Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 41, Number 15, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 October 1908 — DISASTROUS ACCIDENT AT FRANKFORT, IND. [ARTICLE]

DISASTROUS ACCIDENT AT FRANKFORT, IND.

Walter Tharp Has a Close Call in Trying to Avert Disaster to the Light Plant There.

The city of Frankfort had a very serious accident Tuesday night, when the city light plant was practically destroyed by the breaking of the governor belt and the engine getting beyond control. Walter Tharp, formerly of Rensselaer, who is the day engineer at the light plant, tried to save the plant by rushing to the engine and trying to turn off the steam, but he could not accomplish the task until he was compelled to flee for his life. * The mammoth fl/ wheel of the big engine that pulls the dynamos was bursted and damage amounting to |15,000 to 120,000 resulted, the entire end of the light plant building being torn out. The city of Frankfort will be in darkness for the next month in consequence. Young Tharp is the cousin of C. L. Chamberlain, superintendent of the city light and water plant here, and is a nephew of Mrs. J. Q. Alter and Mrs. A£ary Hopkins. He is the day engineer at but happened to be at the plant thgt night. The accident is described, in part, as follows, by tte Frankfort Morning Times: In brief, the accident was the result of the governor belt breaking. There is a safety device on the engine that is supposed to control It when such an accident occurs, but this safe y device failed to work, and in an instant the powerful engine, free from con- 1 trol of the governors, "ran away.” The employes instantly saw the danger and made heroic efforts to stop the engine, risking life in so doiug, but it was of no avail, and in about thirty seconds after the governor belt broke the giant wheel burst and wrecked things in a way that baffles description. In the engine room at the time of the accident were three men, Walter Tharpe, the day engineer; Cecil Hopp, the night engineer and John Mattix, a lineman. Tne instant the govern.r belt broke, the great engine plunged forward with increased speed. En-

gineer Tharpe was standing at the inner door of the office, looking toward the engine when the accident occurred, and without a. moment’s hesitation he made a dash for the throttle to stop the engine. Even in the short space of time that it required for him to run to the throttle, the engine gained terrific headway, and the danger was great However, Mr. Tharpe seized the throttle and made a heroic effort to avert disaster. It requires twelve or fourteen turns of the throttle to shut off the steam, and by the time the engineer had the throttle half closed the fly wheel was revolving at a terrific rate and was fairly singing. He realized that another moment would see destruction and that he could not get the throttle closed in time to prevent the disaster, so with a last desperate whirl of the wheel, he turned ( and made a dash for escape from the room by an east door. The others also ran for their lives at the same time, and scarcely had reached the doors when the crash came. The wheel which exploded was a mammoth affair, being eighteen feet in diameter, thirty-seven inches wide, and weighed fourteen tons. When it burst most of the pieces went to the north, in which direction it was running. The north end 1 of the building from the east wall of the office to the east wall of the building was torn out and scattered across the aLey north of the building, large pieees of fly wheel being ' scattered ail the way from tne electric light plant to the north side of Morrison stieet, half a square north. Two houses were badly damaged by these flying pieces. Tne bursting wheel wrecked the engine and of course broke the steam connections, permitting great volumes of steam to rush out with, a roar that was heard for considerable dt'-tance. The employes immediately began drawing tne fires from under the boilers to order to save the boilers from Injury.