ACCIDENTS
The Dynamite Explosion
(1883)
(1883)
On a winter's day in March of 1883, when the temperature barely reached the freezing mark, four men employed at George Flemming's stone quarry in Dead Man's Hollow set out to continue the work of the previous shift. The blasting crew consisted of foreman David Henninger, his brother George, a younger fellow by the name of Noble Gilkey and an unidentified black man. As they had done time and time before, each member of the crew went about their designated duties to prepare for the blast. Once the men had reached the point in the process that required the explosives, one of the workers realized that there was a minor problem. Apparently, no one had given any thought to protecting the dynamite cartridges from the falling snow. Because the explosives were left uncovered, a thin layer of snow had settled on top of the housing. The worker immediately called the frozen explosives to the attention of the foreman. David Henninger ordered the laborer to build a small fire just a short distance away from the blasting zone. The idea was to place the charges within a few feet of the flames so that the heat would gradually melt the ice that formed on them.
By the time the worker was able to get a fire started, the rest of the crew had finished with the other preparations. The explosives were then moved to a location that was thought to be a safe distance from the flames. Next, the foreman motioned for his men to gather next to the fire and warm up. While Flemming's employees waited for the cartridges to thaw, an ill wind continued to howl between the walls of the stone quarry. Strong gusts swirled around the crackling fire and caused the flames to burn brighter. Occasionally, some of the glowing cinders were whisked high into the air by the winter weather. For reasons unknown, the dangers of hot embers dancing on the wind seemed to be of little concern to the workers. It was later suggested that because the men were engaged in conversation, they did not notice that one of the embers had landed next to the dynamite cartridges. What happened next was inevitable.
Without warning, the dynamite erupted into a blinding flash of light. All four men were instantly thrown in different directions as the thunderous roar of the blast echoed throughout the hollow. Another crew working in the stone quarry witnessed the accident and raced to assist the wounded. Unfortunately, it was already too late for some of the men.
In the weeks that followed the accident, the gruesome details of the explosion were published in the Wheeling Register. The publication stated that the Henninger brothers met their doom in Dead Man's Hollow. David Henninger died instantly. His brother George passed on a few minutes later. The Wheeling Register also revealed that the unidentified black man sustained internal injuries in addition to severe burns. He was not expected to recover. The fourth man involved in the accident, Noble Gilkey, was reported to have had the best chances for survival because he was standing the furthest from the blast. The young man received only minor burns to a small portion of his body. It was also reported that Gilkey's home was within sight of the stone quarry. This meant that he was able to receive medical attention immediately following the incident.
By the time the worker was able to get a fire started, the rest of the crew had finished with the other preparations. The explosives were then moved to a location that was thought to be a safe distance from the flames. Next, the foreman motioned for his men to gather next to the fire and warm up. While Flemming's employees waited for the cartridges to thaw, an ill wind continued to howl between the walls of the stone quarry. Strong gusts swirled around the crackling fire and caused the flames to burn brighter. Occasionally, some of the glowing cinders were whisked high into the air by the winter weather. For reasons unknown, the dangers of hot embers dancing on the wind seemed to be of little concern to the workers. It was later suggested that because the men were engaged in conversation, they did not notice that one of the embers had landed next to the dynamite cartridges. What happened next was inevitable.
Without warning, the dynamite erupted into a blinding flash of light. All four men were instantly thrown in different directions as the thunderous roar of the blast echoed throughout the hollow. Another crew working in the stone quarry witnessed the accident and raced to assist the wounded. Unfortunately, it was already too late for some of the men.
In the weeks that followed the accident, the gruesome details of the explosion were published in the Wheeling Register. The publication stated that the Henninger brothers met their doom in Dead Man's Hollow. David Henninger died instantly. His brother George passed on a few minutes later. The Wheeling Register also revealed that the unidentified black man sustained internal injuries in addition to severe burns. He was not expected to recover. The fourth man involved in the accident, Noble Gilkey, was reported to have had the best chances for survival because he was standing the furthest from the blast. The young man received only minor burns to a small portion of his body. It was also reported that Gilkey's home was within sight of the stone quarry. This meant that he was able to receive medical attention immediately following the incident.
Occupational Hazards
(1887)
(1887)
A local man by the name of James Flemming had been working in Dead Man's Hollow at the stone quarry that his father owned. On a summer day in 1887, he was preparing to remove a rock formation with explosives. This process required Flemming to climb to the top of the quarry's wall and drill a row of evenly spaced holes across the entire upper ledge. Once the vertical drilling was complete, the explosive charges could then be wired together and loaded into each hole. This was a task that Flemming was all too familiar with. A confident young man began working dangerously close to the edge of the jagged cliff. As he operated the drill, Flemming accidentally lost his footing and toppled over sideways. He fell an estimated thirty feet to the rocks below. What ultimately should have cost the young man his life left him with only minor injuries. Witnesses to the terrifying event were stunned when they saw that Flemming was able to climb to his feet and hobble over a mile to his home.
After a brief hiatus, Flemming made a full recovery from the fall and returned to work. Once at the stone quarry, he seemed to pick up right where he left off. It wasn't long before Flemming had finished drilling and had all of the charges set in place. After moving to safety, he attempted to detonate the dynamite and bring the rock wall down. To his surprise, the dynamite plunger malfunctioned and did not initiate the explosion. The young man pressed down on the plunger once more. Again, there were no results. After disconnecting the fuses and waiting for a few minutes as a precaution, Flemming decided that it was safe to extract the explosives. He proceeded back to ledge and began to pull the dynamite up and out of each hole. Somehow in the process of removing one of the charges, the cap on the cartridge had inadvertently struck the corner of Flemming's drill. The sudden contact immediately triggered an explosion. At that precise moment, the young man was hit by the full impact of the blast. His body was violently thrown away from the ledge and back into a wooded area. A thick cloud of dust and debris followed. Once coworkers spotted Flemming's motionless body and realized exactly what had happened, they hurried to his aid. As the dust began to settle, a bruised and battered Flemming was seen picking himself up. For a second time, eyewitnesses were astonished to see Flemming stand up and stumble to his home in Boston hollow just as he did a few weeks earlier. It was later said that after the explosion, no one ever saw James Flemming near the Dead Man's Hollow stone quarry again.
After a brief hiatus, Flemming made a full recovery from the fall and returned to work. Once at the stone quarry, he seemed to pick up right where he left off. It wasn't long before Flemming had finished drilling and had all of the charges set in place. After moving to safety, he attempted to detonate the dynamite and bring the rock wall down. To his surprise, the dynamite plunger malfunctioned and did not initiate the explosion. The young man pressed down on the plunger once more. Again, there were no results. After disconnecting the fuses and waiting for a few minutes as a precaution, Flemming decided that it was safe to extract the explosives. He proceeded back to ledge and began to pull the dynamite up and out of each hole. Somehow in the process of removing one of the charges, the cap on the cartridge had inadvertently struck the corner of Flemming's drill. The sudden contact immediately triggered an explosion. At that precise moment, the young man was hit by the full impact of the blast. His body was violently thrown away from the ledge and back into a wooded area. A thick cloud of dust and debris followed. Once coworkers spotted Flemming's motionless body and realized exactly what had happened, they hurried to his aid. As the dust began to settle, a bruised and battered Flemming was seen picking himself up. For a second time, eyewitnesses were astonished to see Flemming stand up and stumble to his home in Boston hollow just as he did a few weeks earlier. It was later said that after the explosion, no one ever saw James Flemming near the Dead Man's Hollow stone quarry again.
Fire At The
Bowman Brick Factory
(1898)
Bowman Brick Factory
(1898)
One well known incident in Dead Man's Hollow history was the 1898 fire at the Bowman Brick Factory. Black smoke billowed from the hollow and could be seen for miles. The flames spread quickly throughout the plant's main building. Factory workers immediately formed 'bucket brigades' to pull water from Dead Man's Run and the Youghiogheny River. However, their gallant efforts to extinguish the fire were hampered by the fast moving flames and the thick smoke. By the time that the horse drawn steam fire engines had arrived, the fire had already consumed most of the building and the machinery inside. Eventually the steam pumpers were able to get the fire under control. Miraculously, no one was severely injured during the blaze. The cause of the fire still remains uncertain.
Elevated Danger
(1905)
(1905)
On September 25th, 1905, Dead Man's Hollow was the scene of yet another fatality. The tragedy occurred at the newly reconstructed Union Sewer Pipe Company. An employee named Mike Sacco had just finished his afternoon shift and was preparing to leave. As he did every day, Sacco went to the open air elevator. It was reported that when he tugged on the operating rope to lower the elevator, it began to climb instead. Poor judgment led the employee to jump from the safety of the metal framed platform back to the second floor. Unfortunately there wasn't enough clearance and the man's body became painfully wedged between the second floor ceiling and the floor of the elevator. When other factory employees were finally able to free Sacco from his restraint, they carried the injured man to Versailles. Once there, the employees were able to get their coworker onto a wagon heading into the city of McKeesport. Regrettably, the victim died from his injuries before he arrived at the hospital. The details regarding Mike Sacco's horrific death were recorded the next day in the local newspaper. The report sadly stated that the victim had been displaced from his family in Europe in order to find work in America.
Mass Destruction At The Union Sewer Pipe Company
(1925)
(1925)
At the turn of the twentieth century, the Union Sewer Pipe Company had taken up residence at the former site of the Bowman Brick Factory. With the nation's growing demand for clay pipes, the success of the company seemed inevitable. By 1910, there were over seventy men employed at the plant in Dead Man's Hollow. With the number of orders increasing everyday, certain things like safety measures undoubtedly received less attention than they should have. It may have been that type of negligence that was responsible for bringing an end to the prospering company in 1925.
That year, a fire broke out in the main building. With flammable materials all around, it was easy for the flames to spread quickly throughout the factory. Unlike the previous fire in 1898, motorized fire engines were able to arrive much faster than their horse drawn predecessors. Firemen, factory workers and even some of the hollow's residents worked side by side to fight the fire. Despite having better equipment and extra manpower, firefighters were still unable to gain control. The intense heat made it impossible to get close enough to the building to effectively contain the fire. It wasn't long before the blaze towered well beyond the rooftop. Realizing that situation had the potential to become deadly, the firemen withdrew from their positions near the building. The crowds that had assembled on the opposite side of the river watched in awe as the five story building began to collapse. When the massive walls of the charred structure hit the ground, it sent a hot wind swirling through the hollow and out over the Youghiogheny. Glowing pieces of debris were suddenly falling all across the factory site. Once the building was down, firefighters immediately resumed their attack. This time, they concentrated most of their efforts on the scorched debris to prevent any new fires from starting. After a fierce battle, crews finally brought the flames down.
When it was over, the Union Sewer Pipe Company had been reduced to a pile of rubble that smoldered for about a week. The foul odor of the blackened remains lingered along the railroad line, across the river and into Versailles. Talk of the incident seemed to spread faster than the actual flames. It was said that people were travelling from all over the area to see the destruction for themselves. What everyone found to be amazing was how no lives were lost during the tragedy. This incident was the catalyst for the separation of the industry from Dead Man's Hollow.
That year, a fire broke out in the main building. With flammable materials all around, it was easy for the flames to spread quickly throughout the factory. Unlike the previous fire in 1898, motorized fire engines were able to arrive much faster than their horse drawn predecessors. Firemen, factory workers and even some of the hollow's residents worked side by side to fight the fire. Despite having better equipment and extra manpower, firefighters were still unable to gain control. The intense heat made it impossible to get close enough to the building to effectively contain the fire. It wasn't long before the blaze towered well beyond the rooftop. Realizing that situation had the potential to become deadly, the firemen withdrew from their positions near the building. The crowds that had assembled on the opposite side of the river watched in awe as the five story building began to collapse. When the massive walls of the charred structure hit the ground, it sent a hot wind swirling through the hollow and out over the Youghiogheny. Glowing pieces of debris were suddenly falling all across the factory site. Once the building was down, firefighters immediately resumed their attack. This time, they concentrated most of their efforts on the scorched debris to prevent any new fires from starting. After a fierce battle, crews finally brought the flames down.
When it was over, the Union Sewer Pipe Company had been reduced to a pile of rubble that smoldered for about a week. The foul odor of the blackened remains lingered along the railroad line, across the river and into Versailles. Talk of the incident seemed to spread faster than the actual flames. It was said that people were travelling from all over the area to see the destruction for themselves. What everyone found to be amazing was how no lives were lost during the tragedy. This incident was the catalyst for the separation of the industry from Dead Man's Hollow.