Midland, MI Midland Salt and Lumber Plant Explosion, May 1892

FOUR WERE SLAIN.

Terrible Consequences Follow a Boiler Explosion.

Besides Demolishing a Michigan Lumber Mill It Kills Four Men and Injures Several Others.

BOILERS EXPLODE
MIDLAND, Mich., May 14. -- The battery of boilers in the Midland salt and lumber plant in this village which exploded at 1:35 Thursday afternoon, demolishing the works, killing for men and injuring more than a score of others, some of them so seriously that their lives are despaired of.

The Victims.
The dead are JOHN ALLEN, A. L. MALCOM, RICHARD STEARS and EUGENE VAN VALKENBERG.

The injured are EARLE ALDRICH, PATRICK BURKE, ALBERT BYE, CHARLES BERT, E. P. ELTON, CHARLES G. LYNN, ALBERT MOLL, ARTHUR ROBINSON, FRED ROBINSON, M. SHADDUCK and SEAFORD WALTON.

Four Fatally Hurt.
Four of the injured are so terribly hurt that it seems impossible for them to live. ALLEN and VAN VALKENBURG were blown high in the air, their dead bodies landing more than 100 feet distant from the boilers in a terribly mutilated condition. The boilers were literally blown into bits. At the time of the explosion the seventy-five men employed about the mill had all returned to work from dinner, and it is little short of a miracle that any of them escaped with their lives.

Without Warning.
The survivors have little to tell, as the explosion came without warning. They simply remember a terrible shock and a feeling as though falling a great distance. Then came a moment's silence, broken by screams, groans and curses, as the wounded and pinioned men began to feel their hurts and realize their positions.

Owners Censured.
Many bitter things are said of the owners of the mill, who are being charged with using the boilers they knew were defective. This may or may not be true, but nothing definite regarding it can be obtained. The mill and salt block valued at $50,000, are complete wrecks.

The Daily Citizen Iowa City, Iowa 1892-05-14
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Researched and Transcribed by Stu Beitler. Thank you, Stu!