Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 37, Number 25, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 March 1905 — MANY DIE IN A FIRE. [ARTICLE]

MANY DIE IN A FIRE.

FACTORY BOILER EXPLODES AND WRECKS BUILDING. Calamity in Mauachusett. Shoe Fac-tory-Flames Break Out and. Spreading with Great Rapidity, Prevent All Attempts at Rescue. The explosion of a boiler in the shoe factory of R. B. Grover & Co. at Brockton, Mass., wrecked the building and killed perhaps fifty persons. Many of the bodies taken from the ruins were so terribly mutilated and burned as to make identification difficult, if not impossible. Upward of 200 persons were at work in the departments near the boiler room at the time. The boiler which exploded was located on the ground floor of an “L” which extended from the main building. In the three stories of the “L” were work rooms. Persons living near heard a dull roar and saw a cloud of smoke rising and the “L” of the factory fating to the ground. Flames burst from the ruins, spreading quickly to the main structure, which in a few minutes was a roaring furnace. Most of the employes in the main part of the plant succeeded in escaping, although in the terrible panic which followed the explosion quite a number were injured. The firemen experienced the greatest difficulty in battling with the flames as the Grover factory was of an extremely inflammable nature and nearly all the floors were saturated with oil. The flames extended to the Dahlburg block, a four-story wooden building on the opposite corner of the street, and to a number of wooden dwellings, half a dozen or more of which were destroyed. The Dahlburg block was also burned. The heat of the fire was so intense that the work of the firemen and police was carried on under great difficulties. Tons of water were poured on to the “L,” but the fire from the main structure became too hot for effective work, and the entire plant, with those who failed to escape, had to be abandoned. Meanwhile news of the accident had reached the homes of the operatives and through the crowds already near the burning factory, men and women were struggling wildly toward the center to get news of relatives. Cries which sounded ■above the roar of the flames were heard as frantic women learned that there was little hope for any one who was caught in the ell of the building. When the flames reached Dahlborg’s block even the firemen were obliged to retreat temporarily.—., The financial loss to R. B. Grover & Co., estimated at about $150,000. is nearly offset by insurance.