The Locomotive - Lighthouse Survival Blog

36 THE LOCOMOTIVE. [March,
(G.) — On January 2d, a small heating boiler exploded in Minneapolis, Minn., doiu«some
damage, but fortunately injuring nobody.
(7.) — A boiler exploded in Beaver Falls, Pa., on January 4th, totally wrecking the
building in which it stood. The boiler passed diagonally over two squares, and landed
several hundred yards away. The smoke-stack was blown a quarter of a mile through
the air. Fortunately nobody was injured. The boiler was a small upright, with a
single flue. It was six feet high and 36 inches in diameter, and the plates were of
quarter-inch steel.
(8.) — A boiler exploded at St. Charles, Sumter Co., S. C, on January 6th. Mr.
John E. Law was blown through the roof of a shed and instantly killed. His body was
fearfully mangled. J. J. Luckey, Henry Monaghan, Cantey Bullock, Samuel Solomon,
and Moses Perry were badly bruised and scalded.
(9.) — A boiler in Wilson Bros.' mill, in Adelphi, Ohio, exploded on January 11th,
blowing the mill to atoms, and instantly killing Noah Hoffman, Silas Wilson, and Amos
Stephens. The bodies of Stephens and Wilson were found a mile away. John Wilson
was also injured, and it is believed that he cannot recover.
(10.) — The locomotive Starr King was blown to pieces at Belmont, N. H., on the
Belmont branch of the Concord & Montreal railroad, on January 11th, just as it was
leaving the station with a train. Engineer Edward Bowler had his jaw broken and his
head crushed, and was dangerously injured in other ways also. Fireman John Ballan-
tyne was horribly scalded about the body and legs.
(11.) — One of the boilers in the City Hall at Philadelphia, Pa., exploded on
January 11th, but fortunately nobody was injured, and the building was not materially
damaged. The water is said to have been 1ow t
and blew down.
,
so that the fire-sheet became overheated,
(12.) — A slight explosion occurred at Tacoma, Wash., on January 13th, at the
Crescent Creamery company's building on the ocean dock. Nobody was seriously
injured, though Chief Engineer Follette was blown through a door.
(13.) — A boiler exploded on January 13th, in Willy & Co.'s flour mill, at Appleton,
Wis. The boiler-house was totally destroyed, and Joseph Barta, the night engineer, was
killed. Half of the boiler was blown 500 feet away. The property loss was
about $5,000.
(14.) —The boiler of locomotive No. 383, of the " Big Four'* railroad, exploded on
January 14th, at Winchester, Ind. Albert Rankin, the fireman, was frightfully scalded
and bruised, and died in about half an hour. Lafayette Mullin, the engineer, and Edward
Dotey, head brakeman, were somewhat injured. An unknown young man, who
had just boarded the eugine, was also bruised to some extent. The locomotive was
totally wrecked.
(15.) — On January 15th the boiler on the ferry-boat Acorn exploded at Middleport,
near Gallipolis, Ohio. Engineer Joseph Petit was scalded to death, and the boat was
badly damaged.
(16.) — One of the boilers in Lukens & Reifsnyder's mill, in Sumter, S. C, exploded
on January 15th. John Kennedy was severely injured, but probably not fatally so.
Thomas Smith, Ransom Pea, Hampton Carr, Steven Mack, and Simon Witherspoon
were also injured. The boiler-house and another adjoining building were demolished.