DREADFUL EXPLOSION AT INDIANA.

Tuapeka Times, Volume III, Issue 105, 12 February 1870, Page 4

DREADFUL EXPLOSION AT INDIANA.

The " Indianapolis Evening Mirror" publishes full particulars of the appalling disaster at the Fair Grpunds in that city on Ist October. From this account we make the following extracts : —

The greatest Fair ever held rq the State, wh^ch opened so auspiciously, with every combination of attendant circumstances calculated to make it an occasion long to be remembered as one marking a new era in, the hjistory of agricultural an.d mechanic science, has closed with the most appalling calamity which it has ever been our lot to record^ When battalions go forth, armed with all the infernal paraphernalia of strategic murder, to do battle for the right or wrong, the public are prepared for the consequences ; but in this instance the calamity has overtaken us with the suddenness of a thunder peal from a cloudless sky. It is like death at the mariage feast. Up to the fatal hour not even the slightest circumstance had occurred to mar the harmony of the great exhibition. The 30,000 people within the enclosure were enjoying themselves to the fullest extent, the most of them being gathered into the amphitheatre or forming a living wall around the time track, on which some fast horses were being exhibited. While the festivities were at their height there came a loud report like the discharge pf a heavy piece of artillery, and a concussion which shook the amphitheatre and the various halls to their foundations. Looking in the direction of the saw-mills, where a trial of speed had taken place a few hours previously, the horrified multitude saw an immense cloud of steam, dust, and cinders, puff up, followed by a shower of missiles, and fragments of mutilated human bodiep, Then the air was filled with the shrieks of panicstricken women and the groans of the dying. A deadly apprehension seized upon the people. Women screamed and fainted. The crowd surged to and fro, and people were trampled under foot. A rush was made for the scene of the explosion, where a dreadful sight was presented. In the midst of tho surrounding wreck wore seen human bodies in every stage of mutilation, s,ome of them being nothing more than shredded masses of human flesh, without form or shape, with the entrails still palpitating. Blood, bones, hai?, skin, and fragments of limbs were found on every hand, while the greedy earth soaked up the pools of dark blood which flowed from the mangled remains. Scores of persons slightly or seriously wounded, or sitn.ply stunned by the explosion, were seen with blanched and bleeding faces, crawling away from the wreck. The sight was one to appall the stoutest heart. Strong men grow sick and faint as they looked on the ghastly remains, and turned sadly away. As the spectators began to recover from the shock, efforts were made by the cooler headed to establish something like order so as to facilitate the work of caring for the sufferers. But it was found a matter of extreme difficulty. Of that vast crowd, thousands had friends and relatives from whom they had become separated, and the first thought had occurred to each was that the missing dear ones might have been involved in the catastrophe. Consequently, all pressed forward to the ground of the explosion, to satisfy themselves by personal observation. Finally, however, something like quietness was restored, and the work of relief was commenced. Hacks, carriages, and waggons were impressed, and into them were p.ilecl the dead, the dying, and the wounded. Many, badly hurt, but still able to move, limped >away unattended, and made their way outside the gates, where they were picked up by the kindhearted person^ in, the. carriages, and driven to the city.

This fearful accident, and the killing and maiming of these 'men, women, and children, must be ascribed to the same cause which has so often resulted in catastrophe and death on our great water-courses — the passion for racing. There was a race between rival sawmills, to see which could cut the most lumber in a given length of time. Reputation and business prosperity depended on the result, and the engine was over-tasked. The catastrophe did not occur during the contest for superiority, it is true, but may be justly ascribed to the effects of it. The trial had been made, and Sinker's machine awarded the premium. But just before the explosion the engine had been at work at as high a rate of speed as could be obtained. Person^ familiar with machinery were apprehensive of danger, and some of them left the neighbourhood in consequence.

The scene about the immediate vicinity of the explosion was dreadful. A dozen dark pools of blood, scattered about, showed where men had fallen and died. A human leg, torn from the body, lay at a distance of thirty or forty yards from the r spot where the boiler had exploded. Blood, brains, hair, and fragments of' human flesh were sprinkled over the freshly sawn planks recently sawn by the mill. In one place we saw a fragment of- a body which looked like it might have been the abdominal- wall of a man lying, burnt and blackened, in the sawdust. A human, ear, cut from the head, had been deposited in one of a pile of hats which had been picked up

in the neighbourhood. Some distance from the scene of the disaster were found a pair of human legs, held together by a shred of flesh, the balance* of the body being missing. A female leg, with shoe and stocking on, was. found. Also the headless trunk of a man. Almost the entire scalp of a man was found near the amphitheatre. Near the officer's quarters was found a piece of a man's head, comprising the forehead, nose, and left side of the face. A small portion of the scalp, and whiskers on the side of the face,' showed very black hair, tinged with grey. An arm, supposed to be that o£ L. P- Davis, was found over a hundred yards from the explosion. Within a distance of fifty yards on the north, west, and south-west, lay three horses, killed by the explosion.