Brazil, IN Central Iron and Steel Co Boiler Explosion Jan 1888

A fatal boiler explosion in the puddling department of the rolling-mill of the Central Iron and Steel Company, Monday, January 9, 1888, shook up and startled the population of the city of Brazil, many of whom were at the dinner table at the time, as it occurred at exactly 12 :25 P. M. The exploded boiler was riven in two, one end projected against the brick stack on the east side of the mill and the other against the stack on the west side, demolishing both. The sheet roofing, with its support of timber beams and iron stays, was precipitated in promiscuous ruins upon the floor, and in. the midst of tumbling walls, cracking timbers, brick and iron missiles, showers of hot water and clouds of steam, were a number of men at their posts of duty. The scene immediately following the crash was a mass of debris in the midst of which lay a dozen or more victims, cut, bruised, scalded, burned and disfigured almost beyond recognition, some pinioned to the floor, wholly unable to extricate themselves.

The instantly killed were Mat Mortimer and John E. Tobin; the injured, John J. Lewis, Peter Dolan, Edward Myers, William Williams, John Bentley, Edward McGlew, Elias T. Davis, George Hendrix, John Kaufman, John L. Sullivan. Having held an investigation, Coroner Slavens found that the explosion was attributable to defective machinery.

A history of Clay County, Indiana : closing of the first century's history of the county, and showing the growth of its people, institutions, industries and wealth, New York: Lewis Pub. Co., 1909, page 382
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