BLOWN UP WITH DYNAMITE.

Patea Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 1006, 7 March 1883, Page 4

BLOWN UP WITH DYNAMITE.

A very peculiar accident occurred at Belleview, near Pittsburgh, Pa., on November 24. . About a quarter of a mile below the coal mines of Gumbert and Huey, on the Monongahela River, is the home of Adam Forsyth, one of the employes, which was blown to pieces under the following circnmstances: — Some miners employed in Walton’s mines came to visit Forsyth, and during their stay they proposed to go fishing. They did not care about the old slow method of capturing one fish at a time, with hook and line, but told Forsyth they knew of a'touch better plan, which was to nse dynamite. The miners had some 4 of the explosive material with them, and used it quite successfully, killing about five hundred pounds of fish. Some of the people living in the neighbourhood, who saw the wholesale slaughter of fish, protested against it, threatened to prosecute the men; but, as they were poor, nothing was done. Forsyth* determined to do some fishing on his own account with the new bait, went to the quarry of Mr Fleming, on the Youghiogheny River, and asked if he could spare some dynamite. Fleming let .Forsyth have four sticks of dynamite, weighing in all about a pound. He saw that Forsyth, was ignorant of the nature of the explosive and also of the manner of handling it, ahd therefore told him that the stuff' was frozen and was useless in that*condition. He 1 explained to Forsyth that

if the sticks of. dynamite ware placed near a fire they would thaw but and be ready for use, and also told him that if proper care was given to the thawing process there was no danger of an explosion ; and Forsyth seemed to understand the directions given him. About half-past 5 o’clock p.m. on November 24th he went home and told his family about the dynamite, but none, of them were alarmed, as they, too, were ignorant of its , qualities. ,£l,O took the sticks of dynamite from his pocket and placed them in the oven of the kitchen stove, and then, went off to the coal works. A. quarter of an hour later he heard a loud report, and in a few minutes was told that there had been an explosion at His Lonse and that all his family had beeii killed. Half frantic at the news he rail to the house' to realise the terrible consequences of his ignorance and folly. It appeared that after Forsyth left the house his wife and childen sat down to supper at a table near the ’ stove in which the dynamite was placed. While they were talking,'and just ns the children were laughing over some harmless joke, there was a frightful noise; the stove was blowiv into tiny fragments, and the entire end of the house,' two storey frame, was wrecked, and the mother and her little ones were hurled in different directions. The mother- was seated with her back to the stove and the two younger boys by her side. , The eldest had risen to get"a drink, and being near the stove received ‘the full force of the explosion. He was thrown a distance of 20ft, where he was found in a hole in the yard. He was horribly mangled, and died about’two hours after the occurrence. Mrs Forsyth was cut and gashed in a most frightful manner. She had been sitting close to the stove, and "thirty pieces of iron struck her in different parts of the body. She cannot possibly recover. Robert Forsyth, seven years old, was terribly cut about the head and ; body, while Willie, the youngest of the boys, escaped with slight cuts in his feet. Poor Forsyth is almost crazy, about the affair, and constantly exclaims that he’is to blame for the disaster. He attempted to commit suicide; but was prevented.