Rensselaer Republican, Volume 15, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 16 November 1882 — SHOCKING ACCIDENT. [ARTICLE]

SHOCKING ACCIDENT.

Explosion of a Boiler in a Cleveland Iron Mill. ■ —■" * - 0 Several Persons Killed and Many Badly Wounded. [Telegram from Cleveland, Ohio, t A terrific explosion occurred at a little after 4 o'clock thisevening in lhe Forest City iron-works, operated by At ;ins & Clark, at tbe union crossing, Newburg. The main boiler of the m il suddenly exploded while the day men were going from their work, killing three or four men and fatally wounding a number of others. The mill was almost entirely wrecked. One-half of the boiler went through tbe roof and landed several hundred yards to the north, while the other half went a similar distance in an opposite direction. Walls were blown down, a tall smoke-staok Ipft leaning over ready for a fall, while the dead and injured were scattered in all directions. A tire/almost instantly broke out, but it was soon got under control, and did little or no damage. Help from Newburg and the city was instantly summoned, and as spon as possible the injured and dead were carried into the office of the works and cared for. Several men are now missing, and it is not known whether they are dead under the ruins, hidden in the water-course near by or gone to their homes without reporting themselves.

The dead and injured accounted for up to 9 o’clock to-night are as follows: John Williams, the master- mechanic. He was found lying so deep in the mud and so discolored by the earth about h’im that he would not have been noticed had not John Gallagher, no od' man who l.iy beside him, called out: “There are two of us here.”, Williams’ head was horribly crushed in and his body broken all to piecea John Gallagher lived until 9 o’clock, when he died also. He was a piler on the guidemill. His face was terribly bruised, his nose torn off and his head full of holes, from which the brains oozed. As he lay on the floor in agony his wife hurried in, and, kneeling by his side, asked: “Do you know me, John?” He said that he did, when she placed her hand on his face and said quietly: ’Put your trust in God, call on Him and trust Him. ” He said that he would, and then begged and i egg< d to be laid on his sidei He lingered in great agony until 9 o’clock, when death put an end to his pain. Ano her man instantly kil ed was Sydney D. Wright of Wyandotte, Mich, wno stood beside a friend who had accompanied him in search of work. The whole top of his head was blown off. ’ William Wilson, of Chicago, Wright’s friend, was struck on the hip and foot by some of the debris, thrown down and seriously but not dangerously injured William Atkins, a roller, stood some 200 yards away from the boiler. He was struck by something and cut instantly in two, the body going in one direction ana the limbs in another. His head was mashed to a jelly and ground into the dirt Francis P. Bradley, a carpenter, had an arm and a leg broken and was cut in the groin and back. His case is hopeless John Mollaney, fireman, had a leg broken, and was very t-everely bruised. G.- H. Hanna sat on a bench beside Atkins and was lifted by the concussion of the air, carried over the shears, and thrown on the ground. A roll weighing two tons struck within a few feet of him. A brick struck him on the back of the head as he was flying through the air, and rendered him insensible. The damage to mill in dollars will be several thonsnnd