The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, December 4, 1902, Page 5

SOLDIERS DO H. ! (FFOLES I SIPES SHO MILITARY CARE FOR WOUNDED Presidio Authorities| Render Noble [ Service. XPRESSIONS of praise and | gratitude were poured out by the crew of the ili-fated Pro- greso and the employes of the Fulton Iron Works for the meritorious rendered b Presidio au n after the explosion t body of nd hand the prompt action tions of these sturdy gled and been obliged ce could arrive from their pain al- bound up by s in an incredibly short time rendered them oblivious s of operations which were serformed, he post hospital was without & word of the explosion, s own, was the seared, ve assistan er, found reir wounds anesthe! nd ambulances, crowd- | nd nurses, soon went the scene of the disaster. e ambulances came soldiers | foot, who, i ponse to e ,” hastened to and to render it might be neede nce of surge s respons for the saving f some lives. One lad in particular, whose limbs were torn by the terrific % ight have bled | rvened before | 1d jagged flesh temporarily treated at the ¥ 'e patients were later hur- rie operating rooms, where surgeons quickly to work. VOLUNTEERS SERVICES eport of the explosion was MAJOR w. P. ndall, without wa certain its cause, ordered tl to be brought and the n aff to report for imme- | c aply knew,” said the cthing had happened | be needed. 1 deemed four others ad of a willing throng he sight of the dense, black | ward to mingle with e sound of minor explo- | kened their pace. The soldiers out by the officer of the Major Kendall, did not pprised of the seriousness of cident e First Battery of Light ery was skirmishing in the field. A call, sounding “Fire alarm!” them to a halt in their military and they immediately formed for other action. Unhitching their horses, e k who, like they left their caissons behind and sped towa the burning vessel. Then came rivates icers on foot, run without d of else until they the works SOLDIERS ENOW NO FEAR. All was distraction and commotion when the soldiers arrived. Great puffs of smoke enveloped everything and flames were already bursting from the decks and portholes of the Progreso. Men were groping their way off the doomed Mackened, wounded and stified, and | great fear that)a second explosion would follow drove the timid to shelter. e maimed lay about, some unconscious groaning above the roar of the | The soldiers began with a will. th no thought of fear, they scram- d to the decks and took up the work rescue. Groping their way through heated and smothering atmosphere, picked up victims and carried them ) the ambuiances. Nor did they pause their labors until the last man who as within the reach of buman help had been placed beyond-danger. More of the soldiers assisted the firemen and police. | They tugged at lines of hose and drove | the erowds of curiosity seekers back to the fire lines. Then, when they could do mo more and when it became a cer- tainty that those left behind in the flam- ing wreckage were doomed to perish, they returned in order to their reservation. AMPUTATE BOY’S ARM. ajor Kendall had with. him at the e of the disaster and at the hospital his first assistant, Rhoades, and Surgeons Shortlidge, Chidester, McCall, Grubb, Ed- ger and Gregory. These men administered temporary relief to the .injured before | v were placed in the ambulances and n the latter arrived at the post hos- commenced work there immediately. rry Connoma, a l4-year-old boy em- d at the works as a rivet heater, one of the most severely wounded. | lad’s left arm was crushed almost to ip. He bad been struck by a heavy and was carried by some compan- lons to the deck. Amputation was neces- sary. His father was with him during the operation. Outside in the corridor bis two small sisters and his brother reached bl the in ta A bedding itself in the bone and requiring | | the air and struck my wrist. | been greatly magnified on the streets. | their a Wi BREAN S AT T ® 1THE SAN FRANCISCO CALL, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 4, 1902 ROIC RESCUE WORK | OFF/CE BO/LDPING i WRECKED B> EXPLOS/ION o Prompt Assistance Is Given at Scene of Disaster. X walited anxiously. After all was over and | they were told that the arm had been taken off, they broke down and wept pit- eously. cured a promise that they could see their unfortunate brother this morning. Con- noma stood the operation well and if the shock is not too severe will recover. Robert Gibson, a boilermaker, had both legs broken and was badly burned. There was a fracture of both bones of the rignt | leg and a compound comminuted fracture of both bones of the left leg. The shal-’ tered bones were set and if no complica- | tions set in his legs as well as his lfe | | may be spared. The surgeons are, how- | little fearful for the left leg\ s face, head and both hands were | severely scorched. He resides at 125 South | | P ark. | BROKEN LIMBS AND BURNS. | Edward Kane, a shipbuilder’s helper, had his right foot erushed and his right | leg broken. There was a compound frac- ture of the foot and a fracture of both | bones just below the knee. As in the case of Gibson he was badly burned about | the scalp, face and hands and suffers | from intense shock. He is also expected | to recover. Hugh McGill, another boilermaker who was at work near where the explosion | occurred, is likely to lose his sight. The | fire was upon him before he could grope his way beyond its reach and it was with difficulty he was rescued, His scalp was badly lacerated and he sustained con- tusions of the wrist and back. His in-| juries are not considered dangerous. George McNerney, a riveter, like his companions, was painfully burned about the face. A plece of steel, torn from its | fastenings, struck him on the hand, im- | @ surgical operation. His back was also injured. E. V. Beutell, stor=keepet on the Pro- greso, was treated for a fractured wrist. Beutell is a resident of New York, and by occupation a marine engineer. He secured the job he held when injured only three days ago. When the surgeons had dressed the injury, Beutell left the hospital. He had on a pair of overalls and a jumper and lost all of his other clothing on the vessel. BEUTELL RELATES EXPERIENCE “1 was standing near the boiler,” sald Beutell, “and about all I know about it is that T landed on my head some three feet away. Then something spun through Instantly the place became dark from a heavy volume of smoke and I started about to e my escape. This I succeeded in doing, only with difficulty. I saw several fall around me, but I could not say wheth- | er they got out all right or not.” i All day long friends of the injured men | called at the hospital, but Major Kendall | refused to admit any of them, saying the | patients were in no condition to be dis- turbed. Inquiry concerning people who fortunately were not there was frequently made, the reports of the disaster having A number of boys are employed at the works and it was a frequent occurrence for a father to drop his occupation in some other part of town and rush out to the hospital upon hearing a rumor that his boy had been mangled or burned. The same may be said of other employes of the works. Some of them left the place immediately after the disaster and when sence became noted by anxious relatives, they were sought at the hospi- tal. During the afternoon Maurice Higgins, a fireman on Truck 4, was brought in suf- fering from a severe wound of the left shouider. At one time the wharf was on fire and a plank from which a long spike projected was raised to facilitate the work of extinguishing it. The plank fell by accident, striking Higgins in the shoulder and driving the spike deep into his flesh. THREE VICTIMS WELL KNOWN IN POTRERO WING to the fact that the relatives 0 and friends of the unfortunate men who met death in the Fulton Iron ‘Works disaster were heartbroken and ex- cited when the news of the accident be- came known, it was impossible to obtain a sketch of the lives of all. Daniel Gallagher, one of the missing workmen, who is still belleved to have | | | | 1 | | | | Finally they left, having first se- | 3. Soldiers Join in the Work of Rescue With a Will. : 1 a 4 met death, was a shipfitter by occupation and 35 years old. He came to this' city about four years ago from Superior, Wis., and was employed at his trade in several of the shipyards here. Gallagher was a native of Glasgow, Scotland. He leaves a wife and seven children, whose ages range from 7 months to 17 years. Gal- lagher’s oldest daughter helped support the family up to a short time ago, when she lost her position and has been out of work since. The rest of the children are too young to work, and now that the father has been taken from them by the cruel hand of death the heartbroken mother and the seven children are in des- titute circumstances. The little cottage on Iowa street pre- sented a pathetic scene yesterday after- | noon when the sad news was received. Mrs. Gallagher's grief was beyond de- scription and the seven little ones gath- ered around her and wept piteously. Gal- lagher was a very quiet man and was de- voted to his family. He was well known throughout the Potrero and every man with whom he came in contact had noth- ing but good words for the unfortunate mechanic. James Maguire, who is among the miss- ing, was a riveter by occupation and had been in the employ of the Fulton Iron Works but a few months. He was an ex- pert mechanic and known as a sober, in- dustrious young man. Maguire was born in the Potrero twenty-four years ago and lived there most of his life. He was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Maguire and leaves four brothers and a sister. He was of a'roaming disposition and only recently returned from New York, where he had been employed at his trade. Edward Nelson was also a Potrero boy. He was born in the East, but came to this city when still a lad and with his father and mother settled in the Potrero. He was a riveter by trade and worked at the Union Iron Works for a long time. He leaves a father and mother and several ters to mourn his loss. SHIP’S BOILERS SAID TO BE IN HE mystery which surrounds the blowing up of the ill-fated steamer PERFECT ORDER T Progreso deepens still more when it was learned yesterday. that she had just been inspected by United States Inspectors of Hulls and Boilers Bolles and Bulger. They pronounced the vessel thor- oughly sound and perfect in every detail. The following is the law governing this class of vessels: Section 4474. The Secretary of the Treasury may grant permission to the owner of any steam vessel to use any invention or process for the utilization of petroleum or other min- eral oils or substances in the production of motive power, and may make and. enforce regulations concerning the application and use of the same for such purpose. But no such permission shall be granted unless upon the certificate of ' the ‘supervising Inspector of steamboats’ for the district wherein such ves- sel is registered and other satisfactory proof that the use of the same is safe and efficlent, and upon such proof and the approval of such certificate by the Secretary of the Treasury, special license for the use of such process or invention shall issue under the seal of the Treasury Department, Provided. however, That.the Secretary of the Treasury may permit the use of petroleum as fuel on ‘steamers not carrying passengers Without the certificate of the supervising in- spector_of the district Where the vessel is to be used, subject to such conditions and safe- guards as the Secretary of the Treasury. in his judgment shall provide. Far a violation of any of the conditions imposed by the Sec- retary of the Treasury a penalty of $500 shall Dbe imposed, which penalty shall be a llen upon the vessel, but a bond may, as provided in other cases,’be given to secure the satis- faction of the judgment, o L ORDEN SRS s VesomaT DEFANCS) POURING wWATER INTO THE BURNING = VESIIo8 2 PTARKAABITS . BAT 7T ERY A7_WORK - SCENES AND INCIDENTS AT THE SHIPYARD OF THE FULTON IRON WORKS WHILE THE WORK O} RESCUING THE INJURED WAS BEING CARRIED ON YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. = Workingmen Thankful for Narrow Escapé From Death on Board the Burning Steamship Progreso. Continued From Page 4, Column 5. on the vessel. On Tuesday the Sea Rover drew up alongside of the Progreso and pumped 400 barrels of oil into her big tank amidships. The contract called for 500 barrels and the remainder was to have been delivered to-day. All day Tuesday the Progreso's engines were tested. Fires were kept up and a good pressure of steam was in her boil- ers.. The engines were found to be work- ing properly and the Fulton Iron Works people were pleased with their work. The tanks to be used in carrying oil for the vessel’s consumption and as freight were being tested. Six of the tanks were found to be airtight on Tuesday. Thy men engaged in the work tested the other four tanks, yesterday with a like re- sult. Riveters, painters and other work- men were busily engaged in various parts of the vessel when the explosion came. Whether it was spontaneous combustion or not will never be known, but it is a fact that the big fuel tank containing more than 12,000 gallons of oil exploded. The burning ofl spread -all over the ship and the water of the bay Imn the vicinity of the vessel was covered with burning ofl. The force of the explosion was so great that it broke the vessel in two just for- ward of amidships. A large pilece of plate from the side of the Progreso was found five hundred vards from the ship. Fortunately it struck no one in its flight. CARING FOR INJURED. As soon as the officers and men at the Presidio were apprised of the dreadful accident, ambulances were hurried to the scene and the injured were taken to the General Hospital for treatment. The sol- diers tenderly lifted the stricken men and boys into the ambulances and dashed at breakneck speed to the hospital. 'The men were cared for in the operating room, library and other parts/of the hospital, The surgeons did excellent work in re- lieving the sufferers. Doctors hurried to the scene of the disaster tn the army am- bulances and gave first ald to the in- jured on the ground. Young Harry Con- noma was found lying on the ground where he had been hurled by the explo- sion. One arm was hanging to his body by a shred. The little fellow proved him- self a hero in his suffering. As brave men gathered round. him doing their utmost to soothe him, the lad looked up and plaintively asked if he was going to die. He was assured that hg would live. ““Then don’t let mother know,” he said. “She would worry too much. Poor moth- er,” he added with unselfish regret, “I can't give her that Christmas present now. I won’t have the money.” He bravely watched the doctor snip the thread of skin that held* his little arm to his body. The boy was taken to the hospital and the doctors have every hopc the little fellow will recover. John Maguire, a riveter employed at the works, had a narrow escape from death, but as he stood on the wharf he bemoaned the loss of his brother Jimmy. Hé and Jimmy were partners. They worked to- gether as riveters. Both lads were work- ing on the Progreso in the after shaft. John had finished his task and had left | his_brother a moment before to hammer some rivets that he alone could reach. While away the explosion shook the ves- sel. He scrambled from his place and i wildfy called for Jimmy, but received no reply. He rushed to where his brother was at work, but was beaten back by the flames. He also would have perished had not friendly hands lifted him out of his perilous position. John Cazette, the aged electrician who was lost on the Progreso, had only been at work at the Fulton Iron Works for a month, but in that short time was beloved by all who knew him. His loss is keenly felt by his fellow-workmen. DEAN’S NARROW ESCAPE. Chief Engineer Dean received the con- gratulations of his friends on his very narrow escape. He had been below on the Progreso and had gone ashore to give some directions. He stopped a moment to exchange a joke with a friend and while doing so was almost thrown down by the terrific explosion./ Narrow escapes were numerous. Many | of the men are thankful they were work- ing elsewhere when the disaster hap- pened. A dozen men were detailed by the iron.works an hour before the accident to go aboard the Arab, a steamship belng fitted with oil burners, and they were en- gaged in their work and thus escaped the holocaust. A prominent member of the corporation stated that there would be no more oil burners fixed at the wharf. He said he was not going to take any more chances. He ‘also bemoaned the loss' of $125,000 which was to have been turned over to the corporation to-day. James Spiers, president of the Fulton Engineering and Shipbuilding Works, visited the yards during the fire, but would not talk for publication. Jean de Rydzewski to Be Heard. PARIS, Dec. 3—The hearing of Jean de Rydzewski, the Russian singer, be- fore Examining Magistrate Ganneval in connection with the death by shooting November 19 of Mrs. Ellen Gore in his apartment, is set for next Friday. Sev- eral witnesses will be examined. Consul General Gowdy will be represented. It is expected that the hearing will deter- mine whether any further proceedings will be taken against De Rydzewskl. AT AN SACRAMENTO, Dec. 3.—W. W. Douglass, Deputy State Controller, has gone to Washing- ton, D. C., where he will institute proceedings looking to the collection of $4,420,891 96, due the State of California by the United States Government for Civil War claims, CONCUSSION NEARLY WRECKS THE OFFICE Manager Spiers of the Fulton Iron Works Is Unable to Account for the Awful Disaster. ANAGER JAMES SPIERS JR., of the Fulton Iron Works, is unable to ac- count for the explosion. He was sitting in his office at the time talking with Su- perintendent Zadoc High. Cashier Mec- Dougail, Miss Rose Haley, a stenog- rapher, the time keeper and two clerks named Folger were in adjoining rooms on the main floor at work. On the floor above were Charles Stoddard, chief draughtsman and a number of assistants. The explosion came without the slight- est warning, and - although the office Etuilding is 150 feet from where the Pro- greso was lying alongside the wharf the concussion nearly wrecked the structurc. All the windows were blown from their frames outward, not a pane of glass escaping. Seemingly the explosion created a great vacuum into which the surround- ing air rushed. This is Mr. Spiers’ ex- planation of the outward falling of all the glass from the broken windows. Inside of the office building there was a singular manifestation of the force of the 'shock. ' A door to Mr. Spiers’ private office, opéning from a narrow hallway that runs through the building between the several rooms on the first floor, was wrenched from its hinges and was thrown a distance of ten feet or more through the air, toward the center of the office. Mr, Spiers was seated at a table in the middle of the room engaged In conversa- tion with Superintendent High concerning work in progress in the shops. The fly- ing door struck fairly on High's head. He was cut and bruised somewhat but not seriously hurt. Several other occu- pants of the building were also slightly cut by fiying glass. THE INTERIOR A WRECK. As soon as the shock was over the office staff had a chance to look about them, and a scene of complete wreck met their view. Wooden partitions were shat- tered and fragments of them were strewn broadcast over the floors. The upper floor fared about the same as the lower one. The tables upon which were instruments used by the draughtsmen were swept clean of their belongings. All the office people were. greatly shaken up. During the explosion the walls that sheltered them rocked and cracked as if the build- g was-in the throes of an earthquake. The steamship Progreso was sent to the Fulton Iron Works some months. ago to have a large amount of work performed upon her. Manager Splers says that the principal work was the construction of five large tanks te be used in the trans- portation of oil. There was no oil in any tank except the one that was used for supplying the boilers with heat for the making of steam. In his opinion there was not more than 200 barrels of oil in the fuel oil tank when the disaster occurred. There was no boiler explosion. There was steam up and the pressure did not exceed forty pounds. The Progreso was author- ized to have a steam pressure -of 180 pounds. Mr. Splers said he thought that there must have been about sixty men on the Progreso at the time of the explosion. ‘They were distributed all over the vess: Some were painting and others were per- forming various tasks. He also said that he had no idea how many men were mis- sing. The roll would be called to-day. NO BOILER EXPLOSION. No one who was near the engine or fire rooms of the Progreso when the ex. plosion occurred@ was injured. taken to indicate conclusively that there was no boiler explosion. Among those whe were below was Willlam Holbron, an cller, who lives at 1 Perry street, this city. Holbron says that there were sev- eral explosions while he was below. The first was the great one which was fol- lowed Dby several smaller ones which might have been caused by explosions, of gas in the pipes. Holbron had a comrade with him. Together they made their es- cape. Holbron’s experience was thrilling in the extreme. One moment he was en- gaged In the peaceful performance of his usual - task. Then ¢ame, without any warning, the awful shock that sounded lke the simultaneous discharge of many cannons. He was thrown to the deck:-as was his tomrade and the smaller noises tbat he mentions took place while he and his comrade were hastening to get up on the deck. Immediately with the sound of the first great explosion the stout par- titions between the fire room and the fuel ofl tanks went over as if pushed by invis- ible giant hands. Immediately the fuel ofl seemed to take fire. This is the sub- stance of Holbron's story as told to friends. He was directed by an offictal f the Fulton Iron Works net to tell his story to the newspaper reporters and he aeclined to furnish other particulars when he was asked for them. He also refused to give the name of the man who was in the fire room with him when the explosion occurred. The Fulton Iron Works suffers consid- crable loss by the explosion, the amount of which is not yet compufed by the man- agement. The works have been located in the present place about ten years. The corporation now handling the business succeeded to the old time firm of Hinck- ley, Spiers and Hayes. Its business is marine, mining and general machinists” werk. Maay vessels have been built by the company. Among these are the boat Sausalito, the tugboat Sea Rover and the freighters Chehalis and Olymple. Nine-tenths of the steam schooner flest rvnning out of this port was built at the Fulton works. PROGRESO IS INSURED FOR FULL VALUE HE Progreso as she stoed when yesterday's explosion occurred is said to have been worth about $250 - 000 She was fully insured, most of the risk having been placed in England and New York. With the vessel's change of occupation the rate of insurance increased and with the improvements made in the process of conversion the owners made a corresponding increase in the amount of insurance. The Progreso, either as collier or oil carrier, was not consides a tempting risk and as a result the jurance was placed in small amounts and wherever companiies could be induced to assume the hazard. The readjustment of the Progreso’s in- surance was completed only about a week ago. Some of the increased Imsurance was placed here. The exact amount of insurance the agents here do not know, beycnd the fact that it was as much as they could expect to get on the vessel considering the nature of the trade into - This is | which she was going.