LIVERPOOL MILL BLOWN UP.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXXIX, Issue 12657, 10 January 1912, Page 8

LIVERPOOL MILL BLOWN UP.

21 WORKMEN KILLED; 113 INJURED. FIRE AFTER EXPLOSION. LONDON, November 28. Twenty-one men and youths were killed and 113 (seventy-three of whom aro m hospital) were injured m a terrible explosion at Messrs Bibby's oil mills m Great Howard street, Liverpool. The deplorable accident was accompanied by most distressing scenes, such as those incidental to a big colliery explosion. The firm of Bibby is one of the largest m the business, and m their factory are employed about 1500 hands engaged m the various processes of manufacturing the raw material into oil-cake for cattle fodder. The mill is a vast structure, and, as m a flour mill, the material, after being roughly ground m the basement, is sent by means of elevators to the topstorey, whence it descends m different stages of refinement to the ground floor. lhe explosion occurred m an apartment m the basement,' where a huge grinding machine was at work. Four hundred workmen, clad m their khaki overalls, had just trooped into the department after the dinner hour, when there was a dull reverberating roar, and a flash of light flamed throughout the various stories of the mill. The explosion traversed the elevator apertures, and the workers were thrown into a state of panic. They rushed pell-mell to the various exits, dashing through doors that were tottering to destruction and scrambling over the debris of the walls that had been blown by the explosion. LIKE A BATTLEFIELD. They were the lucky ones, and seeing others less fortunate emerging with maimed limbs and smoke-begrimed faces they quickly fell to the work of rescue. In this they were nobly aided by firemen, policemen, doctors and muses from the Northern Hospital near by and chance pedestrians, who, at the risk of their lives, dived into the blazing mill to the help of the injured. Soon a mournful procession set out to the hospital. Thrilling stories were told by the rescuers. "I was working m the compound just above," said one of them, "when there was a terrific explosion, which threw most of us on our backs. I was blown a dozen yards. Bags of meal were thrown into the air, railway trucks were dashed upside down, and the w r hole building burst into flames. Getting to the ground floor I and others worked our way m the blinding smoke and dust .into tho* cellar, and started bringing up the dead and injured. "I saw one man with his head blown completely off, and I helped to carry out others whose flesh was hanging from them m jshreds. It was a most pitiful and terrifying experience. One man ran out into the street with his clothing all ablaze, but a plucky fellow from an adjoining house wrapped his coat around him and stifled the flames. Here is the jacket he was wearing" (holding up a rag of a garment which had been burned almost beyond recognition). Another man said : "Formby-street, running down the side of the mill, was like a battlefield. A lad who Avas driving a bread van down the street was killed instantly by one of the hoist doors falling upon him, and another lad was blown through one of the hoist doors of the railway and killed. They were bringing injured out of the blazing building like sheep, some of them with their hands and arms blown off. I saw a policeman reel against a wall overcome by what he saw." ANGUISH OF RELATIVES. All the time the rescue Avork was going on, the mill was blazing fiercely m every story, and screams and agonised groans could be heard. Many people who had relatives or friends m the mill tried to pass the cordon of police, and their anguish was pitiful to witness. Anxious relatives also besieged the portals of the Northern Hospital, every bed m which was soon occupied. The hospital committee, who were sitting at the time, immediately adjourned, and the members turned to and rendered valuable assistance m improvising bedding and bringing hot water and appliances for the surgeoni. Lord Derby, the Lord Mayor of Liverpool, who was engaged m official duties at the Town Hall, on hearing of the disaster proceeded to the hospital to offer his sympathy and consolation. Lord Derby received a telegram from the Home Secretary (Mr McKenna) asking him to convey the expression of his deep sympathy to the injured ai\d~ to the wives, children, and relations of those who perished. In the mad rush for safety when the explosion occurred one man dived down a grain chute and escaped. Another man fell or jumped through the glass roof ofl the Waterloo (London and North-Wes- ! tern) goods station adjacent and was badly injured. Tho passenger traffic, which passes slowly through this station to Riverside Station at the landing stage, and which' is always heavy at the weekend, was temporarily suspended. | The neighborhood of the mill was ■ inches deep m pale yellow mud, composed of cotton meal (which had been hurled by the explosion out of every , window, door and ventilator) and water which the firemen had used. Tlie scene suggested a coal-pit explosion, with the difference that m place of black soots shot out of coal pits when an explosion occurs was this soft yellow powde»*, the 'ground pulp of the cotton seed. On . every hand were evidences of the terrific forces of the explosion. A wall facing one of the doors of the mill looked as though it had been battered by artillery. HEROIC FIREMEN. An iron door, twelve feet high, which stood midway up the mill wall, hed Lt-en torn from its- hinges and hurled with cannon force against the facing Aval). Then it fell, buffeting from wall to v ill, until it reached the narrow street below. It dropped on a boy and killed him. Hoof, sides, windows and doors alike seem to have exploded outwards as though they were particles of a great bomb. Slates, panes of glass, bricks, and ' mortar went through the air, and with ' them went a cloud of yellow dust that I thickened the atmospnnre l^ke tne ».t the j siroccos of the Egyptian deserts, j As to the cause of the explosion it was stated by somle of the Avorkpeople that a piece of iron had found its way among the cotton seeds into the metal teeth of , the grinder. Whatever caused it a spark touched the mist of- cotton dust m which the room is always enveloped (cottonseed dust' is almost as inflammable as coal dust) and the whole room went off like some giant firework. Messrs Bibby's OAvn fire brigade, acting with the city brigade, showed splendid heroism. They Avent again and again through the stifling chambers of the mill looking for any workman Avho might have been unable to get out or whom the. earlier rescuers had missed.