joseph Galler. troop B of the Seventh cavalry. Fort Sheridan, 20 years old. six years in the service, head blown from shoulders and the body burned and mutilated; Cannoneer Edward Doyle, battery F, Second regiment. Fort Riley. Kan., 23 years old. body blown to pieces; Artificer Jeremiah Donovan, battery F, Second regiment, Fort Riley, Kan., 27 years old. body blown to pieces: Private Fred Stoltz, battery F, Second regiment. Fort Riley. Kan., wheel driver of caisson, terribly burned, died at Mercy hospital at 9 o'clock. Wounded—Trumpeter Herbert Antes, troop B of the Seventh cavalry. Fort Sheridan, shoulder blown ofl and legs and arms frightfully burned, taken to Mercy hospital, will probably die; Sergt. Ludvig Leiner, battery F, Second regiment. Fort Riley, 30 years old; struck in breast and face by fragments of iron, bis body a mass of burns, oannot recover; Private John Allen, battery F, Second regiment, Fort Riley, driver of lead team of caisson, 28 years old, shot in neck and severely burned; Private Maurice O'Donnell, battery F, Second regiment, Fort Riley, lead driver of second caiison, cut on the head and burned; Sergt* George Hoffman, troop B, Seventh cavalry, Fort Sheridan, shot in chin; Sergt. Anthony Kane, troop B, Seventh cavalry, Fort Sheridan, 80 years old, ear blown off; Private Enks, wheel driver of second caisson, battery F, Second regiment. Fort Riley, blown off his horse and fell head first on the edge of a stone sidewalk; Private Urquhart, battery F, Second regiment, Fort Riley, shot through the foot; Trooper Huyck, troop B, Seventh cavalry. Fort Sheridan, bruised and rendered deaf; Private Panushki, battery F, Second regiment, Fort Riley, wheel driver of second caisson, bruised about face and shoulders; Mrs. L. B. Griggs, 3950 grand boulevard, cut in the arm by flying glass; Ralph M. Byers, 14 years old, living at 377 Oakwood boulevard, two scrapnel shots through calf of leg, removed to his home; Miss Alice York, 4103 Grand boulevard, tendon of heel severed by bullet, taken home, not serious; Corporal Abraham L. Riley, Battery F, Second regiment, Fort Riley, thrown to the ground and bruised Imposing residences on either side of the scene of the explosion now stand with blank paneless windows and torn and shattered walls. Pieces of shell, wag-on rims and fragments of iron torn from wagons were driven with terrific force against the stone walls and into crevices between the stones, where they still cling as evidence of the fury of the blast. Wagon hubs, spokes and felloes were driven with resistless force through plate glass windows and went tearing through parlors filled with costly statuary, lamps, mirrors and draperies, smashing and tearing everything in their course. Heavy oaken doors were thrown down and stone columns, weighing thousands of pounds, were torn away and fragments hurled in every direction. Plate glass lay shattered within the walls of palatial homes, not a house within the block escaping damage. Gen. Miles, on being informed of the disaster, sent Col. Williston to the scene to secure a report of the affair. Col. Williston, while he could discover absolutely no facts concerning the cause of the explosion, has a theory which may explain it. He said: "My theory of the accident is that the plug at the base of one of the shrapnels became loosened, some of the powder leaked out, and being ground and pounded by the jolting of the limber, ignited, the powder in the cartridges exploded, and the ignition of the other two chests followed. “The shrapnel is probably the most deadly projectile thrown by modern guns. The 3-inch shells are of steel and carry at their tips a brass combination fuse screwed on; this fuse has both a fulminate cap and a tirade fuse, so that the shell will explode either on contact or at any desired range. In the head of the shell is about half a pound of powder. Back of these are the missiles that kill. The bullets are arranged in layers, each layer resting in a brittle cast-iron ring. The rings are perforated so that the bullets lie deeply in them. When the explosion comes each of these rings is burst into a number of jagged fragments that make awful wounds. Each shell holds 150 bullets, and it is expected the rings will burst into 150 hits—3oo missiles In all, leaving out the scraps of the shell itself.”