The Locomotive - Lighthouse Survival Blog

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180 THE LOCOMOTIVE. [December,
had been on the night .shift, that he had been home only a short time when he heard
the noise, and that it seemed to him ' like a pack of fire-crackers going off, only not so
loud, more like squibs.' He said 18 boilers on the right and nine on the extreme left,
had blown up, leaving intact a battery of six, which were on the left-hand side of the
center, while three other boilers adjoining this battery were thrown down out of their
beds. I am not sure that this was correct, as others told me that all nine were thrown
down and scattered about, except that three of them fell together. It is possible that
the latter version is the correct one, as the photograph that was taken on the day after
the explosion shows three boilers lying together, side by side. The sections that were
thrown backward landed on the hill in the rear of the original position of the boilers,
and did no further damage. One piece was carried over a culm bank fully 100 feet
high, and in its passage over the top of the bank it scooped out the culm to a depth of
about one-third of its own diameter, landing in a valley on the other side. Another
piece containing five courses was thrown across the valley to the northwest, and landed
on the slush bank west of the breaker after a flight of about 500 yards. Another piece
went through the upper corner of the breaker, about 500 feet away, slightly injuring a
boy who was working there. Still another fragment went through a hoisting-engine-
house about 300 feet distant, cutting the cable and carrying out the side of a small
house fifty feet below. I saw another piece about thirty feet long, with one head still
in it, entirely buried under an ash bank except for about two feet of its length that was.
still uncovered. I was informed that this was a part of one of the exploded boilers, but
I doubt it on account of its position, although the condition of the broken end is very
similar to that of a number of other pieces.
"I have made some inquiries regarding the cause of this explosion, but thus far I
have been unable to find anyone who is willing to express an opinion. It seems to me,
however, that the iron in these boilers may have been greatly weakened by the vibra-
tions and strains due to repeated expansion and contraction ; for most of the breaks-
seem to have occurred at points most likely to be affected by such a cause. The iron in
all these boilers is of very poor quality, but it is of about the same grade as is used in.
very many other boilers in the coal regions."
Inspectors' Report.
October, 1894.
During this month our inspectors made 8,509 inspection trips, visited 18,024 boilers,,
inspected 6,556 both internally and externally, and subjected 747 to hydrostatic press-
ure. The whole number of defects reported reached 12,323, of which 910 were considered
dangerous; 47 boilers were regarded unsafe for further use. Our usual summary
is given below
....
Nature of Defects. Whole Number.
Cases of deposit of sediment, 905 -
Cases of incrustation and scale, 1,930 -
Cases of internal grooving, -----115-
Dangerous.
- 29
- 71
8
- - 57
----- Cases of internal corrosion, 643
------
Cases of external corrosion, 832 - - 54
-----
Broken and loose braces and stays, - - - - 182 - - 27
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Settings defective, 333 - - >4
Furnaces out of shape, 558 -
- 23